Baba's Famous Steaks & Lemondade

• resultPass
• critical violations1
• last inspectedOctober 10, 2025
• address7500 S Cottage Grove Ave, Chicago 60619

Is Baba's Famous Steaks & Lemondade clean?

Baba's Famous Steaks & Lemondade is currently Pass from Chicago Department of Public Health, from an inspection on October 10, 2025. Inspectors wrote up 1 critical violation — the kind most directly linked to foodborne illness. On Cooked's ladder that reads clean 😇.

What did inspectors find at Baba's Famous Steaks & Lemondade?

These are the violations recorded at the most recent inspection on October 10, 2025, in plain English, with the city's own wording underneath.

• 🚰handwashing sink blocked or barecritical
  Adequate Handwashing Sinks Properly Supplied And Accessible • OBSERVED NO HAND WASHING SIGN A FRONT HAND WASHING SINK. INSTRUCTED MANAGER TO PROVIDE AND MAINTAIN.
• ⚠️Contamination Prevented During Food Preparation, Storage & Display • OBSERVED NO SPLASHGUARD BETWEEN UTILITY AND 3-COMPARTMENT SINK. INSTRUCTED MANAGER TO PROVIDE AND MAINTAIN.
  Contamination Prevented During Food Preparation, Storage & Display • OBSERVED NO SPLASHGUARD BETWEEN UTILITY AND 3-COMPARTMENT SINK. INSTRUCTED MANAGER TO PROVIDE AND MAINTAIN.
• 🧻grimy wiping cloths
  Wiping Cloths: Properly Used & Stored • OBSERVED SOILED WIPING CLOTHS STORED ON PREP TABLES. INSTRUCTED MANAGER TO STORE WIPING CLOTHS IN SANITIZING SOLUTION BETWEEN USES.
• ⚠️Single-Use/Single-Service Articles: Properly Stored & Used • OBSERVED SINGLE SERVICE ARTICLES NOT INVERTED AND STORED ON FLOOR IN STORAGE AREA. INSTRUCTED MANAGER TO INVERT AND ELEVATE ALL SINGLE SERVICE ARTICLES OFF FLOOR.
  Single-Use/Single-Service Articles: Properly Stored & Used • OBSERVED SINGLE SERVICE ARTICLES NOT INVERTED AND STORED ON FLOOR IN STORAGE AREA. INSTRUCTED MANAGER TO INVERT AND ELEVATE ALL SINGLE SERVICE ARTICLES OFF FLOOR.
• 🛠️surfaces / setup not up to code
  Food & Non-Food Contact Surfaces Cleanable, Properly Designed, Constructed & Used • OBSERVED NO STOPPERS FOR 3-COMPARTMENT SINK. INSTRUCTED MANAGER TO PROVIDE AND MAINTAIN. OBSERVED PEELING PAINT AND RUSTY SURFACES ON SHELVING UNITS INSIDE REACH-IN COOLERS. INSTRUCTED MANAGER TO REPLACE AND MAINTAIN.
• ⚠️Warewashing Facilities: Installed, Maintained & Used; Test Strips • OBSERVED MULTI-USE EQUIPMENT TOO LARGE TO SUBMERGE IN 3-COMPARTMENT SINK. INSTRUCTED MANAGER TO REMOVE LARGE EQUIPMENT OR INSTALL LARGER 3-COMPARTMENT SINK.
  Warewashing Facilities: Installed, Maintained & Used; Test Strips • OBSERVED MULTI-USE EQUIPMENT TOO LARGE TO SUBMERGE IN 3-COMPARTMENT SINK. INSTRUCTED MANAGER TO REMOVE LARGE EQUIPMENT OR INSTALL LARGER 3-COMPARTMENT SINK.
• 🚿plumbing acting up
  Non-Food/Food Contact Surfaces Clean • OBSERVED FOOD DEBRIS AND GREASE BUILDUP ON INTERIOR AND EXTERIOR SURFACES OF COOLERS, FREEZERS, COOKING EQUIPMENT, SHELVING UNITS, CABINETS, ETC. INSTRUCTED MANAGER TO CLEAN AND MAINTAIN.
• ⚠️Toilet Facilities: Properly Constructed, Supplied, & Cleaned • OBSERVED NO COVERED RECEPTACLE IN WASHROOM. INSTRUCTED MANAGER TO PROVIDE AND MAINTAIN.
  Toilet Facilities: Properly Constructed, Supplied, & Cleaned • OBSERVED NO COVERED RECEPTACLE IN WASHROOM. INSTRUCTED MANAGER TO PROVIDE AND MAINTAIN.
• 🧹floors, walls, or ceilings grimy
  Physical Facilities Installed, Maintained & Clean • : OBSERVED LOOSE AND MISSING BASEBOARDS, MISSING AND STAINED CEILING TILES IN LOBBY, FRONT COUNTER, PREP, AND STORAGE AREAS. INSTRUCTED MANAGER TO REPLACE AND MAINTAIN. OBSERVED PEELING PAINT ON WALLS IN REAR STORAGE AREA. INSTRUCTED MANAGER TO MAKE WALLS SMOOTH AND EASILY CLEANABLE.
• ⚠️All Food Employees Have Food Handler Training • OBSERVED MISSING FOOD HANDLER TRAINING FOR EMPLOYEES. ALL EMPLOYEES HANDLING FOOD AND EQUIPMENT MUST PROVIDE FOOD HANDLER TRAINING.
  All Food Employees Have Food Handler Training • OBSERVED MISSING FOOD HANDLER TRAINING FOR EMPLOYEES. ALL EMPLOYEES HANDLING FOOD AND EQUIPMENT MUST PROVIDE FOOD HANDLER TRAINING.

When was Baba's Famous Steaks & Lemondade last inspected?

Baba's Famous Steaks & Lemondade has 7 inspections on record going back to March 8, 2023.

Baba's Famous Steaks & Lemondade vs Greater Grand Crossing

Greater Grand Crossing runs 64% clean across 489 tracked restaurants — 312 clean, 67 mid, 106 cooked.

Against the 489 spots Cooked tracks in Greater Grand Crossing, this one comes out cleaner than 36% of them.

Other spots in Greater Grand Crossing

• ✓! 71St Public Wholesale, Inc.
  mid · March 30, 2023
• ✓ Harold's Chicken # 13 Shack
  clean · December 8, 2023
• ✓ 67 Seafood Market
  clean · March 1, 2024
• ✓ Aldi's #08
  clean · May 9, 2023
• ✓ Sunny's Bar B Que
  clean · December 5, 2025
• ✓ Park Manor 75
  clean · July 29, 2025

See every restaurant inspection in Greater Grand Crossing →

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.

Source: Chicago Department of Public Health via Chicago Data Portal. Cooked refreshes this data daily — this listing's most recent inspection is dated October 10, 2025. Inspection results describe one moment in a kitchen's life, not a permanent verdict.