Essex

• gradeGrade B ⏳
• grade postedApril 29, 2025
• inspection score63 pts
• critical violations7
• last inspectedOctober 13, 2026 →
• address124 Rivington Street, Manhattan 10002
• cuisineSteakhouse
• phone2125339616

Is Essex clean?

Essex currently carries Grade B ⏳ from NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH). It was posted on April 29, 2025 and still stands. The place has been inspected again since — on October 13, 2026 scoring 63 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 7 critical violations — the kind most directly linked to foodborne illness. On Cooked's ladder the posted grade reads mid 😬; the numbers above come from the newer visit.

What did inspectors find at Essex?

These are the violations recorded at the most recent inspection on October 13, 2026, in plain English, with the city's own wording underneath.

• 🤒sick worker near the foodcritical
  Food 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.
• 🪰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.
• 🧽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.
• ⚠️Current letter grade or Grade Pending card not posted
• 🐭they've got roommates (mice)critical
  Evidence of mice or live mice 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.
• 🍲hot food sitting too coolcritical
  Hot TCS food item not held at or above 140 °F.
• 🐀rats have moved incritical
  Evidence of rats or live rats in establishment's food or non-food areas.
• 🌡️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.
• 🕳️basically rolling out the welcome mat for pests
  Establishment is not free of harborage or conditions conducive to rodents, insects or other pests.

When was Essex last inspected?

Essex has 6 inspections on record going back to July 12, 2022, averaging 30 points.

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

Essex vs Chinatown

Chinatown runs 75% clean across 698 tracked restaurants — 455 clean, 49 mid, 105 cooked.

Against the 698 spots Cooked tracks in Chinatown, this one comes out cleaner than 24% of them.

Other spots in Chinatown

• A Jiang Nan Nyc
  clean · May 6, 2026
• A Douzo
  clean · May 19, 2026
• A Ray's
  clean · June 24, 2026
• A Partybus Bakeshop
  clean · August 20, 2026
• A Dunkin Donuts
  clean · December 18, 2025
• B New 94Th East Broadway
  mid · April 3, 2025

See every restaurant inspection in Chinatown →

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 13, 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.