El Castillo De Jagua Ii

• gradeGrade A ⏳
• grade postedJune 26, 2025
• inspection score30 pts
• critical violations3
• last inspectedOctober 14, 2026 →
• address521 Grand Street, Manhattan 10002
• cuisineSpanish
• phone2129950244

Is El Castillo De Jagua Ii clean?

El Castillo De Jagua Ii currently carries Grade A ⏳ from NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH). It was posted on June 26, 2025 and still stands. The place has been inspected again since — on October 14, 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 3 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 Castillo De Jagua Ii?

These are the violations recorded at the most recent inspection on October 14, 2026, in plain English, with the city's own wording underneath.

• 🕳️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.
• 🛠️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.
• 🧽surfaces not properly sanitizedcritical
  Food contact surface not properly washed, rinsed and sanitized after each use and following any activity when contamination may have occurred.
• 🌡️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.

When was El Castillo De Jagua Ii last inspected?

El Castillo De Jagua Ii has 10 inspections on record going back to September 26, 2022, averaging 34 points.

Graded visits shown below · newest first · tap a date for the record

History worth a look: 3 of these 4 displayed graded visits read cooked. The current result above stands on its own.

El Castillo De Jagua Ii vs Lower East Side

Lower East Side runs 75% clean across 197 tracked restaurants — 127 clean, 7 mid, 35 cooked.

Against the 197 spots Cooked tracks in Lower East Side, this one comes out cleaner than 44% of them.

Other spots in Lower East Side

• A 5C Cafe & Cultural Center
  clean · November 5, 2025
• A Koneko
  clean · May 14, 2025
• A Dunkin / Baskin Robbins
  clean · September 22, 2025
• ⏳ Nakamura
  cooked · May 11, 2026
• ⏳ Wu's Wonton King
  cooked · August 28, 2026
• A Little Canal
  clean · September 12, 2026

See every restaurant inspection in Lower East 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 October 14, 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.