Birch Coffee

• gradeGrade A
• inspection score8 pts
• critical violations1
• last inspectedDecember 3, 2025 →
• address171 East 88 Street, Manhattan 10128
• cuisineCoffee/Tea
• phone2126861444

Is Birch Coffee clean?

Birch Coffee is currently Grade A from NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH), from an inspection on December 3, 2025. Inspectors wrote up 1 critical violation — the kind most directly linked to foodborne illness. On Cooked's ladder that reads clean 😇.

What did inspectors find at Birch Coffee?

These are the violations recorded at the most recent inspection on December 3, 2025, in plain English, with the city's own wording underneath.

• 🍽️food left out / unprotectedcritical
  Food, supplies, or equipment not protected from potential source of contamination during storage, preparation, transportation, display, service or from customer’s refillable, reusable container. Condiments not in single-service containers or dispensed directly by the vendor.
• 🚿plumbing acting up
  Anti-siphonage or back-flow prevention device not provided where required; equipment or floor not properly drained; sewage disposal system in disrepair or not functioning properly. Condensation or liquid waste improperly disposed of.

When was Birch Coffee last inspected?

Birch Coffee has 5 inspections on record going back to April 18, 2023, averaging 19 points.

Birch Coffee vs Upper East Side-Carnegie Hill

Upper East Side-Carnegie Hill runs 83% clean across 360 tracked restaurants — 267 clean, 21 mid, 35 cooked.

Against the 360 spots Cooked tracks in Upper East Side-Carnegie Hill, this one comes out cleaner than 72% of them.

Other spots in Upper East Side-Carnegie Hill

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• A Al Vaporetto
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• A Yura
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• A Sushi Noz
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See every restaurant inspection in Upper East Side-Carnegie Hill →

How New York grades restaurants

New York City health inspectors score violations in points, and lower is better: 0–13 points earns an A, 14–27 a B, and 28 or more a C. Every restaurant is inspected at least once a year, and the letter has to be posted in the window. A restaurant that scores 14 or more on the first inspection of a cycle does not get a letter right away — it stays “Grade Pending” until a re-inspection settles it, which is why some spots here show an hourglass instead of a letter. Cooked only ever shows a letter the city actually posted; we never infer one from a score.

Read the New York ratings guide →

Inspection findings and available history come from the authority’s published records. Cooked checks daily; publication can lag behind an inspection. Read the date on each result and check the official source for newer information.

Source: NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH) via NYC Open Data. Cooked refreshes this data daily — this listing's most recent inspection is dated December 3, 2025. Inspection results describe one moment in a kitchen's life, not a permanent verdict.

check your own block 📸

Cooked covers 10 cities on official inspection data — see who's clean, mid, or cooked near you.