Cosi

• resultPass w/ Conditions
• critical violations2
• last inspectedMarch 3, 2016
• address259 E Erie St, Chicago 60611

Is Cosi clean?

Cosi is currently listed as closed by Chicago Department of Public Health, as of its inspection on March 3, 2016. A closure means inspectors found conditions serious enough to stop service — it is not the same as a restaurant choosing to shut down, and the listing can change once the problems are fixed and re-inspected.

What did inspectors find at Cosi?

These are the violations recorded at the most recent inspection on March 3, 2016, in plain English, with the city's own wording underneath.

• 📋certified manager paperwork missingcritical
  Facilities To Maintain Proper Temperature • COLD HOLDING REFRIGERATION UNIT ON THE FOOD LINE UNABLE TO MAINTAIN TEMPERATURE OF 40F OR LESS AT TIME OF INPSECTION. INTERIOR TEMPERATURE WAS 52.8F BY MY THERMOMETER AND 53F BY THEIR INTERNAL TEMPERATURE. ALL POTENTIALLY HAZARDOUS FOOD ITEMS LOCATED IN THE COOLER OUT OF TEMPERATURE WERE DISCARDED (SEE VIOLATION #3 FOR DETAILS). REFRIGERATION UNIT WAS TAGGED AND CANNOT BE USED UNTIL RE-INSPECTED BY CDPH. ONCE FIXED PLEASE FAX A LETTER TO 312-746-4240 OR EMAIL US AT [email protected]. CRITICAL VIOLATION 7-38-005(A).
• 🤒sick-employee policy not followedcritical
  Potentially Hazardous Food Meets Temperature Requirement During Storage, Preparation Display And Service • FOUND POTENTIALLY HAZARDOUS FOODS AT IMPROPER TEMPERATURES IN THE COLD-HOLDING REFRIGERATION UNIT ON THE FOOD LINE: FOUND PESTO CHICKEN AT 52.3F, COOKED CHICKEN BREAST AT 51.8F, BUFFALO CHICKEN AT 50.5F, SPINACH ARTICHOKE DIP AT 50.8F, DELI MEAT AT 54.3F, CREAM CHEESES AT 51F, CHICKEN SALAD AT 50.5F, HUMMUS AT 51F, AND PORK BELLY AT 52.2F. MANAGER VOLUNTARILY DISCARDED 50# OF FOOD WORTH $300. CRITICAL VIOLATION 7-38-005A
• ⚠️Food And Non-Food Contact Surfaces Properly Designed, Constructed And Maintained • OBSERVED PINK DISCOLORATION ON THE ICE CHUTE OF THE SODA DISPENSER. INSTRUCTED TO DETAIL CLEAN ICE CHUTE AND MAINTAIN.
  Food And Non-Food Contact Surfaces Properly Designed, Constructed And Maintained • OBSERVED PINK DISCOLORATION ON THE ICE CHUTE OF THE SODA DISPENSER. INSTRUCTED TO DETAIL CLEAN ICE CHUTE AND MAINTAIN.
• ⚠️Floors: Constructed Per Code, Cleaned, Good Repair, Coving Installed, Dust-Less Cleaning Methods Used • DETAIL CLEAN THE FLOORS OF THE WALK-IN PRODUCE COOLER TO REMOVE BUILDUP ALONG THE EDGES OF THE COOLER AND MAINTAIN.
  Floors: Constructed Per Code, Cleaned, Good Repair, Coving Installed, Dust-Less Cleaning Methods Used • DETAIL CLEAN THE FLOORS OF THE WALK-IN PRODUCE COOLER TO REMOVE BUILDUP ALONG THE EDGES OF THE COOLER AND MAINTAIN.

When was Cosi last inspected?

Cosi has 5 inspections on record going back to November 18, 2014.

Cosi vs Near North Side

Near North Side runs 53% clean across 2,889 tracked restaurants — 1,514 clean, 253 mid, 1,113 cooked.

Against the 2,889 spots Cooked tracks in Near North Side, this one comes out cleaner than 0% of them.

Other spots in Near North Side

• ✓ Candyality
  cooked · November 18, 2014
• ✓ Big Bowl/ Big City Chicken
  clean · October 23, 2025
• ✓ Frankie's Pizza
  clean · October 23, 2025
• ✓ Rush Street Pantry
  clean · March 5, 2015
• ✓ Alliance Patisserie
  cooked · August 1, 2019
• ✓! Ocean Cut Chicago
  cooked · October 30, 2017

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 March 3, 2016. Inspection results describe one moment in a kitchen's life, not a permanent verdict.