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.
- 🍲hot food sitting too coolcriticalHot TCS food item not held at or above 140 °F.
- 🤒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.
- 🧽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.
- 🚰facility hygiene issuecriticalSewage disposal system is not provided, improper, inadequate or unapproved.
When was El Nico last inspected?
El Nico has 2 inspections on record going back to July 17, 2024, averaging 53 points.
July 16, 2026 Score 86
Loading inspection details…
View full inspection →July 17, 2024 Score 20
Loading inspection details…
View full inspection →El Nico vs North Side-South Side
North Side-South Side runs 80% clean across 581 tracked restaurants — 397 clean, 25 mid, 73 cooked.
Against the 581 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.
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.