Cooked?
El Rayo Tacos
- resultPass w/ Conditions
- critical violations0
- last inspectedSeptember 19, 2023
- address2300 S Throop St, Chicago 60608
- cuisineMobile Food Preparer
Is El Rayo Tacos clean?
El Rayo Tacos is currently Pass w/ Conditions from Chicago Department of Public Health, from an inspection on September 19, 2023. No critical violations were recorded at that visit. On Cooked's ladder that reads mid 😬.
What did inspectors find at El Rayo Tacos?
These are the violations recorded at the most recent inspection on September 19, 2023, in plain English, with the city's own wording underneath.
- ⚠️Contamination Prevented During Food Preparation, Storage & Display • FOUND FRESH WATER INLET NOT PROTECTED , COVER UNABLE TO LOCK AT TIME OF INSPECTION TO PREVENT CONTAMINATION. INSTRUCTED MANAGER TO PROVIDE. PRIORITY VIOLATION. MANAGER PROVIDES LOCK FOR WATER INLET COVER.Contamination Prevented During Food Preparation, Storage & Display • FOUND FRESH WATER INLET NOT PROTECTED , COVER UNABLE TO LOCK AT TIME OF INSPECTION TO PREVENT CONTAMINATION. INSTRUCTED MANAGER TO PROVIDE. PRIORITY VIOLATION. MANAGER PROVIDES LOCK FOR WATER INLET COVER.
When was El Rayo Tacos last inspected?
El Rayo Tacos has 7 inspections on record going back to September 3, 2019.
| date | result | score |
|---|---|---|
| September 19, 2023 | Pass w/ Conditions | |
| June 8, 2023 | — | |
| May 18, 2023 | — | |
| June 28, 2022 | Pass | |
| June 23, 2022 | Fail | |
| September 22, 2021 | Pass | |
| September 3, 2019 | Pass |
El Rayo Tacos 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 28% of them.
Other spots 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 September 19, 2023. Inspection results describe one moment in a kitchen's life, not a permanent verdict.