Cooked?Ancient Grounds
- resultPass
- critical violations0
- last inspectedOctober 1, 2025 →
- address5242 N Elston Ave, Chicago 60630
Is Ancient Grounds clean?
Ancient Grounds is currently Pass from Chicago Department of Public Health, from an inspection on October 1, 2025. No critical violations were recorded at that visit. On Cooked's ladder that reads clean 😇.
What did inspectors find at Ancient Grounds?
These are the violations recorded at the most recent inspection on October 1, 2025, in plain English, with the city's own wording underneath.
- ⚠️Contamination Prevented During Food Preparation, Storage & Display
- 🧹floors, walls, or ceilings grimyPhysical Facilities Installed, Maintained & Clean
When was Ancient Grounds last inspected?
Ancient Grounds has 2 inspections on record going back to September 19, 2025.
October 1, 2025 Pass
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View full inspection →September 19, 2025 Fail
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View full inspection →Ancient Grounds vs Jefferson Park
Jefferson Park runs 76% clean across 153 tracked restaurants — 116 clean, 29 mid, 8 cooked.
Against the 153 spots Cooked tracks in Jefferson Park, this one comes out cleaner than 26% of them.
Other spots in Jefferson Park
How Chicago grades restaurants
Chicago does not use letter grades. Every inspection ends in one of three official results: Pass, Pass with Conditions, or Fail. Pass with Conditions means violations were found but corrected on the spot or under a deadline — the restaurant is open, with homework. A Fail means serious violations went uncorrected, and it usually brings a re-inspection within days. Chicago also flags “priority” violations, the ones most likely to actually make someone sick. Cooked reads Pass as clean, Pass with Conditions as mid, and Fail as cooked, and shows the itemized violations behind each result.
Read the Chicago ratings guide →
Inspection findings and available history come from the authority’s published records. Cooked checks daily; publication can lag behind an inspection. Read the date on each result and check the official source for newer information.
Source: Chicago Department of Public Health via Chicago Data Portal. Cooked refreshes this data daily — this listing's most recent inspection is dated October 1, 2025. Inspection results describe one moment in a kitchen's life, not a permanent verdict.
check your own block 📸
Cooked covers 10 cities on official inspection data — see who's clean, mid, or cooked near you.