Cafe Central

• resultPass
• critical violations1
• last inspectedMay 7, 2026 →
• address1437 W Chicago Ave, Chicago 60642

Is Cafe Central clean?

Cafe Central is currently Pass from Chicago Department of Public Health, from an inspection on May 7, 2026. Inspectors wrote up 1 critical violation — the kind most directly linked to foodborne illness. On Cooked's ladder that reads clean 😇.

What did inspectors find at Cafe Central?

These are the violations recorded at the most recent inspection on May 7, 2026, in plain English, with the city's own wording underneath.

• 🚰handwashing sink blocked or barecritical
  Adequate Handwashing Sinks Properly Supplied And Accessible
• 🏷️food improperly labeled
  Food Properly Labeled; Original Container
• ⚠️Contamination Prevented During Food Preparation, Storage & Display
• ⚠️In-Use Utensils: Properly Stored
• ⚠️Utensils, Equipment & Linens: Properly Stored, Dried, & Handled
• 🛠️surfaces / setup not up to code
  Food & Non-Food Contact Surfaces Cleanable, Properly Designed, Constructed & Used

When was Cafe Central last inspected?

Cafe Central has 17 inspections on record going back to January 9, 2013. The 12 most recent are shown below.

Cafe Central vs West Town

West Town runs 77% clean across 1,251 tracked restaurants — 958 clean, 251 mid, 30 cooked.

Against the 1,251 spots Cooked tracks in West Town, this one comes out cleaner than 23% of them.

Other spots in West Town

• ✓ Sugarpie Bakery And Cafe,Llc
  clean · September 25, 2013
• ✓ Dippin' Dots Ice Cream
  clean · April 29, 2026
• ✓ Husky Hog Bbq
  clean · July 2, 2015
• ✓ The Salsa Truck
  cooked · June 17, 2014
• ✓! Dimo's Pizza Six Corners
  cooked · November 22, 2024
• ✓ Dimo's Pizza Six Corners
  clean · July 12, 2013

See every restaurant inspection in West Town →

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 May 7, 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.