Cooked?
Dear Friend Books
- gradeGrade A
- inspection score7 pts
- critical violations1
- last inspectedSeptember 30, 2025
- address343A Tompkins Avenue, Brooklyn 11216
- cuisineAmerican
- phone3038861808
Is Dear Friend Books clean?
Dear Friend Books is currently Grade A from NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH), from an inspection on September 30, 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 Dear Friend Books?
These are the violations recorded at the most recent inspection on September 30, 2025, in plain English, with the city's own wording underneath.
- 🧤food-handling slipcriticalTobacco or electronic cigarette use, eating, or drinking from open container in food preparation, food storage or dishwashing area.
- 🛠️surfaces / setup not up to codeNon-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.
When was Dear Friend Books last inspected?
Dear Friend Books has 2 inspections on record going back to February 9, 2024, averaging 5 points.
| date | result | score |
|---|---|---|
| September 30, 2025 | Grade A | 7 pts |
| February 9, 2024 | Grade A | 2 pts |
Dear Friend Books vs Bedford
Bedford runs 79% clean across 203 tracked restaurants — 141 clean, 13 mid, 24 cooked.
Against the 203 spots Cooked tracks in Bedford, this one comes out cleaner than 76% of them.
Other spots in Bedford
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 September 30, 2025. Inspection results describe one moment in a kitchen's life, not a permanent verdict.