Balkan Cafe

• resultPass w/ Conditions
• critical violations0
• last inspectedFebruary 16, 2012
• address2321 W Lawrence Ave, Chicago 60625

Is Balkan Cafe clean?

Balkan Cafe is currently Pass w/ Conditions from Chicago Department of Public Health, from an inspection on February 16, 2012. No critical violations were recorded at that visit. On Cooked's ladder that reads mid 😬.

What did inspectors find at Balkan Cafe?

These are the violations recorded at the most recent inspection on February 16, 2012, in plain English, with the city's own wording underneath.

• 🌡️hot/cold holding temps off
  * Certified Food Manager On Site When Potentially Hazardous Foods Are Prepared And Served • A certified food service manager must be present in all establishments at which potentially hazardous food is prepared or served. FOUND NO CERTIFIED FOOD MANAGER ON DUTY WHEN POTENTIALLY HAZARDOUS FOODS (EG SAUSAGE, CHICKEN, COLD AND HOT SANDWICHES, SHRIMP ETC) ARE BEING PREPARED AND SERVED. NO CITY OF CHICAGO FOOD SERVICE SANITATION CERTIFICATE ON SITE. INSTRUCTED PERSON IN CHARGE, A CERTIFIED FOOD MANAGER WITH CITY OF CHICAGO FOOD SERVICE SANITATION CERTIFICATE MUST BE PRESENT WHEN HANDLING POTENTIALLY HAZARDOUS FOODS. SERIOUS CITATION ISSUED 7-38-012
• 🧫food prep surfaces dirty
  Food And Non-Food Contact Equipment Utensils Clean, Free Of Abrasive Detergents • FOLLOWING IN NEED OF DETAIL CLEANING AND MAINTAINING: INTERIOR AND EXTERIOR SURFACES OF ALL COOLERS, COOKING EQUIPMENT (STOVE/OVEN, FRYER, KITCHEN HOOD AND FILTERS, MICROWAVE OVEN) WITH GREASE BUILD-UP, STORAGE SHELVES, AND PREP SHELVES.
• ⚠️Floors: Constructed Per Code, Cleaned, Good Repair, Coving Installed, Dust-Less Cleaning Methods Used • INSTRUCTED TO CLEAN AND MAINTAIN FLOORS THROUGHOUT PREMISES ESPECIALLY ALONG THE WALLS AND IN ALL CORNERS, UNDER AND AROUND COOKING EQUIPMENT, INCLUDING WASHROOM FLOOR AND IN BOILER ROOM FLOOR,
  Floors: Constructed Per Code, Cleaned, Good Repair, Coving Installed, Dust-Less Cleaning Methods Used • INSTRUCTED TO CLEAN AND MAINTAIN FLOORS THROUGHOUT PREMISES ESPECIALLY ALONG THE WALLS AND IN ALL CORNERS, UNDER AND AROUND COOKING EQUIPMENT, INCLUDING WASHROOM FLOOR AND IN BOILER ROOM FLOOR,
• 🪳pests in the house
  Ventilation: Rooms And Equipment Vented As Required: Plumbing: Installed And Maintained • INSTRUCTED TO FIX STRIPPED HOT FAUCET HANDLE AT MOP SINK.
• ⚠️Refrigeration And Metal Stem Thermometers Provided And Conspicuous • INSTRUCTED TO PROVIDE THERMOMETER VISIBLE INSIDE ALL COOLERS.
  Refrigeration And Metal Stem Thermometers Provided And Conspicuous • INSTRUCTED TO PROVIDE THERMOMETER VISIBLE INSIDE ALL COOLERS.
• 🧻grimy wiping cloths
  Premises Maintained Free Of Litter, Unnecessary Articles, Cleaning Equipment Properly Stored • INSTRUCTED TO REMOVE UNNECESSARY ARTICLES, CLUTTER AND UNUSED EQUIPMENT STORED IN KITCHEN AREA TO PREVENT RODENT AND INSECT HARBORAGE. USABLE ITEMS MUST BE STORED 6" OFF THE FLOOR FOR EASY ACCESS ON CLEANING.

When was Balkan Cafe last inspected?

Balkan Cafe has 3 inspections on record going back to December 27, 2010.

Balkan Cafe vs Lincoln Square

Lincoln Square runs 59% clean across 922 tracked restaurants — 536 clean, 152 mid, 228 cooked.

Against the 922 spots Cooked tracks in Lincoln Square, this one comes out cleaner than 37% of them.

Other spots in Lincoln Square

• ? Costello's Sandwiches
  cooked · November 8, 2012
• ? El Camino Taqueria Restaurant
  cooked · July 14, 2011
• ? Snappy Convenience Center #6
  cooked · August 24, 2011
• ? Continental Care Center Inc
  cooked · July 18, 2012
• ? Ael Catering & Associates
  cooked · November 3, 2015
• ✓ Bel-Ami Restaurant
  clean · August 5, 2025

See every restaurant inspection in Lincoln Square →

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 February 16, 2012. Inspection results describe one moment in a kitchen's life, not a permanent verdict.