Dept. Of Culture

• gradeGrade A ⏳
• grade postedFebruary 29, 2024
• inspection score64 pts
• critical violations5
• last inspectedNovember 21, 2025 →
• address327 Nostrand Avenue, Brooklyn 11216
• cuisineAfrican
• phone6177178173

Is Dept. Of Culture clean?

Dept. Of Culture currently carries Grade A ⏳ from NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH). It was posted on February 29, 2024 and still stands. The place has been inspected again since — on November 21, 2025 scoring 64 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 5 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 Dept. Of Culture?

These are the violations recorded at the most recent inspection on November 21, 2025, 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.
• 🍲hot food sitting too coolcritical
  Hot TCS food item not held at or above 140 °F.
• 📋no certified food supervisor on dutycritical
  Food Protection Certificate (FPC) not held by manager or supervisor of food operations.
• 🚿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.
• 🐭they've got roommates (mice)critical
  Evidence of mice or live mice in establishment's food or non-food areas.
• ⚠️Contract with a pest management professional not in place. Record of extermination activities not kept on premises.
• 🧼staff skipping handwashingcritical
  Personal cleanliness is inadequate. Outer garment soiled with possible contaminant. Effective hair restraint not worn where required. Jewelry worn on hands or arms. Fingernail polish worn or fingernails not kept clean and trimmed.
• 🕳️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 Dept. Of Culture last inspected?

Dept. Of Culture has 2 inspections on record going back to February 29, 2024, averaging 38 points.

Dept. Of Culture vs Bedford

Bedford runs 79% clean across 206 tracked restaurants — 142 clean, 10 mid, 27 cooked.

Against the 206 spots Cooked tracks in Bedford, this one comes out cleaner than 26% of them.

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See every restaurant inspection 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.

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

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Cooked covers 10 cities on official inspection data — see who's clean, mid, or cooked near you.