Bowls & Bao

• resultPass
• critical violations0
• last inspectedJanuary 22, 2018
• address214 W Van Buren St, Chicago 60607

Is Bowls & Bao clean?

Bowls & Bao is currently listed as closed by Chicago Department of Public Health, as of its inspection on January 22, 2018. 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 Bowls & Bao?

These are the violations recorded at the most recent inspection on January 22, 2018, in plain English, with the city's own wording underneath.

• ⚠️Food Handler Requirements Met • FOOD HANDLER REQUIREMENTS NOT MET. INFORMATION PROVIDED.
  Food Handler Requirements Met • FOOD HANDLER REQUIREMENTS NOT MET. INFORMATION PROVIDED.
• ⚠️Food And Non-Food Contact Surfaces Properly Designed, Constructed And Maintained • MUST REPAIR BROKEN SIDE KNOB ON FAUCET OF 3-COMP SINK. INSTALL SPLASH GUARDS AT EXPOSED HAND SINK AT SERVICE COUNTER AND AT 2-COMP SINK IN REAR PREP. DISCONTINUE USING GROCERY BAGS AND CARDBOARD IN COOLERS & FREEZER THROUGHOUT PREP AREAS.
  Food And Non-Food Contact Surfaces Properly Designed, Constructed And Maintained • MUST REPAIR BROKEN SIDE KNOB ON FAUCET OF 3-COMP SINK. INSTALL SPLASH GUARDS AT EXPOSED HAND SINK AT SERVICE COUNTER AND AT 2-COMP SINK IN REAR PREP. DISCONTINUE USING GROCERY BAGS AND CARDBOARD IN COOLERS & FREEZER THROUGHOUT PREP AREAS.
• 🧫food prep surfaces dirty
  Food And Non-Food Contact Equipment Utensils Clean, Free Of Abrasive Detergents • MUST CLEAN FOOD DEBRIS FROM INTERIOR OF ALL LOWER COMPARTMENTS OF NON-WORKING PREP COOLERS IN PREP AREA.
• ⚠️Walls, Ceilings, Attached Equipment Constructed Per Code: Good Repair, Surfaces Clean And Dust-Less Cleaning Methods • MUST REPLACE STAINED AND MISSING CEILING TILES ABOVE 2-COMP SINK IN REAR PREP AREA.
  Walls, Ceilings, Attached Equipment Constructed Per Code: Good Repair, Surfaces Clean And Dust-Less Cleaning Methods • MUST REPLACE STAINED AND MISSING CEILING TILES ABOVE 2-COMP SINK IN REAR PREP AREA.
• 🌡️thermometers missing
  Lighting: Required Minimum Foot-Candles Of Light Provided, Fixtures Shielded • MUST REPLACE BURNED OUT LIGHT IN PREP AREA. ALSO, CLEAN UNKNOWN DEBRIS FROM LIGHT SHIELDS IN SAID AREA.
• 🪳pests in the house
  Ventilation: Rooms And Equipment Vented As Required: Plumbing: Installed And Maintained • MUST REPAIR LEAKY FAUCET AT MOP SINK IN PREP AREA.

When was Bowls & Bao last inspected?

Bowls & Bao has 5 inspections on record going back to February 26, 2016.

Bowls & Bao 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.

Other spots in Loop

• ✓! Starbucks
  mid · December 6, 2024
• ✓! Pine Street Kitchen
  mid · July 22, 2025
• ✓ Artists Snack Shop
  clean · October 13, 2016
• ✓ Ins Market
  cooked · April 29, 2016
• ✓ Firefin Poke Shop
  cooked · May 31, 2017
• ✓ Starbucks
  clean · September 25, 2024

See every restaurant inspection in Loop →

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 January 22, 2018. Inspection results describe one moment in a kitchen's life, not a permanent verdict.