Cantina Taqueria & Tequila Bar

• gradeGrade B
• inspection score20 pts
• critical violations3
• last inspectedJanuary 8, 2026 →
• address329 Lenox Avenue, Manhattan 10027
• cuisineMexican
• phone2013678317

Is Cantina Taqueria & Tequila Bar clean?

Cantina Taqueria & Tequila Bar is currently Grade B from NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH), from an inspection on January 8, 2026. Inspectors wrote up 3 critical violations — the kind most directly linked to foodborne illness. On Cooked's ladder that reads mid 😬.

What did inspectors find at Cantina Taqueria & Tequila Bar?

These are the violations recorded at the most recent inspection on January 8, 2026, 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.
• 🕳️basically rolling out the welcome mat for pests
  Establishment is not free of harborage or conditions conducive to rodents, insects or other pests.
• 🐭they've got roommates (mice)critical
  Evidence of mice or live mice in establishment's food or non-food areas.
• 🧽surfaces not properly sanitizedcritical
  Food contact surface not properly washed, rinsed and sanitized after each use and following any activity when contamination may have occurred.
• ⚠️Current letter grade or Grade Pending card not posted

When was Cantina Taqueria & Tequila Bar last inspected?

Cantina Taqueria & Tequila Bar has 6 inspections on record going back to January 12, 2023, averaging 32 points.

Graded visits shown below · newest first · tap a date for the record

Cantina Taqueria & Tequila Bar vs Central Harlem North-Polo Grounds

Central Harlem North-Polo Grounds runs 67% clean across 95 tracked restaurants — 58 clean, 4 mid, 24 cooked.

Against the 95 spots Cooked tracks in Central Harlem North-Polo Grounds, this one comes out cleaner than 28% of them.

Other spots in Central Harlem North-Polo Grounds

• A Uptown Juice Bar
  clean · December 17, 2025
• A Mama's Fried Chicken
  clean · April 1, 2026
• A Papa John's Pizza
  clean · October 2, 2025
• A Manhattanville Coffee
  clean · March 12, 2026
• A Ruby's Vintage Harlem
  clean · June 2, 2022
• ? Proof Coffee Roasters
  cooked · August 28, 2026

See every restaurant inspection in Central Harlem North-Polo Grounds →

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 January 8, 2026. Inspection results describe one moment in a kitchen's life, not a permanent verdict.

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