Cooked?
Balena
- resultPass
- critical violations0
- last inspectedMay 31, 2017
- address1633 N Halsted St, Chicago 60614
Is Balena clean?
Balena is currently Pass from Chicago Department of Public Health, from an inspection on May 31, 2017. No critical violations were recorded at that visit. On Cooked's ladder that reads clean 😇.
What did inspectors find at Balena?
These are the violations recorded at the most recent inspection on May 31, 2017, in plain English, with the city's own wording underneath.
- 🧫food prep surfaces dirtyFood And Non-Food Contact Equipment Utensils Clean, Free Of Abrasive Detergents • NOTED BACKING OF RANGE WITH GREASY CHAR AT THE MAIN KITCHEN.INSTRUCTED MANAGEMENT TO CLEAN.
- 🌡️thermometers missingLighting: Required Minimum Foot-Candles Of Light Provided, Fixtures Shielded • NOTED LIGHT SHIELDS NOT COMPLETELY SHIELDING LIGHTS AT MAIN KITCHEN AREA.INSTRUCTED MANAGEMENT TO COMPLETELY COVER LIGHTS WITH PROPER SHIELDS. NOTED BURNT OUT LIGHTS ADJACENT TO OVEN IN THE MAIN KITCHEN.INSTRUUCTED MANAGEMENT TO REPLACE BURNT OUT LIGHTS.
- 🪳pests in the houseVentilation: Rooms And Equipment Vented As Required: Plumbing: Installed And Maintained • NOTED VENTILATION IN ALL RESTROOMS NOT FUNCTIONING.INSTRUCTED MANAGEMENT TO REPAIR VENTILATION
When was Balena last inspected?
Balena has 17 inspections on record going back to January 19, 2010. The 12 most recent are shown below.
| date | result | score |
|---|---|---|
| December 27, 2019 | closed by the city | |
| November 16, 2018 | closed by the city | |
| August 11, 2017 | — | |
| May 31, 2017 | Pass | |
| June 29, 2016 | Pass | |
| June 22, 2016 | — | |
| July 1, 2015 | Pass | |
| June 18, 2015 | — | |
| June 12, 2014 | Pass w/ Conditions | |
| June 9, 2014 | — | |
| July 17, 2013 | Pass w/ Conditions | |
| December 7, 2012 | Pass |
Balena vs Lincoln Park
Lincoln Park runs 67% clean across 1,649 tracked restaurants — 1,089 clean, 360 mid, 187 cooked.
Against the 1,649 spots Cooked tracks in Lincoln Park, this one comes out cleaner than 36% of them.
Other spots in Lincoln 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.
Source: Chicago Department of Public Health via Chicago Data Portal. Cooked refreshes this data daily — this listing's most recent inspection is dated May 31, 2017. Inspection results describe one moment in a kitchen's life, not a permanent verdict.