Can't Believe It's Not Meat

• resultPass w/ Conditions
• critical violations3
• last inspectedMay 30, 2025
• address1368 1/2 E 53Rd St, Chicago 60615

Is Can't Believe It's Not Meat clean?

Can't Believe It's Not Meat is currently Pass w/ Conditions from Chicago Department of Public Health, from an inspection on May 30, 2025. Inspectors wrote up 3 critical violations — the kind most directly linked to foodborne illness. On Cooked's ladder that reads mid 😬.

What did inspectors find at Can't Believe It's Not Meat?

These are the violations recorded at the most recent inspection on May 30, 2025, in plain English, with the city's own wording underneath.

• 📋no certified food manager on dutycritical
  Person In Charge Present, Demonstrates Knowledge, And Performs Duties • OBSERVED NO PERSON IN CHARGE ON SITE WITH CHICAGO FOOD SANITATION CERTIFICATE. INSTRUCTED MANAGER TO DESIGNATE PERSON IN CHARGE DURING ALL HOURS OF OPERATION. PRIORITY FOUNDAITON
• 📋certified manager paperwork missingcritical
  City Of Chicago Food Service Sanitation Certificate • OBSERVED NO CHICAGO FOOD SANITATION MANAGER ON SITE OR VALID CERTIFICATE POSTED. A CHICAGO FOOD SANITATION MANAGER MUST BE ON SITE AND VALID CERTIFICATE POSTED AT ALL TIMES TCS FOOD PREPARED AND SERVED. PRIORITY FOUNDATION 7-38-012 CITATION ISSUED.
• 🧼hand hygiene slippingcritical
  Proper Eating, Tasting, Drinking, Or Tobacco Use • OBSERVED OPEN CUP OF BEVERAGE ON SHELF ABOVE PREP COOLER. INSTRUCTED MANAGER TO PROVIDE CLOSED LID CONTAINERS FOR EMPLOYEE BEVERAGES TO PREVENT CONTAMINATION.
• 🧻grimy wiping cloths
  Wiping Cloths: Properly Used & Stored • OBSERVED SOILED WIPING CLOTHS STORED ON PREP TABLES. INSTRUCTED MANAGER TO STORE WIPING CLOTHS IN SANITIZING SOLUTION BETWEEN USES.
• ⚠️Single-Use/Single-Service Articles: Properly Stored & Used • OBSERVED SINGLE SERVICE ARTICLES NOT INVERTED. INSTRUCTED MANAGER TO INVERT ALL SINGLE SERVICE ARTICLES TO PROTECT FROM CONTAMINATION.
  Single-Use/Single-Service Articles: Properly Stored & Used • OBSERVED SINGLE SERVICE ARTICLES NOT INVERTED. INSTRUCTED MANAGER TO INVERT ALL SINGLE SERVICE ARTICLES TO PROTECT FROM CONTAMINATION.
• ⚠️Adequate Ventilation & Lighting; Designated Areas Used • OBSERVED MISSING LIGHT SHIELDS IN PREP AREA. INSTRUCTED MANAGER TO PROVIDE LIGHT SHIELDS OR SHATTERPROOF BULBS IN PREP AREA.
  Adequate Ventilation & Lighting; Designated Areas Used • OBSERVED MISSING LIGHT SHIELDS IN PREP AREA. INSTRUCTED MANAGER TO PROVIDE LIGHT SHIELDS OR SHATTERPROOF BULBS IN PREP AREA.
• 🥜allergen training missing
  Allergen Training As Required • OBSERVED NO VALID ALLERGEN TRAINING AVAILABLE. ALL CERTIFIED MANAGERS MUST PROVIDE ALLERGEN TRAINING.

When was Can't Believe It's Not Meat last inspected?

Can't Believe It's Not Meat has 8 inspections on record going back to March 26, 2019.

Can't Believe It's Not Meat vs Hyde Park

Hyde Park runs 73% clean across 335 tracked restaurants — 243 clean, 69 mid, 21 cooked.

Against the 335 spots Cooked tracks in Hyde Park, this one comes out cleaner than 7% of them.

Other spots in Hyde Park

• ✓! String's
  mid · May 19, 2026
• ✓ Leona's Pizza
  clean · October 4, 2021
• ✓ Philz Coffee
  clean · September 25, 2024
• ✓ Trader Joe's #706
  clean · March 26, 2026
• ✓ Trader Joe's #706
  clean · October 8, 2019
• ✓ Jimmy Johns
  clean · April 29, 2026

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.

Source: Chicago Department of Public Health via Chicago Data Portal. Cooked refreshes this data daily — this listing's most recent inspection is dated May 30, 2025. Inspection results describe one moment in a kitchen's life, not a permanent verdict.