Cooked?
Taco Express
- gradeGrade A
- inspection score5 pts
- critical violations1
- last inspectedJuly 9, 2026
- address251-14 Hillside Avenue, Queens 11426
- cuisineTex-Mex
- phone7184702399
Is Taco Express clean?
Taco Express is currently Grade A from NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH), from an inspection on July 9, 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 Express?
These are the violations recorded at the most recent inspection on July 9, 2026, in plain English, with the city's own wording underneath.
- 🍽️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 Taco Express last inspected?
Taco Express has 8 inspections on record going back to September 12, 2022, averaging 24 points.
| date | result | score |
|---|---|---|
| July 9, 2026 | Grade A | 5 pts |
| April 14, 2025 | Grade A | 13 pts |
| February 4, 2025 | no grade issued ⏳ | 39 pts |
| December 20, 2023 | Grade A | 5 pts |
| July 18, 2023 | no grade issued ⏳ | 43 pts |
| May 18, 2023 | Grade B | 27 pts |
| October 19, 2022 | no grade issued ⏳ | 34 pts |
| September 12, 2022 | no grade issued ⏳ | 23 pts |
Taco Express vs Bellerose
Bellerose runs 75% clean across 42 tracked restaurants — 30 clean, 2 mid, 8 cooked.
Against the 42 spots Cooked tracks in Bellerose, this one comes out cleaner than 85% of them.
Other spots in Bellerose
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 July 9, 2026. Inspection results describe one moment in a kitchen's life, not a permanent verdict.