Zef Cafe

• gradeGrade A
• inspection score7 pts
• critical violations1
• last inspectedMay 9, 2025
• address70 Bowery, Manhattan 10013
• cuisineAmerican
• phone2129414754

Is Zef Cafe clean?

Zef Cafe is currently Grade A from NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH), from an inspection on May 9, 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 Zef Cafe?

These are the violations recorded at the most recent inspection on May 9, 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 Zef Cafe last inspected?

Zef Cafe has 3 inspections on record going back to September 28, 2022, averaging 9 points.

Zef Cafe vs SoHo-TriBeCa-Civic Center-Little Italy

SoHo-TriBeCa-Civic Center-Little Italy runs 83% clean across 824 tracked restaurants — 592 clean, 38 mid, 83 cooked.

Against the 824 spots Cooked tracks in SoHo-TriBeCa-Civic Center-Little Italy, this one comes out cleaner than 79% of them.

Other spots in SoHo-TriBeCa-Civic Center-Little Italy

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• A Lenwich
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  clean · January 8, 2026
• A Civic Deli
  clean · May 2, 2025
• A Ho Won Bake
  clean · July 25, 2025

See every restaurant inspection in SoHo-TriBeCa-Civic Center-Little Italy →

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 May 9, 2025. Inspection results describe one moment in a kitchen's life, not a permanent verdict.