Cooked?
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 / unprotectedcriticalFood, 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 upAnti-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.
| date | result | score |
|---|---|---|
| December 3, 2025 | Grade A | 8 pts |
| November 15, 2024 | Grade A | 4 pts |
| October 25, 2024 | no grade issued ⏳ | 51 pts |
| February 23, 2024 | Grade A | 12 pts |
| April 18, 2023 | no grade issued ⏳ | 19 pts |
Birch Coffee vs Upper East Side-Carnegie Hill
Upper East Side-Carnegie Hill runs 83% clean across 354 tracked restaurants — 266 clean, 21 mid, 35 cooked.
Against the 354 spots Cooked tracks in Upper East Side-Carnegie Hill, this one comes out cleaner than 71% of them.
Other spots in Upper East Side-Carnegie Hill
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.
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.