El Tacotote Restaurant

• resultPass w/ Conditions
• critical violations1
• last inspectedJanuary 14, 2014
• address1536 W 18Th St, Chicago 60608

Is El Tacotote Restaurant clean?

El Tacotote Restaurant is currently Pass w/ Conditions from Chicago Department of Public Health, from an inspection on January 14, 2014. Inspectors wrote up 1 critical violation — the kind most directly linked to foodborne illness. On Cooked's ladder that reads mid 😬.

What did inspectors find at El Tacotote Restaurant?

These are the violations recorded at the most recent inspection on January 14, 2014, in plain English, with the city's own wording underneath.

• 🌡️food received at unsafe tempscritical
  Hand Washing Facilities: With Soap And Sanitary Hand Drying Devices, Convenient And Accessible To Food Prep Area • NO SANITARY HAND DRYING DEVICE AT EITHER EXPOSED HANDSINKS, USING COMMON HAND TOWEL. INSTD MGR TO PROVIDE PROPER SANITARY HAND DRYING (EX. PAPER TOWELS OR AIR DRYER). THE USE OF A COMMON TOWEL IS PROHIBITED. CITATION ISSUED 7-38-030 CRITICAL.
• 🌡️hot/cold holding temps off
  * Certified Food Manager On Site When Potentially Hazardous Foods Are Prepared And Served • NO CERTIFIED MANAGER ON DUTY WHILE HANDLING POTENTIALLY HAZARDOUS FOODS (STEAK, BEANS, ETC) INSTD TO HAVE ON DUTY AT ALL TIMES. CITATION ISSUED 7-38-012 SERIOUS.
• ⚠️Food And Non-Food Contact Surfaces Properly Designed, Constructed And Maintained • ALUMINUM FOIL ON STORAGE SHELVES. INSTD TO REMOVE SAME SO AS SURFACE TO BE SMOOTH, EVEN, EASILY CLEANABLE.
  Food And Non-Food Contact Surfaces Properly Designed, Constructed And Maintained • ALUMINUM FOIL ON STORAGE SHELVES. INSTD TO REMOVE SAME SO AS SURFACE TO BE SMOOTH, EVEN, EASILY CLEANABLE.
• 🌡️thermometers missing
  Lighting: Required Minimum Foot-Candles Of Light Provided, Fixtures Shielded • REPLACE MISSING LIGHTSHIELD AT INTERIOR OF COOKING HOOD.

When was El Tacotote Restaurant last inspected?

El Tacotote Restaurant has 3 inspections on record going back to May 6, 2013.

El Tacotote Restaurant 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 23% of them.

Other spots in Lower West Side

• ✓ Green Tomato Deli
  clean · May 20, 2013
• ✓ The Duck Inn
  clean · July 1, 2026
• ✓ The Duck Inn
  clean · November 20, 2014
• ✓ Bombon
  clean · August 16, 2016
• ✓ Duseks
  clean · June 22, 2023
• ✓ Duseks
  clean · August 15, 2013

See every restaurant inspection 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 January 14, 2014. Inspection results describe one moment in a kitchen's life, not a permanent verdict.