Ulster County inspectors wrote at least one critical, or “red,” violation in only 177 of 1,074 routine restaurant inspections (16.5%) between October 1, 2025 and September 30, 2026, well below the 27.1% rate for New York outside New York City. When an inspector did find a red, the county went back within 60 days 91.0% of the time, at a median of 21 days, and 89.4% of those return visits found no red.
These are our counts from the New York State Department of Health dataset Food Service Establishment Inspections: Beginning 2005 (rows updated October 22, 2026, inspections through October 16). Ulster reports list red (critical) and blue (other) items without a grade or score.
| Ulster County, Oct 2025 to Sep 2026 | Result |
|---|---|
| Routine restaurant inspections | 1,074 at 682 restaurants |
| At least one red violation | 177 (16.5%); state outside NYC 27.1% |
| Two or more red violations | 4.7%; state 10.6% |
| Ended with a red still open | 11 inspections |
| No violation of any kind | 39.9%; state 24.2% |
| Return visit within 60 days of a red | 161 of 177 (91.0%), median 21 days |
| Restaurants with three or more routine inspections | 64 of 682 |
How to look up an Ulster County restaurant inspection report
The Ulster County Department of Health’s Food Service Inspection Reports link opens the state’s Last Inspection list already filtered to Ulster County.
- Open that link, or go to Food Service Establishment: Last Inspection and set the County filter to ULSTER.
- Enter the restaurant’s name or street. The Municipality column lists towns such as KINGSTON, NEW PALTZ, WOODSTOCK and SAUGERTIES; the Town of Ulster appears as ULSTER.
- On the row, compare critical violations with critical violations not corrected, note the noncritical count, and open the Violations field for item names.
- Older Ulster visits are in the full inspection history dataset linked above; filter it on the restaurant’s NYS Health Operation ID. For a copy of a report, call Environmental Health Services at (845) 340-3010, 239 Golden Hill Lane, Kingston.
Kingston, New Paltz and Woodstock: red violation rates by town
| Town (state listing) | Inspections | Red rate | No violation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rochester | 31 | 25.8% | 38.7% |
| Woodstock | 60 | 23.3% | 33.3% |
| New Paltz | 139 | 21.6% | 38.1% |
| Ulster | 100 | 19.0% | 38.0% |
| Kingston | 261 | 17.6% | 38.7% |
| Lloyd | 41 | 17.1% | 41.5% |
| Wawarsing | 66 | 16.7% | 50.0% |
| Saugerties | 124 | 14.5% | 38.7% |
| Marlborough | 40 | 12.5% | 35.0% |
| Shandaken | 40 | 2.5% | 35.0% |
Rochester here is the Ulster County town, not the city in Monroe County; Monroe County’s results are a separate report. Towns with 30 or more inspections are shown. Shandaken’s 2.5% is a single red in 40 inspections.
How Ulster County follows up after a red
Of the 177 inspections that found a red, 161 had another inspection within 60 days. Across all permit types, the state data has 97 Ulster re-inspection records for the year. Eleven inspections ended with a red still uncorrected when the inspector left.
When a routine inspection found a red, the next routine inspection found another 16.5% of the time (109 cases), against 12.5% when the first found none (305 cases). In neighboring Dutchess County the same figures are 36.1% and 22.1%.
Most restaurants got one or two routine inspections in the year (375 and 243 restaurants), 45 got three and 19 got four or more. January 2026 was the busiest month, with 185 routine restaurant inspections. Ulster’s food service permits run from March 1 to February 28, according to the county’s 2026 permit cover letter.
Ulster’s red and blue items: 10A at almost twice the state rate
| Item | Ulster County | State outside NYC |
|---|---|---|
| Red 1H Food from an unapproved source or spoiled | 4.3% | 3.6% |
| Red 5C Cold food left at room temperature | 4.0% | 7.0% |
| Red 4A Toxic chemicals stored where they could contaminate food | 3.6% | 3.8% |
| Red 2C Cooked food exposed to raw food | 3.1% | 4.0% |
| Blue 15A Floors, walls or ceilings dirty or in disrepair | 26.4% | 26.2% |
| Blue 10A Food-contact surfaces cracked, pitted or hard to clean | 15.5% | 8.3% |
| Blue 10B Non-food-contact equipment | 8.7% | 23.2% |
| Blue 8A Food not protected during storage or service | 8.5% | 26.5% |
Every red item in the table sits near or below the state rate. The blue item 10A, food-contact surfaces that are cracked, pitted or otherwise hard to clean, runs at 15.5% against 8.3%. Our guide to New York State critical violation codes covers the red items in more detail.
Ulster County rules that go beyond the state code
- The county’s Food Service Waste Reduction Act bans expanded polystyrene foam containers at food service establishments.
- Local Law #1 of 2009 requires chain and fast food restaurants to post calories on menus and menu boards, and county food inspectors check it.
- The Skip the Straw Law allows plastic straws, stirrers, utensils and condiment packets only on request.
- Restaurant permit fees in the 2026 cover letter are $100 for up to 25 seats, $225 for 26 to 75 and $300 for 76 or more, plus $25 for a frozen dessert machine. Applications are due at least 21 days before opening.
The county lists these rules on its food service permits page.
How we counted
We kept routine inspections (type “Inspection”) of permits described as Restaurant, Restaurant/Catering Operation, Tavern or Food Service Establishment, dated October 1, 2025 to September 30, 2026, one inspection per operation per date. A return visit is any later inspection of the same operation within 60 days; the next-inspection comparison uses the next routine inspection through October 16, 2026. The dataset lists active permits, so restaurants that closed drop out.
For the other counties, see our county-by-county comparison for New York outside New York City. Complaints about an Ulster restaurant go to Environmental Health Services at the number above or through the state’s food complaint page.
New York State Department of Health data and Ulster County Department of Health pages checked October 25, 2026.