Cooked?
Employee Cafe
- resultPass
- critical violations1
- last inspectedOctober 15, 2025
- address1132 W Blackhawk St, Chicago 60642
Is Employee Cafe clean?
Employee Cafe is currently Pass from Chicago Department of Public Health, from an inspection on October 15, 2025. Inspectors wrote up 1 critical violation — the kind most directly linked to foodborne illness. On Cooked's ladder that reads clean 😇.
What did inspectors find at Employee Cafe?
These are the violations recorded at the most recent inspection on October 15, 2025, in plain English, with the city's own wording underneath.
- 🚰handwashing sink blocked or barecriticalAdequate Handwashing Sinks Properly Supplied And Accessible • No hands washing signs in men's restrooms, Instructed to provide.
- 🏷️food improperly labeledFood Properly Labeled; Original Container • Bulk food container not labeled ( salt) instructed to label.
- ⚠️In-Use Utensils: Properly Stored • Large spoons used for rice scooping held in water at room temp, instructed to keep according to health code, ie.In-Use Utensils: Properly Stored • Large spoons used for rice scooping held in water at room temp, instructed to keep according to health code, ie.
- ⚠️Utensils, Equipment & Linens: Properly Stored, Dried, & Handled • Deli cups not air dried after washing and stacking, instructed to air dry all multi-use utensil.Utensils, Equipment & Linens: Properly Stored, Dried, & Handled • Deli cups not air dried after washing and stacking, instructed to air dry all multi-use utensil.
When was Employee Cafe last inspected?
Employee Cafe has 3 inspections on record going back to July 2, 2024.
| date | result | score |
|---|---|---|
| October 15, 2025 | Pass | |
| October 8, 2025 | — | |
| July 2, 2024 | Pass |
Employee Cafe vs West Town
West Town runs 72% clean across 2,068 tracked restaurants — 1,475 clean, 422 mid, 160 cooked.
Against the 2,068 spots Cooked tracks in West Town, this one comes out cleaner than 28% of them.
Other spots in West Town
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 October 15, 2025. Inspection results describe one moment in a kitchen's life, not a permanent verdict.