Cooked?
El Mezquite Grill
- resultPass
- critical violations0
- last inspectedFebruary 20, 2026
- address3121 W Cermak Rd, Chicago 60623
Is El Mezquite Grill clean?
El Mezquite Grill is currently Pass from Chicago Department of Public Health, from an inspection on February 20, 2026. No critical violations were recorded at that visit. On Cooked's ladder that reads clean 😇.
What did inspectors find at El Mezquite Grill?
These are the violations recorded at the most recent inspection on February 20, 2026, in plain English, with the city's own wording underneath.
- 🏷️food improperly labeledFood Properly Labeled; Original Container • OBSERVED BULK CONTAINERS NOT LABELED IN REAR PREP AREA. INSTRUCTED MANAGER TO LABEL ALL BULK CONTAINERS WITH COMMON NAME OF FOOD.
- 🛠️surfaces / setup not up to codeFood & Non-Food Contact Surfaces Cleanable, Properly Designed, Constructed & Used • OBSERVED RAW WOOD SHELVING UNDER PREP TABLE IN REAR PREP AREA. INSTRUCTED MANAGER TO SEAL ALL RAW WOOD SURFACES TO MAKE SMOOTH AND EASILY CLEANABLE.
When was El Mezquite Grill last inspected?
El Mezquite Grill has 18 inspections on record going back to May 11, 2010. The 12 most recent are shown below.
| date | result | score |
|---|---|---|
| February 20, 2026 | Pass | |
| July 23, 2025 | Pass | |
| October 23, 2024 | Pass | |
| August 2, 2023 | Pass | |
| August 15, 2022 | Pass | |
| November 10, 2020 | Pass | |
| May 16, 2019 | Pass | |
| August 14, 2018 | Pass w/ Conditions | |
| August 9, 2017 | Pass | |
| June 29, 2016 | Pass | |
| May 22, 2015 | Pass | |
| November 7, 2014 | Pass |
El Mezquite Grill vs North Lawndale
North Lawndale runs 60% clean across 620 tracked restaurants — 370 clean, 83 mid, 163 cooked.
Against the 620 spots Cooked tracks in North Lawndale, this one comes out cleaner than 43% of them.
Other spots in North Lawndale
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 February 20, 2026. Inspection results describe one moment in a kitchen's life, not a permanent verdict.