Ben's Soft Pretzels-French Market

• resultPass w/ Conditions
• critical violations0
• last inspectedDecember 16, 2014
• address131 N Clinton St, Chicago 60661

Is Ben's Soft Pretzels-French Market clean?

Ben's Soft Pretzels-French Market is currently listed as closed by Chicago Department of Public Health, as of its inspection on December 16, 2014. A closure means inspectors found conditions serious enough to stop service — it is not the same as a restaurant choosing to shut down, and the listing can change once the problems are fixed and re-inspected.

What did inspectors find at Ben's Soft Pretzels-French Market?

These are the violations recorded at the most recent inspection on December 16, 2014, 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 • NO CITY OF CHICAGO SANITATION CERTIFICATE POSTED ON THE PREMISES AND NO CERTIFIED MANAGER PRESENT WHILE FOODS WERE BEING PREPARED AND HELD HOT IE: PRETZEL WRAPPED HOT DOG AT 153.6F IN HOT HOLDING DISPLAY CASE. SERIOUS CITATION ISSUED 7-38-012.
• ⚠️* Inspection Report Summary Displayed And Visible To All Customers • SUMMARY REPORT FROM 6-9-14 NOT POSTED ON THE PREMISES. SERIOUS CITATION ISSUED 7-42-010(B). GIVEN TODAYS SUMMARY AND POSTED.
  * Inspection Report Summary Displayed And Visible To All Customers • SUMMARY REPORT FROM 6-9-14 NOT POSTED ON THE PREMISES. SERIOUS CITATION ISSUED 7-42-010(B). GIVEN TODAYS SUMMARY AND POSTED.
• ⚠️Food In Original Container, Properly Labeled: Customer Advisory Posted As Needed • ALL BULK FOOD CONTAINERS MUST BE LABELED.
  Food In Original Container, Properly Labeled: Customer Advisory Posted As Needed • ALL BULK FOOD CONTAINERS MUST BE LABELED.
• ⚠️Food And Non-Food Contact Surfaces Properly Designed, Constructed And Maintained • MUST NOT USE RAW WOOD TO COVER THE THREE COMPARTMENT SINK. SINK MUST BE AVAILABLE AND RAW WOOD MUST NOT BE USED AS A PREP TABLE OR CUTTING BOARD. OBSERVED DEEP CUT GROOVES IN RAW WOOD.
  Food And Non-Food Contact Surfaces Properly Designed, Constructed And Maintained • MUST NOT USE RAW WOOD TO COVER THE THREE COMPARTMENT SINK. SINK MUST BE AVAILABLE AND RAW WOOD MUST NOT BE USED AS A PREP TABLE OR CUTTING BOARD. OBSERVED DEEP CUT GROOVES IN RAW WOOD.
• 🧫food prep surfaces dirty
  Food And Non-Food Contact Equipment Utensils Clean, Free Of Abrasive Detergents • THE FOLLOWING FOUND TO BE DIRTY: INTERIOR OF THE THREE COMPARTMENT AND EXPOSED HAND WASHING SINKS. EXTERIOR ALL BULK FOOD CONTAINERS. MUST CLEAN AND MAINTAIN
• ⚠️Floors: Constructed Per Code, Cleaned, Good Repair, Coving Installed, Dust-Less Cleaning Methods Used • DIRTY FLOORS THROUGHOUT ENTIRE BOOTH AND ALL STORED ITEMS MUST BE ELEVATED FROM THE FLOOR 6" OR ABOVE.
  Floors: Constructed Per Code, Cleaned, Good Repair, Coving Installed, Dust-Less Cleaning Methods Used • DIRTY FLOORS THROUGHOUT ENTIRE BOOTH AND ALL STORED ITEMS MUST BE ELEVATED FROM THE FLOOR 6" OR ABOVE.

When was Ben's Soft Pretzels-French Market last inspected?

Ben's Soft Pretzels-French Market has 5 inspections on record going back to June 3, 2014.

Ben's Soft Pretzels-French Market vs Loop

Loop runs 44% clean across 3,616 tracked restaurants — 1,566 clean, 332 mid, 1,687 cooked.

Against the 3,616 spots Cooked tracks in Loop, this one comes out cleaner than 0% of them.

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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 December 16, 2014. Inspection results describe one moment in a kitchen's life, not a permanent verdict.