Chef Rafael & Son's

• resultPass w/ Conditions
• critical violations2
• last inspectedMay 16, 2025 →
• address3816 W Montrose Ave, Chicago 60618
• cuisineCatering

Is Chef Rafael & Son's clean?

Chef Rafael & Son's is currently Pass w/ Conditions from Chicago Department of Public Health, from an inspection on May 16, 2025. Inspectors wrote up 2 critical violations — the kind most directly linked to foodborne illness. On Cooked's ladder that reads mid 😬.

What did inspectors find at Chef Rafael & Son's?

These are the violations recorded at the most recent inspection on May 16, 2025, in plain English, with the city's own wording underneath.

• ⚠️Single-Use/Single-Service Articles: Properly Stored & Used
• 🚿plumbing acting up
  Non-Food/Food Contact Surfaces Clean
• 🚻bathroom / plumbing issues
  Plumbing Installed; Proper Backflow Devices
• 🧹floors, walls, or ceilings grimy
  Physical Facilities Installed, Maintained & Clean
• ⚠️All Food Employees Have Food Handler Training
• 🥜allergen training missing
  Allergen Training As Required
• 📋no certified food manager on dutycritical
  Person In Charge Present, Demonstrates Knowledge, And Performs Duties
• 📋certified manager paperwork missingcritical
  City Of Chicago Food Service Sanitation Certificate
• 🏷️food improperly labeled
  Food Properly Labeled; Original Container
• 🪳pests in the house
  Insects, Rodents, & Animals Not Present

When was Chef Rafael & Son's last inspected?

Chef Rafael & Son's has 13 inspections on record going back to June 23, 2016. The 12 most recent are shown below.

Chef Rafael & Son's vs Irving Park

Irving Park runs 78% clean across 369 tracked restaurants — 288 clean, 74 mid, 5 cooked.

Against the 369 spots Cooked tracks in Irving Park, this one comes out cleaner than 2% of them.

Other spots in Irving Park

• ✓ Bow Truss Coffee Roaster
  cooked · August 4, 2016
• ✓! La Biznaga
  cooked · December 16, 2021
• ✓ Dona Maris #2
  cooked · October 10, 2013
• ✓! Miko's
  mid · December 27, 2021
• ✓ Mirabella's Italian Cuisine + Bar
  clean · December 5, 2025
• ✓ Mirabella's Italian Cuisine + Bar
  clean · November 15, 2016

See every restaurant inspection in Irving 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 May 16, 2025. 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.