Taco Recipes

• gradeGrade A
• inspection score12 pts
• critical violations1
• last inspectedJanuary 15, 2025 →
• address23 Essex Street, Manhattan 10002
• cuisineTex-Mex
• phone2123531886

Is Taco Recipes clean?

Taco Recipes is currently Grade A from NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH), from an inspection on January 15, 2025. 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 Recipes?

These are the violations recorded at the most recent inspection on January 15, 2025, 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.
• 🐭they've got roommates (mice)critical
  Evidence of mice or live mice in establishment's food or non-food areas.
• 🍽️dishwashing setup off
  Single service article not provided. Single service article reused or not protected from contamination when transported, stored, dispensed. Drinking straws not completely enclosed in wrapper or dispensed from a sanitary device.

When was Taco Recipes last inspected?

Taco Recipes has 3 inspections on record going back to October 13, 2022, averaging 9 points.

Taco Recipes vs Chinatown

Chinatown runs 75% clean across 685 tracked restaurants — 450 clean, 46 mid, 105 cooked.

Against the 685 spots Cooked tracks in Chinatown, this one comes out cleaner than 51% of them.

Other spots in Chinatown

• A Mr. Fong's
  clean · September 2, 2025
• A Bar Goto
  clean · August 13, 2026
• A Wildair
  clean · October 7, 2025
• ⏳ Set L.E.S.
  cooked · October 29, 2025
• B Deluxe Green Bo
  mid · November 6, 2025
• A White Swan Bakery
  clean · August 26, 2025

See every restaurant inspection in Chinatown →

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 January 15, 2025. 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.