Onondaga County restaurant inspections 2026: 192 of 888 had a critical violation, 1 uncorrected

Onondaga County Health Department inspectors visited 888 food service establishments a combined 950 times between May 4 and Aug. 27, 2026, according to New York State Department of Health inspection data refreshed Sept. 1, 2026. They cited at least one critical violation at 192 of those establishments, or 21.6 percent. In every case but one, each critical violation was corrected while the inspector was still on site.

The one exception was a single critical violation at Limp Lizard Lounge Bar & Grill, 4628 Onondaga Boulevard, Syracuse, on Aug. 20, 2026. And 307 of the 950 visits, 32.3 percent, recorded no violations at all.

What counts as a critical violation?

The state defines the term in the overview document attached to its inspection dataset. Red “critical” violations “relate directly to factors that could lead to foodborne illness. These violations generally involve the food source and condition, food cooking and storage temperatures, sanitary practices of food workers, water and sewage, pest contamination of food and the use of toxic materials.” Blue “non-critical” violations “do not directly cause food-borne illness but could negatively affect the operation of the restaurant. They relate to the design and maintenance of the establishment as well as cleanliness.”

On the state inspection form, DOH-192, critical items are numbered 1 through 7 (codes 1A through 7H) and cover food sources, contamination, worker hygiene, toxic chemicals, cooling and refrigeration, hot holding, and cooking and reheating. Items 8 through 16 are non-critical.

A critical violation is not evidence that anyone got sick. The dataset holds no illness information; it records what an inspector saw on one visit. The state’s own caution reads: inspections “are a snapshot in time and are not always reflective of the day-to-day operations and overall condition of an establishment,” and the data “was not collected in a manner intended for use as a restaurant grading system.”

Found and fixed versus found and still open

The dataset carries a field the state defines as the “total number of red (critical) violations that were NOT corrected at the time of the inspection.” That field separates a problem fixed in front of the inspector from one left open. Across the 950 visits, inspectors listed 268 critical violation items. The not-corrected field totals 1.

That one belongs to Limp Lizard Lounge Bar & Grill, inspected Aug. 20, 2026, its only visit in the period. The inspector listed 16 items: 4 critical and 12 non-critical. The critical codes were 1B (water or ice from unsafe or unapproved sources, or cross connections), 2C (cooked or prepared foods subject to cross-contamination from raw foods), 5C (potentially hazardous foods stored at room temperature) and 5E (refrigerated storage inadequate to keep potentially hazardous foods below 45 degrees Fahrenheit). The public dataset does not say which of the four was left uncorrected, does not include the food items or temperatures involved, and shows no re-inspection through Aug. 27. The state notes that “remediation may not appear until the following month due to the timing of the updates.”

Which establishments had the most critical findings?

A raw count is not a cleanliness ranking, for reasons the state itself gives. Inspections are risk-based: “Generally, high risk facilities are inspected twice per year, medium risk facilities are inspected once per year and low risk facilities are inspected every other year,” and “Local health departments may also prioritize inspections by facilities’ history of compliance so inspection frequencies may vary.” More visits mean more chances to be cited: 49 of the 888 establishments were visited two or more times, and 44 of the 950 visits were re-inspections. A large kitchen also has more to inspect than a coffee counter.

With that framing, seven establishments had four or more critical items cited across their visits between May 4 and Aug. 27, 2026. Counts are per permitted location, not per chain name. All were corrected at the time of inspection except the single Limp Lizard item described above.

Nine more establishments had three critical items cited, all corrected on site: Across the Hall Cafe (Syracuse), Bull & Bear Roadhouse (East Syracuse), The Century Club of Syracuse, Eden Hospitality (Syracuse), Flaming Grill & Buffet (North Syracuse), Inka’s Peruvian Fusion Cuisine (Syracuse), Original Italian Pizza at 1601 West Genesee Street (Syracuse), SU Catering Services (Syracuse) and Spectra Food & Beverage at NBT Bank Stadium (Syracuse).

A note on counting: the dataset lists one row per violation item, and on 8 of the 950 visits the inspector’s own total of critical violations is higher than the items listed (El Rancho Viejo’s May 20 report shows a total of 7 against 5 listed items). This story counts listed items. The Little Caesars at 307 West Manlius Street was the most-visited location in the county this summer, seven visits between May 18 and Aug. 25; the dataset does not say why. Four other Little Caesars locations in the county were inspected once or twice each.

The most common critical violations

Those eight codes account for 221 of the 268 critical items. Descriptions are condensed from the state form.

How to look up any restaurant

The Onondaga County Health Department’s restaurant page links to a county-filtered view of the state data, noting that “Per NYS Public Health Law 1352-D county health departments are now required to post a link to food service inspection results on their website.” Both the county view and the statewide lookup show violation codes and descriptions only; the state says requests for the full written report, with food items and temperatures, go to the local health department that did the inspection.

– Onondaga County Restaurant Inspections (Health Data NY view linked by the county): https://health.data.ny.gov/Health/Onondaga-County-Restaurant-Inspections/tbxv-5tbd
– Statewide lookup, Food Service Establishment: Last Inspection: https://health.data.ny.gov/Health/Food-Service-Establishment-Last-Inspection/cnih-y5dw
– Onondaga County Health Department restaurant page: https://onondaga.gov/health-env/restaurants/