Cooked?
Playa Bowls
- gradeGrade A
- inspection score11 pts
- critical violations1
- last inspectedJanuary 20, 2026
- address181 Bedford Avenue, Brooklyn 11211
- cuisineJewish/Kosher
- phone6465587701
Is Playa Bowls clean?
Playa Bowls is currently Grade A from NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH), from an inspection on January 20, 2026. 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 Playa Bowls?
These are the violations recorded at the most recent inspection on January 20, 2026, in plain English, with the city's own wording underneath.
- 🕳️basically rolling out the welcome mat for pestsEstablishment is not free of harborage or conditions conducive to rodents, insects or other pests.
- 🐭they've got roommates (mice)criticalEvidence of mice or live mice in establishment's food or non-food areas.
- 🛠️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.
When was Playa Bowls last inspected?
Playa Bowls has 4 inspections on record going back to April 11, 2023, averaging 12 points.
| date | result | score |
|---|---|---|
| January 20, 2026 | Grade A | 11 pts |
| October 15, 2024 | Grade A | 7 pts |
| May 31, 2023 | Grade A | 5 pts |
| April 11, 2023 | no grade issued ⏳ | 23 pts |
Playa Bowls vs North Side-South Side
North Side-South Side runs 80% clean across 573 tracked restaurants — 390 clean, 25 mid, 72 cooked.
Against the 573 spots Cooked tracks in North Side-South Side, this one comes out cleaner than 51% of them.
Other spots in North Side-South Side
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 January 20, 2026. Inspection results describe one moment in a kitchen's life, not a permanent verdict.