Cafe 541

• resultPass
• critical violations0
• last inspectedApril 28, 2014
• address541 N Fairbanks Ct, Chicago 60611

Is Cafe 541 clean?

Cafe 541 is currently Pass from Chicago Department of Public Health, from an inspection on April 28, 2014. No critical violations were recorded at that visit. On Cooked's ladder that reads clean 😇.

What did inspectors find at Cafe 541?

These are the violations recorded at the most recent inspection on April 28, 2014, in plain English, with the city's own wording underneath.

• ⚠️Clean Multi-Use Utensils And Single Service Articles Properly Stored: No Reuse Of Single Service Articles • OBSERVED COFFEE FILTERS UNCOVERED ON TOP OF THE COFFEE STATION. INSTRUCTED TO COVER AND MAINTAIN COFFEE FILTERS.
  Clean Multi-Use Utensils And Single Service Articles Properly Stored: No Reuse Of Single Service Articles • OBSERVED COFFEE FILTERS UNCOVERED ON TOP OF THE COFFEE STATION. INSTRUCTED TO COVER AND MAINTAIN COFFEE FILTERS.
• 🧫food prep surfaces dirty
  Food And Non-Food Contact Equipment Utensils Clean, Free Of Abrasive Detergents • OBSERVED CAN OPENER WITH FOOD DEBRIS. INSTRUCTED TO CLEAN AND MAINTAIN CAN OPENER. • OBSERVED PEPSI SODA NOZZLE WITH ACCUMULATED DEBRIS. INSTRUCTED TO CLEAN AND MAINTAIN SODA NOZZLES.
• ⚠️Floors: Constructed Per Code, Cleaned, Good Repair, Coving Installed, Dust-Less Cleaning Methods Used • OBSERVED FLOORS UNDER AND BEHIND COOKING EQUIPMENT WITH DEBRIS. INSTRUCTED TO CLEAN AND MAINTAIN FLOORS.
  Floors: Constructed Per Code, Cleaned, Good Repair, Coving Installed, Dust-Less Cleaning Methods Used • OBSERVED FLOORS UNDER AND BEHIND COOKING EQUIPMENT WITH DEBRIS. INSTRUCTED TO CLEAN AND MAINTAIN FLOORS.
• 🌡️thermometers missing
  Lighting: Required Minimum Foot-Candles Of Light Provided, Fixtures Shielded • OBSERVED A BLOWN LIGHT BULB IN THE PREP AREA. INSTRUCTED TO PROVIDE AND MAINTAIN ADEQUATE LIGHTING.
• 🧻grimy wiping cloths
  Premises Maintained Free Of Litter, Unnecessary Articles, Cleaning Equipment Properly Stored • OBSERVED WET MOPS SITTING IN THE MOP SINK. INSTRUCTED TO STORE AND MAINTAIN MOPS PROPERLY.

When was Cafe 541 last inspected?

Cafe 541 has 6 inspections on record going back to September 17, 2010.

Cafe 541 vs Near North Side

Near North Side runs 75% clean across 2,889 tracked restaurants — 2,147 clean, 530 mid, 203 cooked.

Against the 2,889 spots Cooked tracks in Near North Side, this one comes out cleaner than 49% of them.

Other spots in Near North Side

• ✓! Jimmy Johns
  cooked · January 22, 2025
• ✓! Draftfcb
  cooked · October 30, 2013
• ✓ Einsteins
  cooked · July 8, 2016
• ✓! Affinia Hotel
  cooked · April 18, 2012
• ✓ Northfield Room
  cooked · January 20, 2015
• ✓ The Commons
  clean · January 22, 2026

See every restaurant inspection in Near North Side →

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 April 28, 2014. Inspection results describe one moment in a kitchen's life, not a permanent verdict.