Cooked?
The Chemist
- resultFail
- critical violations0
- last inspectedJuly 22, 2026
- address218 Congress St, Boston 02110
Is The Chemist clean?
The Chemist is currently Fail from Boston Inspectional Services, Health Division, from an inspection on July 22, 2026. No critical violations were recorded at that visit. On Cooked's ladder that reads mid 😬.
What did inspectors find at The Chemist?
These are the violations recorded at the most recent inspection on July 22, 2026, in plain English, with the city's own wording underneath.
- ⚠️Cleaning Ventilation Systems Nuisance and Discharge Prohibition (C) • Hood stickers obseved expired in March. Schedule cleaning appointment. Referred to BFDCleaning Ventilation Systems Nuisance and Discharge Prohibition (C) • Hood stickers obseved expired in March. Schedule cleaning appointment. Referred to BFD
When was The Chemist last inspected?
The Chemist has 10 inspections on record going back to November 21, 2023.
| date | result | score |
|---|---|---|
| July 22, 2026 | Fail | |
| January 22, 2026 | Pass | |
| January 15, 2026 | Fail | |
| October 23, 2025 | Pass | |
| October 22, 2025 | Fail | |
| October 9, 2025 | Fail | |
| October 2, 2025 | Fail | |
| July 11, 2024 | Pass | |
| November 27, 2023 | Pass | |
| November 21, 2023 | Fail |
The Chemist vs Downtown
Downtown runs 90% clean across 1,016 tracked restaurants — 866 clean, 53 mid, 42 cooked.
Against the 1,016 spots Cooked tracks in Downtown, this one comes out cleaner than 9% of them.
Other spots in Downtown
How Boston grades restaurants
Boston reports inspections as a pass or a fail, with no score and no letter. What separates a bad fail from a trivial one is the violation severity ladder: a single star is a minor issue, two stars is more serious, and three stars marks a critical foodborne-illness risk factor — temperature abuse, bad handwashing, cross-contamination. A restaurant can fail on paperwork alone, which is not the same as failing on food safety. Cooked splits Boston fails accordingly: a fail with a three-star violation reads cooked, a fail on minor items only reads mid.
Source: Boston Inspectional Services, Health Division via Analyze Boston. Cooked refreshes this data daily — this listing's most recent inspection is dated July 22, 2026. Inspection results describe one moment in a kitchen's life, not a permanent verdict.