Lips Cafe

• gradeGrade A ⏳
• grade postedMay 2, 2025
• inspection score19 pts
• critical violations2
• last inspectedAugust 12, 2026 →
• address1412 Nostrand Avenue, Brooklyn 11226
• cuisineCoffee/Tea
• phone6466173715

Is Lips Cafe clean?

Lips Cafe currently carries Grade A ⏳ from NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH). It was posted on May 2, 2025 and still stands. The place has been inspected again since — on August 12, 2026 scoring 19 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 2 critical violations — the kind most directly linked to foodborne illness. On Cooked's ladder the posted grade reads clean 😇; the numbers above come from the newer visit.

What did inspectors find at Lips Cafe?

These are the violations recorded at the most recent inspection on August 12, 2026, 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.
• 🪰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.
• 🌡️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.
• 🛠️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.

When was Lips Cafe last inspected?

Lips Cafe has 10 inspections on record going back to October 5, 2022, averaging 24 points.

Lips Cafe vs Prospect Lefferts Gardens-Wingate

Prospect Lefferts Gardens-Wingate runs 77% clean across 194 tracked restaurants — 134 clean, 10 mid, 31 cooked.

Against the 194 spots Cooked tracks in Prospect Lefferts Gardens-Wingate, this one comes out cleaner than 38% of them.

Other spots in Prospect Lefferts Gardens-Wingate

• A Antojitos Del Patron
  clean · July 10, 2024
• A Hamlet Coffee Company
  clean · August 18, 2026
• A Ciao Bella Coffee
  clean · September 3, 2026
• A Abe's Corner
  clean · September 12, 2024
• A Prospect Pizza
  clean · August 25, 2026
• ⏳ The Roger's Garden
  cooked · July 25, 2026

See every restaurant inspection in Prospect Lefferts Gardens-Wingate →

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 August 12, 2026. Inspection results describe one moment in a kitchen's life, not a permanent verdict.

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