Chen's Express Kitchen

• gradeGrade A ⏳
• grade postedMarch 26, 2024
• inspection score21 pts
• critical violations2
• last inspectedJuly 21, 2025 →
• address223 East 14 Street, Manhattan 10003
• cuisineChinese
• phone2129828966

Is Chen's Express Kitchen clean?

Chen's Express Kitchen currently carries Grade A ⏳ from NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH). It was posted on March 26, 2024 and still stands. The place has been inspected again since — on July 21, 2025 scoring 21 points — but NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH) has not ruled on that visit, so no new grade has been issued. Inspectors wrote up 2 critical violations — the kind most directly linked to foodborne illness. On Cooked's ladder the posted grade reads clean 😇; the numbers above come from the newer visit.

What did inspectors find at Chen's Express Kitchen?

These are the violations recorded at the most recent inspection on July 21, 2025, in plain English, with the city's own wording underneath.

• 🛠️surfaces / setup not up to code
  Non-food contact surface or equipment made of unacceptable material, not kept clean, or not properly sealed, raised, spaced or movable to allow accessibility for cleaning on all sides, above and underneath the unit.
• 🕳️basically rolling out the welcome mat for pests
  Establishment is not free of harborage or conditions conducive to rodents, insects or other pests.
• 🪰flies in the housecritical
  Filth flies or food/refuse/sewage associated with (FRSA) flies or other nuisance pests in establishment’s food and/or non-food areas. FRSA flies include house flies, blow flies, bottle flies, flesh flies, drain flies, Phorid flies and fruit flies.
• 🍴utensils stored sketchycritical
  Sanitized equipment or utensil, including in-use food dispensing utensil, improperly used or stored.
• 🚿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 Chen's Express Kitchen last inspected?

Chen's Express Kitchen has 3 inspections on record going back to February 12, 2024, averaging 13 points.

Chen's Express Kitchen vs Gramercy

Gramercy runs 81% clean across 264 tracked restaurants — 194 clean, 12 mid, 34 cooked.

Against the 264 spots Cooked tracks in Gramercy, this one comes out cleaner than 29% of them.

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See every restaurant inspection in Gramercy →

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 July 21, 2025. Inspection results describe one moment in a kitchen's life, not a permanent verdict.

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