Ben's Bar Be Cue

• resultPass w/ Conditions
• critical violations1
• last inspectedMarch 25, 2026 →
• address5931 W North Ave, Chicago 60639

Is Ben's Bar Be Cue clean?

Ben's Bar Be Cue is currently Pass w/ Conditions from Chicago Department of Public Health, from an inspection on March 25, 2026. Inspectors wrote up 1 critical violation — the kind most directly linked to foodborne illness. On Cooked's ladder that reads mid 😬.

What did inspectors find at Ben's Bar Be Cue?

These are the violations recorded at the most recent inspection on March 25, 2026, in plain English, with the city's own wording underneath.

• 🤒sick-employee policy not followedcritical
  Management, Food Employee And Conditional Employee; Knowledge, Responsibilities And Reporting
• 🌡️hot/cold holding temps off
  Proper Hot Holding Temperatures
• 🏷️food improperly labeled
  Food Properly Labeled; Original Container
• 🪳pests in the house
  Insects, Rodents, & Animals Not Present
• ⚠️Contamination Prevented During Food Preparation, Storage & Display
• 🛠️surfaces / setup not up to code
  Food & Non-Food Contact Surfaces Cleanable, Properly Designed, Constructed & Used
• 🧹floors, walls, or ceilings grimy
  Physical Facilities Installed, Maintained & Clean

When was Ben's Bar Be Cue last inspected?

Ben's Bar Be Cue has 23 inspections on record going back to March 20, 2012. The 12 most recent are shown below.

Ben's Bar Be Cue vs Austin

Austin runs 75% clean across 311 tracked restaurants — 229 clean, 58 mid, 18 cooked.

Against the 311 spots Cooked tracks in Austin, this one comes out cleaner than 12% of them.

Other spots in Austin

• ✓ Spicy Mix Asian & American
  cooked · October 31, 2017
• ✓ M J's Bar B Q
  cooked · March 30, 2012
• ✓ Genesis On The Avenue
  cooked · November 26, 2014
• ✓ New Food Market, Inc.
  clean · May 28, 2026
• ✓ Austin Dollar Plus
  clean · April 16, 2012
• ✓ 24 Foods Mart
  clean · April 24, 2012

See every restaurant inspection in Austin →

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 March 25, 2026. Inspection results describe one moment in a kitchen's life, not a permanent verdict.

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Cooked covers 10 cities on official inspection data — see who's clean, mid, or cooked near you.