Cafe 53

• resultPass w/ Conditions
• critical violations1
• last inspectedApril 3, 2026 →
• address1369 E 53Rd St, Chicago 60615

Is Cafe 53 clean?

Cafe 53 is currently Pass w/ Conditions from Chicago Department of Public Health, from an inspection on April 3, 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 Cafe 53?

These are the violations recorded at the most recent inspection on April 3, 2026, in plain English, with the city's own wording underneath.

• 🚰handwashing sink blocked or barecritical
  Adequate Handwashing Sinks Properly Supplied And Accessible
• 🧹floors, walls, or ceilings grimy
  Physical Facilities Installed, Maintained & Clean

When was Cafe 53 last inspected?

Cafe 53 has 14 inspections on record going back to March 11, 2011. The 12 most recent are shown below.

Cafe 53 vs Hyde Park

Hyde Park runs 80% clean across 211 tracked restaurants — 168 clean, 36 mid, 5 cooked.

Against the 211 spots Cooked tracks in Hyde Park, this one comes out cleaner than 8% of them.

Other spots in Hyde Park

• ✓ Park 52
  cooked · March 22, 2012
• ✓ Park 52
  clean · April 20, 2011
• ✓ Starbucks Coffee #2827
  clean · September 27, 2024
• ✓! Siam Food Company
  mid · June 15, 2026
• ✓! Five Guys Burgers And Fries
  mid · August 23, 2024
• ✓ Walgreens #162
  clean · January 3, 2012

See every restaurant inspection in Hyde 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.

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 April 3, 2026. Inspection results describe one moment in a kitchen's life, not a permanent verdict.

check your own block 📸

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