It’s hard to get an “A” in Chinatown.
Forty-nine percent of restaurants in the community received a “B” grade or lower from city Health Department inspectors, compared with 20 percent of eateries across all of Gotham, according to Crain’s New York Business.
And even restaurants that are prepared for inspectors aren’t holding out much hope.
“Every day, I tell my staff the inspectors are coming,” Mott Street restaurant Buddha Bodai co-owner Kent Zhang told Crain’s.
“I’m ready, but I don’t think we can get an ‘A.’ The inspectors always come when we are so busy,” he said adding that an ‘A’ isn’t easy when inspectors show up at lunch rush.
Buddha Bodai, which is both kosher and vegetarian, currently sports a “grade pending.”
Challenging a “B” or lower grade could cost hardworking restaurant owners and managers a full day of work, Zhang said. “It’s not worth it to fight sometimes.” he said.
Trendy Mission Chinese on the Lower East Side was shuttered last week by the Health Department for the second time in just over a month for pest-related issues.