MANHATTAN – The luck of the Irish couldn’t help Green Kitchen on St. Patrick’s Day, when inspectors from the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene visited the diner’s location on First Avenue — shutting the restaurant down that day over a number of violations, many of them critical.
Evidence of rats and live roaches were found inside the restaurant, located at the corner of East 77th Street, according Health Department inspection data from Thursday, March 17th— the day Green Kitchen was closed down.
“Closed,” the bright yellow notice reads in large black all-capital letters. “by order of the Commissioner of Health and Mental Hygiene.”
Several groups of people who stopped by the restaurant on Sunday afternoon did a double-take when they saw the Health Department’s order. One family could be heard saying “Ewwww” in unison from across the street.
ALSO READ | ‘What is the Upper East Side?’ See the UES Featured on Jeopardy!
“It does not give you much confidence, does it?” another disappointed would-be customer told Upper East Site after arriving at the diner for lunch and seeing the notice.
“We’ll go somewhere else!” she shouted to an approaching friend.
The DOHMH inspector found a total of five critical violations— including violations for cold food being held at temperatures that are too warm, food surfaces not getting cleaned or sanitized properly and cross-contamination of raw and cooked foods.
Green Kitchen’s First Avenue location was last inspected more than two years ago, at that time the restaurant passed with flying-colors, receiving an ‘A’ rating on just 6 violation points.
Last Thursday’s inspection of the diner received a total of 55 points— significantly fewer than the 65 points that forced the closure of Neil’s Coffee Shop on Lexington Avenue earlier this month.
ALSO READ | Melody’s Piano Bar to Bring Nightlife Back to Lexington Avenue
Neil’s reopened nine days later on March 10th, after a second inspection revealed only one non-critical violation and the diner was issued a ‘Grade Pending’ rating.
In response to an inquiry from Upper East Site on Sunday, Green Kitchen said “our 77th street location is temporarily closed until Monday or Tuesday, as we are making repairs to our kitchen.”
Meantime, Green Kitchen’s other location at the corner of East 84th Street and Second Avenue is currently open and passed its last inspection by the Health Department on February 28th.
Update: Green Kitchen passed a second inspection by the NYC Health Department on March 23 and reopened to customers shortly thereafter. The restaurant currently holds Grade Pending designation.
For updates around the clock, follow us on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook
