New York City Restaurants Are Coming Clean

Dining in New York City is one of the finest privileges of being here. Who wouldn't lust after the endless options presented as they walk down the street? Who doesn't revel in the comfort of knowing Menupages can help you find absolutely any cuisine? The only trouble is that trying a new restaurant is can be hit or miss.

From my own apartment window, I can see three restaurants. One, I like, that I frequent. One is a Chinese place I consider kind of sketchy — I usually order from the cleaner-looking Chinese place a block away instead. The last is a dirty-floored, unceremonious fried chicken hole-in-the-wall at which you couldn't pay me to eat.

Now, while I certainly have my judgments about these restaurants, I have to confess something: my analyses are based on absolutely nothing other than general feelings and what I can see from their doorways. I certainly trust my own gut, so to speak, but back when I lived in California, restaurants had actual letter grades in their windows, telling me how clean they were.

That brings us to some very good news: letter grades are finally coming to NYC. "The New York City Board of Health voted Tuesday to rate cleanliness in the city’s more than 24,000 restaurants with publicly posted letter grades," reports The New York Times. "In a program that is to start in July, 8-by-10-inch placards, to be supplied by the city, will rate restaurants with a blue A for the highest grade (from 0 to 13 points under the old system), a green B for a less sanitary but still passing rating (13 to 27 points), and a yellow C for a failing grade (28 points or more)."

Finally, they're taking the guesswork out of cheap dinner. If you need cleanliness info sooner than July, it turns out you can get a good deal of it at the New York City Department of Heath and Mental Hygiene. Turns out the place I like best had 22 violations at their last inspection (28 violations is a Fail).

Ick.

Photo by xtopher1974 via Flickr.