Taco Bell

• gradeGrade A
• inspection score13 pts
• critical violations1
• last inspectedAugust 18, 2026 →
• address1503 Lexington Avenue, Manhattan 10029
• cuisineTex-Mex
• phone6463623400

Is Taco Bell clean?

Taco Bell is currently Grade A from NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH), from an inspection on August 18, 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 Taco Bell?

These are the violations recorded at the most recent inspection on August 18, 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.
• 🪳roaches are dining toocritical
  Live roaches in facility's food or non-food area.
• 🛠️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 Taco Bell last inspected?

Taco Bell has 5 inspections on record going back to March 23, 2022, averaging 15 points.

Taco Bell vs East Harlem South

East Harlem South runs 72% clean across 155 tracked restaurants — 100 clean, 16 mid, 23 cooked.

Against the 155 spots Cooked tracks in East Harlem South, this one comes out cleaner than 32% of them.

Other spots in East Harlem South

• B Wing Gong Restaurant
  mid · August 13, 2025
• A Haven Chicken & Smash Burger
  clean · August 5, 2026
• A Effy's Kitchen
  clean · October 17, 2024
• A King Dragon 188
  clean · December 11, 2025
• A Mcdonald's
  clean · June 2, 2026
• A Mcdonald's
  clean · October 6, 2025

See every restaurant inspection in East Harlem South →

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 18, 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.