El Tejado Mexican Grill

• resultPass w/ Conditions
• critical violations2
• last inspectedApril 28, 2026
• address6411 N Central Ave, Chicago 60646

Is El Tejado Mexican Grill clean?

El Tejado Mexican Grill is currently Pass w/ Conditions from Chicago Department of Public Health, from an inspection on April 28, 2026. 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 El Tejado Mexican Grill?

These are the violations recorded at the most recent inspection on April 28, 2026, in plain English, with the city's own wording underneath.

• 📋certified manager paperwork missingcritical
  City Of Chicago Food Service Sanitation Certificate • OBSERVED NO CITY OF CHICAGO CERTIFIED MANAGER ON DUTY WHILE TCS ITEMS SUCH AS CHICKEN WERE PREPARED. INSTRUCTED TO MAINTAIN AN EMPLOYEE HOLDING A VALID CITY OF CHICAGO FOODSERVICE MANAGER CERTIFICATE ON SITE AT ALL TIMES. PRIORITY FOUNDATION VIOLATION 7-38-012. CITATION ISSUED
• 🧼hand hygiene slippingcritical
  Proper Eating, Tasting, Drinking, Or Tobacco Use • MUST PROVIDE DESIGNATED AREA FOR EMPLOYEES PERSONAL DRINKS. ALL OPEN DRINKS ARE PROHIBITED IN PREP AREAS. INSTRUCTED TO MAINTAIN
• ⚠️Contamination Prevented During Food Preparation, Storage & Display • OBSERVED FOOD ITEMS STORED ON FLOOR IN WALK-IN FREEZER. INSTRUCTED MANAGER TO ELEVATE ALL FOOD SIX INCHES OFF FLOOR.
  Contamination Prevented During Food Preparation, Storage & Display • OBSERVED FOOD ITEMS STORED ON FLOOR IN WALK-IN FREEZER. INSTRUCTED MANAGER TO ELEVATE ALL FOOD SIX INCHES OFF FLOOR.
• 🛠️surfaces / setup not up to code
  Food & Non-Food Contact Surfaces Cleanable, Properly Designed, Constructed & Used • NOTED ASSORTED FOOD ITEMS INSIDE WALK IN COOLER UNITS WITH FOOD STORED INSIDE PLASTIC GROCERY BAGS. INSTRUCTED TO PROPERLY STORE ALL FOOD ITEMS INSIDE APPROVED FOOD GRADE CONTAINERS
• 🚿plumbing acting up
  Non-Food/Food Contact Surfaces Clean • OBSERVED ACCUMULATED GREASE AND FOOD DEBRIS ON INTERIOR AND EXTERIOR SURFACES OF COOKING EQUIPMENT, PREP TABLES, COOLERS, FREEZERS, SHELVING UNITS. INSTRUCTED MANAGER TO CLEAN AND MAINTAIN.
• 🧹floors, walls, or ceilings grimy
  Physical Facilities Installed, Maintained & Clean • OBSERVED DEBRIS ON FLOORS ALONG WALLS AND CORNERS IN WALK-IN COOLERS, UTILITY AND STORAGE AREAS. INSTRUCTED MANAGER TO CLEAN AND MAINTAIN.

When was El Tejado Mexican Grill last inspected?

El Tejado Mexican Grill has 13 inspections on record going back to November 14, 2018. The 12 most recent are shown below.

El Tejado Mexican Grill vs Forest Glen

Forest Glen runs 77% clean across 113 tracked restaurants — 87 clean, 15 mid, 11 cooked.

Against the 113 spots Cooked tracks in Forest Glen, this one comes out cleaner than 10% of them.

Other spots in Forest Glen

• ✓ Dakota 94
  clean · May 18, 2023
• ✓! Dakota 94
  mid · April 25, 2019
• ✓ Mona's Sweet Spot
  clean · November 20, 2023
• ✓ 7-Eleven
  clean · May 13, 2025
• ✓ Tin Whistle
  clean · November 20, 2023
• ✓ So Bowl
  clean · May 19, 2022

See every restaurant inspection in Forest Glen →

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 April 28, 2026. Inspection results describe one moment in a kitchen's life, not a permanent verdict.