Columbus Cafe

• gradeGrade B
• inspection score23 pts
• critical violations2
• last inspectedJune 12, 2026 →
• address556 Columbus Avenue, Manhattan 10024
• cuisineSandwiches
• phone2127219040

Is Columbus Cafe clean?

Columbus Cafe is currently Grade B from NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH), from an inspection on June 12, 2026. Inspectors wrote up 2 critical violations — the kind most directly linked to foodborne illness. On Cooked's ladder that reads mid 😬.

What did inspectors find at Columbus Cafe?

These are the violations recorded at the most recent inspection on June 12, 2026, in plain English, with the city's own wording underneath.

• 🌡️fridge is giving… room tempcritical
  Cold TCS food item held above 41 °F; smoked or processed fish held above 38 °F; intact raw eggs held above 45 °F; or reduced oxygen packaged (ROP) TCS foods held above required temperatures except during active necessary preparation.
• 🪰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.
• 🛠️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.

When was Columbus Cafe last inspected?

Columbus Cafe has 5 inspections on record going back to July 9, 2024, averaging 25 points.

Columbus Cafe vs Upper West Side

Upper West Side runs 80% clean across 426 tracked restaurants — 313 clean, 20 mid, 60 cooked.

Against the 426 spots Cooked tracks in Upper West Side, this one comes out cleaner than 17% of them.

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See every restaurant inspection in Upper West Side →

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 June 12, 2026. 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.