Cooked?
La Esquina Criolla
- gradeGrade A
- inspection score12 pts
- critical violations2
- last inspectedAugust 15, 2025
- address94-67 Corona Avenue, Queens 11373
- cuisineLatin American
- phone7186995579
Is La Esquina Criolla clean?
La Esquina Criolla is currently Grade A from NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH), from an inspection on August 15, 2025. Inspectors wrote up 2 critical violations — the kind most directly linked to foodborne illness. On Cooked's ladder that reads clean 😇.
What did inspectors find at La Esquina Criolla?
These are the violations recorded at the most recent inspection on August 15, 2025, in plain English, with the city's own wording underneath.
- 🍴utensils stored sketchycriticalSanitized equipment or utensil, including in-use food dispensing utensil, improperly used or stored.
- 🛠️surfaces / setup not up to codeNon-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.
- 🍽️food left out / unprotectedcriticalFood, supplies, or equipment not protected from potential source of contamination during storage, preparation, transportation, display, service or from customer’s refillable, reusable container. Condiments not in single-service containers or dispensed directly by the vendor.
When was La Esquina Criolla last inspected?
La Esquina Criolla has 3 inspections on record going back to March 15, 2024, averaging 20 points.
| date | result | score |
|---|---|---|
| August 15, 2025 | Grade A | 12 pts |
| January 13, 2025 | no grade issued ⏳ | 25 pts |
| March 15, 2024 | no grade issued ⏳ | 23 pts |
La Esquina Criolla vs Elmhurst
Elmhurst runs 73% clean across 290 tracked restaurants — 203 clean, 36 mid, 40 cooked.
Against the 290 spots Cooked tracks in Elmhurst, this one comes out cleaner than 33% of them.
Other spots in Elmhurst
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 August 15, 2025. Inspection results describe one moment in a kitchen's life, not a permanent verdict.