Essence Bar & Grill

• gradeGrade pending
• grade postedMarch 28, 2024
• inspection score22 pts
• critical violations2
• last inspectedNovember 1, 2025 →
• address1662 Atlantic Avenue, Brooklyn 11213
• cuisineAmerican
• phone7189137495

Is Essence Bar & Grill clean?

New York currently lists Essence Bar & Grill as grade pending, following an inspection on November 1, 2025 that scored 22 points. The city has not posted a letter yet, and it will not until a re-inspection settles it. The last grade it ever posted here was A on March 28, 2024.

What did inspectors find at Essence Bar & Grill?

These are the violations recorded at the most recent inspection on November 1, 2025, 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.
• 🐀rats have moved incritical
  Evidence of rats or live rats in establishment's food or non-food areas.
• 🛠️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.
• 🌡️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.

When was Essence Bar & Grill last inspected?

Essence Bar & Grill has 6 inspections on record going back to August 10, 2023, averaging 26 points.

Essence Bar & Grill vs Crown Heights North

Crown Heights North runs 80% clean across 291 tracked restaurants — 209 clean, 15 mid, 36 cooked.

Against the 291 spots Cooked tracks in Crown Heights North, this one comes out cleaner than 5% of them.

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• A Sweet Basil
  clean · February 17, 2026
• A New Kiku Ii
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• A Warude
  clean · July 25, 2025
• A Arvaci Coffee
  clean · December 30, 2025

See every restaurant inspection in Crown Heights North →

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 November 1, 2025. Inspection results describe one moment in a kitchen's life, not a permanent verdict.

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