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Biglaw's Best -- and Buggiest -- Cafeterias

Which major New York law firms have the greatest - and the grossest - cafeterias?

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The four firms with subpar cafeterias are some of the city’s biggest and best law firms:

  • Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft;
  • Cravath, Swaine & Moore;
  • Davis Polk & Wardwell; and
  • White & Case

Yes, there’s a little schadenfreude going on at rival firms. Said one of our sources: “Davis Polk got a B! Might be fun to make fun of Davis Polk’s B, considering that they won’t hire students with Bs.”

So what did the firms do to earn their place in the hall of shame? From Am Law:

In Cadwalader’s case, the firm was marked as “grade pending” after a follow-up inspection of its cafeteria on January 24 resulted in 25 violation points. The venue’s “critical” violations—those worth multiple points—included hot food not being kept hot enough, cold food not kept cold enough, and “food not protected from potential source of contamination during storage, preparation, transportation, display or service.” (Inspectors had recorded 26 violation points during an initial visit on January 13.)

Not that exciting. Through a spokesperson, Cadwalader threw its vendors under the bus told Am Law that “[o]ur cafeteria has consistently maintained top grades and reviews for over ten years” and that “[w]e hold our outside vendors accountable to maintain the highest standards.”

Cravath, too, was hit with 25 violation points following a February 2 inspection of its “Cravath Cafe”—down from the 39 violations points it racked up on January 19. Critical violations detected on February 2 included cold food not being kept cold enough and “filth flies or food/refuse/sewage-associated (FRSA) flies present in facility’s food and/or non-food areas.”

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As my colleague Staci Zaretsky put it in Morning Docket, “this could definitely be one of the reasons why Cravath hasn’t given out any spring bonuses to associates yet this year. They probably had to spend all of their money to clean up their allegedly fly-infested cafeteria.”

(On the bright side, CSM associates who want to avoid the Cravatheteria can always go to Subway, where they enjoy a generous discount.)

Davis Polk, which also fell short of the “A” range, is among the other firms that employs [outside vendor] Flik [International, a division of Compass Group North America]. According to the health department’s Web site, “Davis Polk Dining Room” received a “B” following a November 17, 2011, inspection that resulted in 24 violation points—the same number recorded on October 31. The firm’s critical violations included cold food not kept cold enough; “food contact surface not properly washed, rinsed and sanitized after each use and following any activity when contamination may have occurred”; and “sanitized equipment or utensil, including in-use food dispensing utensil, improperly used or stored.”

Cold food not kept cold enough? Blame it on the body heat generated by all those DPW hotties.

White & Case, too, got a “B.” The firm’s cafeteria registered 14 violation points on September 13, 2011. Critical violations included “raw, cooked or prepared food is adulterated, contaminated, cross-contaminated, or not discarded in accordance with [Hazard Analysis & Critical Control Points] plan” and “filth flies or food/refuse/sewage-associated (FRSA) flies present in facility’s food and/or non-food areas.”

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Some White & Case lawyers allegedly like to get raw and raunchy. But they presumably don’t like their food that way.

Have a tip or funny story for us about your law firm’s cafeteria, whether in New York or elsewhere? Feel free to send our way (photos are especially welcome).

Dishing the Dirt on Where the Am Law 200 Dines [Am Law Daily via Morning Docket]
Bloomberg Defends Grading System Derided by Restaurateurs [New York Times]
Restaurant Inspection Information [New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene]

Earlier: Skadden D.C. Cafeteria: Closed for Health Code Violations!
Health Inspection Scores of NYC Law Firm Cafeterias: How Does Your Firm Stack Up?

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