Cooked?
El Nico
- gradeGrade pending
- inspection score86 pts
- critical violations6
- last inspectedJuly 16, 2026
- address292 North 8 Street, Brooklyn 11211
- cuisineMexican
- phone9295942028
Is El Nico clean?
New York currently lists El Nico as grade pending, following an inspection on July 16, 2026 that scored 86 points. The city has not posted a letter yet, and it will not until a re-inspection settles it.
What did inspectors find at El Nico?
These are the violations recorded at the most recent inspection on July 16, 2026, in plain English, with the city's own wording underneath.
- 🕳️basically rolling out the welcome mat for pestsEstablishment is not free of harborage or conditions conducive to rodents, insects or other pests.
- ❓questionable food sourcingcriticalNo or inadequate potable water supply. Water or ice not potable or from unapproved source. Bottled water not NY State certified. Cross connection in potable water supply system.
- 🤒sick worker near the foodcriticalFood worker/food vendor does not use utensil or other barrier to eliminate bare hand contact with food that will not receive adequate additional heat treatment.
- 🚰facility hygiene issuecriticalSewage disposal system is not provided, improper, inadequate or unapproved.
- 🧽surfaces not properly sanitizedcriticalFood contact surface not properly washed, rinsed and sanitized after each use and following any activity when contamination may have occurred.
- 🪰flies in the housecriticalFilth 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.
- ⚠️Unapproved outdoor, street or sidewalk cooking.Unapproved outdoor, street or sidewalk cooking.
- 🍲hot food sitting too coolcriticalHot TCS food item not held at or above 140 °F.
When was El Nico last inspected?
El Nico has 2 inspections on record going back to July 17, 2024, averaging 53 points.
| date | result | score |
|---|---|---|
| July 16, 2026 | no grade issued ⏳ | 86 pts |
| July 17, 2024 | no grade issued ⏳ | 20 pts |
El Nico vs North Side-South Side
North Side-South Side runs 80% clean across 573 tracked restaurants — 390 clean, 25 mid, 72 cooked.
Against the 573 spots Cooked tracks in North Side-South Side, this one comes out cleaner than 0% of them.
Other spots in North Side-South 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.
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.