El Buen Ambiente

• gradeGrade A ⏳
• grade postedMay 5, 2025
• inspection score30 pts
• critical violations4
• last inspectedJuly 16, 2026 →
• address108 East 198 Street, Bronx 10468
• cuisineLatin American
• phone7182201515

Is El Buen Ambiente clean?

El Buen Ambiente currently carries Grade A ⏳ from NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH). It was posted on May 5, 2025 and still stands. The place has been inspected again since — on July 16, 2026 scoring 30 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 4 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 El Buen Ambiente?

These are the violations recorded at the most recent inspection on July 16, 2026, in plain English, with the city's own wording underneath.

• 🪳roaches are dining toocritical
  Live roaches in facility's food or non-food area.
• 🪰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.
• 🌡️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.
• 🍲hot food sitting too coolcritical
  Hot TCS food item not held at or above 140 °F.
• 🕳️basically rolling out the welcome mat for pests
  Establishment is not free of harborage or conditions conducive to rodents, insects or other pests.
• 🚿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 El Buen Ambiente last inspected?

El Buen Ambiente has 5 inspections on record going back to November 14, 2022, averaging 17 points.

El Buen Ambiente vs Van Cortlandt Village

Van Cortlandt Village runs 69% clean across 45 tracked restaurants — 29 clean, 7 mid, 6 cooked.

Against the 45 spots Cooked tracks in Van Cortlandt Village, this one comes out cleaner than 98% of them.

Other spots in Van Cortlandt Village

• A Sheas Emerald
  clean · August 19, 2026
• A Popeyes
  clean · February 12, 2026
• A Mi Casa Bakery
  clean · March 31, 2026
• A China Wok
  clean · October 21, 2025
• A Kingsbridge Coffee Shop
  clean · February 6, 2026
• B New Yung Hong
  mid · April 15, 2026

See every restaurant inspection in Van Cortlandt Village →

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 16, 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.