Cafe Monsivais

• resultPass
• critical violations0
• last inspectedOctober 20, 2016
• address1637 W 18Th St, Chicago 60608

Is Cafe Monsivais clean?

Cafe Monsivais is currently Pass from Chicago Department of Public Health, from an inspection on October 20, 2016. No critical violations were recorded at that visit. On Cooked's ladder that reads clean 😇.

What did inspectors find at Cafe Monsivais?

These are the violations recorded at the most recent inspection on October 20, 2016, in plain English, with the city's own wording underneath.

• ⚠️Food In Original Container, Properly Labeled: Customer Advisory Posted As Needed • OBSERVED POTENTIALLY HAZARDOUS FOODS (SHRIMP, COCONUT MILK, BEEF) IN CONTAINERS LOCATED IN THE REFRIGERATOR WITHOUT PROPER LABELS CONTAINING PRODUCT NAME AND DATE. INSTRUCTED TO LABEL ALL POTENTIALLY HAZARDOUS FOODS THAT ARE OUT OF THE ORIGINAL PACKAGING AND HELD FOR OVER 24 HOURS AND MAINTAIN.
  Food In Original Container, Properly Labeled: Customer Advisory Posted As Needed • OBSERVED POTENTIALLY HAZARDOUS FOODS (SHRIMP, COCONUT MILK, BEEF) IN CONTAINERS LOCATED IN THE REFRIGERATOR WITHOUT PROPER LABELS CONTAINING PRODUCT NAME AND DATE. INSTRUCTED TO LABEL ALL POTENTIALLY HAZARDOUS FOODS THAT ARE OUT OF THE ORIGINAL PACKAGING AND HELD FOR OVER 24 HOURS AND MAINTAIN.
• ⚠️Food And Non-Food Contact Surfaces Properly Designed, Constructed And Maintained • OBSERVED STAINED CUTTING BOARDS IN THE FOOD PREP AREA. INSTRUCTED TO REPLACE AND MAINITAIN.
  Food And Non-Food Contact Surfaces Properly Designed, Constructed And Maintained • OBSERVED STAINED CUTTING BOARDS IN THE FOOD PREP AREA. INSTRUCTED TO REPLACE AND MAINITAIN.
• 🧫food prep surfaces dirty
  Food And Non-Food Contact Equipment Utensils Clean, Free Of Abrasive Detergents • OBSERVED INTERIOR OF REFRIGERATION UNIT WITH MINOR FOOD DEBRIS. INSTRUCTED TO CLEAN AND MAINTAIN.
• ⚠️Floors: Constructed Per Code, Cleaned, Good Repair, Coving Installed, Dust-Less Cleaning Methods Used • OBSERVED FLOORS THRU OUT THE FOOD PREP AREA WITH DIRT AND FOOD DEBRIS. INSTRUCTED TO CLEAN UNDER AND AROUND ALL REFRIGERATION UNITS, UNDER 3 COMPARTMENT SINK, UNDER DISH MACHINE AND BASEMENT STAIRS AND MAINTAIN.
  Floors: Constructed Per Code, Cleaned, Good Repair, Coving Installed, Dust-Less Cleaning Methods Used • OBSERVED FLOORS THRU OUT THE FOOD PREP AREA WITH DIRT AND FOOD DEBRIS. INSTRUCTED TO CLEAN UNDER AND AROUND ALL REFRIGERATION UNITS, UNDER 3 COMPARTMENT SINK, UNDER DISH MACHINE AND BASEMENT STAIRS AND MAINTAIN.
• 🌡️thermometers missing
  Lighting: Required Minimum Foot-Candles Of Light Provided, Fixtures Shielded • OBSERVED BROKEN AND MISSING LIGHT SHIELDS IN THE FOOD PREP AREA. INSTRUCTED TO PROVIDE LIGHT SHIELDS AND MAINTAIN.
• 🪳pests in the house
  Ventilation: Rooms And Equipment Vented As Required: Plumbing: Installed And Maintained • OBSERVED COFFEE MACHINE NOT IN USE IN BEVERAGE AREA. INSTRUCTED TO REMOVE OR PROVIDE HAND SINK AND MAINTAIN.
• 🧻grimy wiping cloths
  Premises Maintained Free Of Litter, Unnecessary Articles, Cleaning Equipment Properly Stored • OBSERVED CLUTTER IN DRY STORAGE AREA. INSTRUCTED TO ELEVATE EVERYTHING AT LEAST 6 INCHES FROM THE GROUND AND MAINTAIN.

When was Cafe Monsivais last inspected?

Cafe Monsivais has 6 inspections on record going back to December 10, 2014.

Cafe Monsivais vs Lower West Side

Lower West Side runs 68% clean across 1,153 tracked restaurants — 775 clean, 162 mid, 205 cooked.

Against the 1,153 spots Cooked tracks in Lower West Side, this one comes out cleaner than 34% of them.

Other spots in Lower West Side

• ✓ Kristoffer's Cafe And Bakery
  clean · December 26, 2025
• ✓ La Favorita
  clean · June 1, 2016
• ✓ La Michoacana Premium
  clean · December 19, 2017
• ✓ Alulu
  clean · January 10, 2025
• ✓ Alulu
  clean · November 16, 2016
• ✓ Belli's
  clean · November 1, 2016

See every restaurant inspection in Lower West 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 October 20, 2016. Inspection results describe one moment in a kitchen's life, not a permanent verdict.