The Independent Café

• gradeGrade A
• inspection score7 pts
• critical violations1
• last inspectedMay 8, 2025 →
• address61 West 62 Street, Manhattan 10023
• cuisineAmerican
• phone2128755263

Is The Independent Café clean?

The Independent Café is currently Grade A from NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH), from an inspection on May 8, 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 The Independent Café?

These are the violations recorded at the most recent inspection on May 8, 2025, in plain English, with the city's own wording underneath.

• 🧽surfaces not properly sanitizedcritical
  Food contact surface not properly washed, rinsed and sanitized after each use and following any activity when contamination may have occurred.
• 🛠️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 The Independent Café last inspected?

The Independent Café has 3 inspections on record going back to August 2, 2023, averaging 25 points.

The Independent Café vs Lincoln Square

Lincoln Square runs 87% clean across 220 tracked restaurants — 172 clean, 6 mid, 20 cooked.

Against the 220 spots Cooked tracks in Lincoln Square, this one comes out cleaner than 75% of them.

Other spots in Lincoln Square

• A Patisserie Chanson
  clean · October 9, 2025
• A Rolls & Bowls @ Fordham University
  clean · September 16, 2025
• A Zizi Wine Bar
  clean · February 25, 2026
• A Crossfit Spot
  clean · July 8, 2025
• A Two Boots Pizza
  clean · February 10, 2025
• A Picky Barista
  clean · January 8, 2026

See every restaurant inspection in Lincoln Square →

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 8, 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.