Grassroots

• resultPass w/ Conditions
• critical violations2
• last inspectedOctober 9, 2019
• address3747 N Southport Ave, Chicago 60613

Is Grassroots clean?

Grassroots is currently Pass w/ Conditions from Chicago Department of Public Health, from an inspection on October 9, 2019. 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 Grassroots?

These are the violations recorded at the most recent inspection on October 9, 2019, in plain English, with the city's own wording underneath.

• 🤒sick-employee policy not followedcritical
  Management, Food Employee And Conditional Employee; Knowledge, Responsibilities And Reporting • NO WRITTEN EMPLOYEE HEALTH POLICY ON SITE FOR ALL EMPLOYEES. MUST PROVIDE. PRIORITY FOUNDATION VIOLATION. NO CITATION ISSUED.
• 🤒staff working while sickcritical
  Procedures For Responding To Vomiting And Diarrheal Events • NO WRITTEN CLEANING PROCEDURE OR REQUIRED EQUIPMENT FOR A VOMITING OR DIARRHEA EVENT. MUST PROVIDE. PRIORITY FOUNDATION VIOLATION. NO CITATION ISSUED.
• 🧊food not cooled down right
  Proper Date Marking And Disposition • OBSERVED VARIOUS PREPARED TCS, READY TO EAT FOODS, HELD LONGER THAN 24 HOURS IN NUMEROUS COOLERS WITHOUT PROPER DATE LABELING. REVIEWED ALL SUCH FOODS MUST BE DATE LABELED WITH AND EXPIRATION DATE NO LONGER THAN 7 DAYS. PRIORITY FOUNDATION VIOLATION. NO CITATION ISSUED.
• 📄consumer advisory missing
  Consumer Advisory Provided For Raw/Undercooked Food • MENU DOES NOT DISCLOSE AND INFORM CONSUMERS THE SPECIFIC MENU ITEMS THAT ARE RAW OR UNDER COOKED AND A POTENTIAL HAZARD OF CONSUMING SUCH FOOD. MUST DISCLOSE AND INFORM ALL SUCH FOODS ON BOTH THE DINNER AND BRUNCH MENUS. PRIORITY FOUNDATION VIOLATION. NO CITATION ISSUED.
• 🧪toxic chemicals mishandled
  Compliance With Variance/Specialized Process/Haccp • ESTABLISHMENT PREPARES TCS FOODS, THEN BY USING REDUCED OXYGEN PACKAGING STORES THE FOODS FROZEN LONGER THAN 48 HOURS. THIS SPECIALIZED FOOD PROCESS MUST BE PROVIDED WITH A HACCP PLAN FOR THE PROCESS FOR REVIEW. PRIORITY FOUNDATION VIOLATION. NO CITATION ISSUED.
• ⚠️Variance Obtained For Specialized Processing Methods • MUST PROVIDE A HACCP PLAN FOR ALL REDUCED OXYGEN PACKAGED TCS FOODS HELD LONGER THAN 48 HOURS. SEE VIOLATION #29. PRIORITY FOUNDATION VIOLATION. NO CITATION ISSUED.
  Variance Obtained For Specialized Processing Methods • MUST PROVIDE A HACCP PLAN FOR ALL REDUCED OXYGEN PACKAGED TCS FOODS HELD LONGER THAN 48 HOURS. SEE VIOLATION #29. PRIORITY FOUNDATION VIOLATION. NO CITATION ISSUED.
• 🏷️food improperly labeled
  Food Properly Labeled; Original Container • ALL BULK FOODS AND SPICE CONTAINERS MUST BE PROPERLY LABELED WITH PRODUCT COMMON NAME.
• ⚠️Personal Cleanliness • ALL FOOD HANDLERS WITH BEARDS MUST WEAR EFFECTIVE BEARD RESTRAINTS.
  Personal Cleanliness • ALL FOOD HANDLERS WITH BEARDS MUST WEAR EFFECTIVE BEARD RESTRAINTS.
• 🛠️surfaces / setup not up to code
  Food & Non-Food Contact Surfaces Cleanable, Properly Designed, Constructed & Used • OBSERVED RUSTED METAL RACK SHELVING THROUGHOUT THE CLEAN DISH STORAGE IN THE DISH WASHING AREA. MUST REMOVE ALL RUST AND MAINTAIN.-----OBSERVED POROUS, NON-FOOD GRADE CONCRETE BRICKS BEING USED INSIDE THE OVEN TO CONDUCT HEAT WHILE COOKING/HOLDING HOT FOODS. MUST REMOVE FROM THE PREMISES, USE FOOD GRADE COOKING EQUIPMENT ONLY. • MUST NOT USE MILK CRATES AS A MEANS OF ELEVATION. SHELVING MUST PROVIDE ACCESSIBLE FLOORS FOR CLEANING AND MONITORING.---- MUST NOT USE RAW WOODEN BLOCKS AS A MEANS OF ELEVATION FOR SHELVING IN THE LIQUOR STORAGE ROOM. MUST USE NON-POROUS MATERIAL FOR SHELVING LEGS. • MUST NOT USE DUCT TAPE AS A MEANS OF REPAIR ON THE FOLLOWING EQUIPMENT: SPRAY NOZZLE OF THE DISH MACHINE SCRAPER SINK, DOOR OF THE ICE MACHINE, METAL PREP DRY RACK ON THE ONE COMPARTMENT PREP SINK. INSTRUCTED TO REMOVE ALL. • OBSERVED DIRTY TABLE TOP CAN OPENER. INSTRUCTED MUST CLEAN AFTER EACH USE.
• 🚿plumbing acting up
  Non-Food/Food Contact Surfaces Clean • OBSERVED DIRTY EXTERIOR OF ALL BULK FOOD CONTAINERS. MUST CLEAN AND MAINTAIN. • MUST NOT USE CLOTH TOWELS AS LINER FOR SHELVING.
• 🧹floors, walls, or ceilings grimy
  Physical Facilities Installed, Maintained & Clean • OBSERVED EXPANDING SPRAY FOAM USED AS SEALANT IN VARIOUS WALLS AND FLOORS THROUGHOUT THE ESTABLISHMENT. MUST REMOVE TO MAKE SEALED OPENING SMOOTH AND CLEANABLE.----OBSERVED DIRTY, PEELING DUCT TAPE ON WALLS FOR SIGNAGE AT THE THREE COMPARTMENT SINK. MUST REMOVE.----OBSERVED WATER DAMAGED CEILING TILES ABOVE THE REAR MOP SINK. MUST REPLACE.----OBSERVED BLACKENED, MOLDY WALL CAULKING AT THE DISH AREA THREE COMPARTMENT SINK. MUST REPLACE.
• ⚠️All Food Employees Have Food Handler Training • MUST PROVIDE FOOD HANDLER TRAINING/CERTIFICATES FOR ALL FOOD HANDLER AND RE-NEW ANY EXPIRED CERTIFICATES.
  All Food Employees Have Food Handler Training • MUST PROVIDE FOOD HANDLER TRAINING/CERTIFICATES FOR ALL FOOD HANDLER AND RE-NEW ANY EXPIRED CERTIFICATES.
• 🥜allergen training missing
  Allergen Training As Required • NO PROOF OF ALLERGEN TRAINING FOR ALL THE CITY OF CHICAGO CERTIFIED FOOD MANAGERS. MUST PROVIDE.

When was Grassroots last inspected?

Grassroots has 19 inspections on record going back to October 20, 2011. The 12 most recent are shown below.

Grassroots vs Lake View

Lake View runs 68% clean across 2,211 tracked restaurants — 1,492 clean, 440 mid, 272 cooked.

Against the 2,211 spots Cooked tracks in Lake View, this one comes out cleaner than 14% of them.

Other spots in Lake View

• ✓ Deleece
  clean · October 24, 2011
• ✓ Native Foods Cafe
  clean · February 27, 2023
• ✓ Native Foods Cafe
  clean · August 9, 2011
• ✓ Nori Chicago
  clean · August 30, 2011
• ✓ Bun Mi Express
  clean · June 20, 2011
• ✓ Pr Italian Bistro
  clean · May 1, 2025

See every restaurant inspection in Lake View →

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 9, 2019. Inspection results describe one moment in a kitchen's life, not a permanent verdict.