Zef Cafe

• gradeGrade A
• inspection score11 pts
• critical violations2
• last inspectedAugust 18, 2026 →
• 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 August 18, 2026. Inspectors wrote up 2 critical violations — 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 August 18, 2026, 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.
• 🍽️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.

When was Zef Cafe last inspected?

Zef Cafe has 4 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 843 tracked restaurants — 599 clean, 41 mid, 83 cooked.

Against the 843 spots Cooked tracks in SoHo-TriBeCa-Civic Center-Little Italy, this one comes out cleaner than 43% of them.

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

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• A Lenwich
  clean · June 24, 2026
• A Pietro Nolita
  clean · January 8, 2026
• A Civic Deli
  clean · August 18, 2026
• 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.

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 August 18, 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.