Taqueria El Itacate

• gradeGrade A ⏳
• grade postedJanuary 2, 2025
• inspection score29 pts
• critical violations4
• last inspectedMay 26, 2026 →
• address40-06 83 Street, Queens 11373
• cuisineMexican
• phone3475538091

Is Taqueria El Itacate clean?

Taqueria El Itacate currently carries Grade A ⏳ from NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH). It was posted on January 2, 2025 and still stands. The place has been inspected again since — on May 26, 2026 scoring 29 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 4 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 Taqueria El Itacate?

These are the violations recorded at the most recent inspection on May 26, 2026, in plain English, with the city's own wording underneath.

• 🧼staff skipping handwashingcritical
  Personal cleanliness is inadequate. Outer garment soiled with possible contaminant. Effective hair restraint not worn where required. Jewelry worn on hands or arms. Fingernail polish worn or fingernails not kept clean and trimmed.
• 🪰flies in the housecritical
  Filth flies or food/refuse/sewage associated with (FRSA) flies or other nuisance pests in establishment’s food and/or non-food areas. FRSA flies include house flies, blow flies, bottle flies, flesh flies, drain flies, Phorid flies and fruit flies.
• 🛠️facility / equipment issue
  Accurate thermometer not provided or properly located in refrigerated, cold storage or hot holding equipment
• 🚿plumbing acting up
  Anti-siphonage or back-flow prevention device not provided where required; equipment or floor not properly drained; sewage disposal system in disrepair or not functioning properly. Condensation or liquid waste improperly disposed of.
• 🕳️basically rolling out the welcome mat for pests
  Establishment is not free of harborage or conditions conducive to rodents, insects or other pests.
• 🔪cross-contamination riskcritical
  Raw, cooked or prepared food is adulterated, contaminated, cross-contaminated, or not discarded in accordance with HACCP plan.
• 🐭they've got roommates (mice)critical
  Evidence of mice or live mice in establishment's food or non-food areas.

When was Taqueria El Itacate last inspected?

Taqueria El Itacate has 4 inspections on record going back to June 15, 2023, averaging 24 points.

Taqueria El Itacate vs Elmhurst

Elmhurst runs 73% clean across 294 tracked restaurants — 205 clean, 35 mid, 40 cooked.

Against the 294 spots Cooked tracks in Elmhurst, this one comes out cleaner than 59% of them.

Other spots in Elmhurst

• B El Toro Bravo
  mid · January 27, 2025
• A Taqueria Chila
  clean · July 7, 2026
• A Subway
  clean · July 30, 2026
• A Aroma De Cafe Bakery
  clean · August 8, 2025
• B Sabor Ecuatoriano Bakery
  mid · June 2, 2026
• A Rainbow Bakery And Cafe
  clean · September 15, 2025

See every restaurant inspection in Elmhurst →

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 May 26, 2026. Inspection results describe one moment in a kitchen's life, not a permanent verdict.

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Cooked covers 10 cities on official inspection data — see who's clean, mid, or cooked near you.