Empire Soul Food Restaurant

• gradeGrade A
• inspection score12 pts
• critical violations1
• last inspectedOctober 14, 2025 →
• address547 Lenox Avenue, Manhattan 10037
• cuisineSoul Food
• phone6467249856

Is Empire Soul Food Restaurant clean?

Empire Soul Food Restaurant is currently Grade A from NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH), from an inspection on October 14, 2025. Inspectors wrote up 1 critical violation — the kind most directly linked to foodborne illness. On Cooked's ladder that reads clean 😇.

What did inspectors find at Empire Soul Food Restaurant?

These are the violations recorded at the most recent inspection on October 14, 2025, in plain English, with the city's own wording underneath.

• 🚰handwashing sink issuescritical
  No hand washing facility in or adjacent to toilet room or within 25 feet of a food preparation, food service or ware washing area. Hand washing facility not accessible, obstructed or used for non-hand washing purposes. No hot and cold running water or water at inadequate pressure. No soap or acceptable hand-drying device.
• 🧫food contact surfaces dirty
  Design, construction, materials used or maintenance of food contact surface improper. Surface not easily cleanable, sanitized and maintained.

When was Empire Soul Food Restaurant last inspected?

Empire Soul Food Restaurant has 4 inspections on record going back to March 18, 2025, averaging 51 points.

Empire Soul Food Restaurant vs Central Harlem North-Polo Grounds

Central Harlem North-Polo Grounds runs 69% clean across 93 tracked restaurants — 58 clean, 5 mid, 21 cooked.

Against the 93 spots Cooked tracks in Central Harlem North-Polo Grounds, this one comes out cleaner than 52% of them.

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See every restaurant inspection in Central Harlem North-Polo Grounds →

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, 2025. 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.