Tal Bagels

• gradeGrade A ⏳
• grade postedJune 11, 2025
• inspection score22 pts
• critical violations3
• last inspectedSeptember 22, 2026 →
• address1324 Lexington Avenue, Manhattan 10128
• cuisineBagels/Pretzels
• phone6468500130

Is Tal Bagels clean?

Tal Bagels currently carries Grade A ⏳ from NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH). It was posted on June 11, 2025 and still stands. The place has been inspected again since — on September 22, 2026 scoring 22 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 3 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 Tal Bagels?

These are the violations recorded at the most recent inspection on September 22, 2026, in plain English, with the city's own wording underneath.

• 🍽️food left out / unprotectedcritical
  Food, 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.
• 🛠️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.
• 🪳roaches are dining toocritical
  Live roaches in facility's food or non-food area.
  Roaches were cited at this visit · September 22, 2026.
• 🗑️garbage situation out of pocket
  Pesticide not properly labeled or used by unlicensed individual. Pesticide, other toxic chemical improperly used/stored. Unprotected, unlocked bait station used.
• 🐭they've got roommates (mice)critical
  Evidence of mice or live mice in establishment's food or non-food areas.
• 🕳️basically rolling out the welcome mat for pests
  Establishment is not free of harborage or conditions conducive to rodents, insects or other pests.

When was Tal Bagels last inspected?

Tal Bagels has 4 inspections on record going back to March 10, 2023, averaging 14 points.

Graded visits shown below · newest first · tap a date for the record

Tal Bagels vs Upper East Side-Carnegie Hill

Upper East Side-Carnegie Hill runs 83% clean across 370 tracked restaurants — 270 clean, 19 mid, 38 cooked.

Against the 370 spots Cooked tracks in Upper East Side-Carnegie Hill, this one comes out cleaner than 97% of them.

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See every restaurant inspection in Upper East Side-Carnegie Hill →

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 September 22, 2026. Inspection results describe one moment in a kitchen's life, not a permanent verdict.

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