Happy Cafe

• resultPass w/ Conditions
• critical violations2
• last inspectedDecember 26, 2017
• address2351 S Wentworth Ave, Chicago 60616

Is Happy Cafe clean?

Happy Cafe is currently Pass w/ Conditions from Chicago Department of Public Health, from an inspection on December 26, 2017. 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 Happy Cafe?

These are the violations recorded at the most recent inspection on December 26, 2017, in plain English, with the city's own wording underneath.

• 🧼hand hygiene slippingcritical
  Hands Washed And Cleaned, Good Hygienic Practices; No Bare Hand Contact With Ready-To-Eat Foods. • OBSERVED IMPROPER HYGIENIC PRACTICE. AT TIME OF INSPECTION OBSERVED MALE FOOD HANDLER WASHING HANDS AT THREE-COMPARTMENT SINK. INFORMED MANAGER THAT PROPER HAND-WASHING IS REQUIRED AT EXPOSED HAND SINK, WHENEVER FOODS ARE PREPARED AND OR SERVED. MANAGER CORRECTED THE VIOLATION DURING INSPECTION. CRITICAL VIOLATION #7-38-010 (A)
• 🌡️food received at unsafe tempscritical
  Hand Washing Facilities: With Soap And Sanitary Hand Drying Devices, Convenient And Accessible To Food Prep Area • OBSERVED EXPOSED HAND SINK IN KITCHEN PREP AREA BLOCKED AND INACCESSIBLE. AT TIME OF INSPECTION SINK WAS BLOCKED BY SMALL PREP TABLE AND SINK BOWL WAS COVERED WITH SHEET PAN AND ENCRUSTED WITH EXCESSIVE IN FLOUR. SAID EXPOSED HAND SINK ALSO DID NOT HAVE PAPER TOWELS AND OR SOAP AT TIME OF INSPECTION. INFORMED MANAGERS THAT ALL EXPOSED HAND SINKS MUST HAVE SOAP AND PAPER TOWELS AND BE ACCESSIBLE FOR PROPER HAND-WASHING, WHENEVER FOODS ARE PREPARED AND OR SEVERED. MANAGER CORRECTED VIOLATION DURING INSPECTION. CRITICAL VIOLATION # 7-38-030
• 🧫food prep surfaces dirty
  Food And Non-Food Contact Equipment Utensils Clean, Free Of Abrasive Detergents • OBSERVED EXCESSIVE FOOD SPLATTER AND DEBRIS ON INTERIOR SURFACES AND WIRE SHELVING OF WALK IN COOLER AND TRUE FREEZER. INSTRUCTED MANAGER TO DETAIL CLEAN AND MAINTAIN AT ALL TIMES.
• ⚠️Floors: Constructed Per Code, Cleaned, Good Repair, Coving Installed, Dust-Less Cleaning Methods Used • OBSERVED EXCESSIVE FOOD SPLATTER AND DEBRIS ON FLOORS THROUGHOUT WALK IN COOLER AND KITCHEN PREP AREAS. INSTRUCTED MANAGER TO DETAIL CLEAN AND MAINTAIN AT ALL TIMES.
  Floors: Constructed Per Code, Cleaned, Good Repair, Coving Installed, Dust-Less Cleaning Methods Used • OBSERVED EXCESSIVE FOOD SPLATTER AND DEBRIS ON FLOORS THROUGHOUT WALK IN COOLER AND KITCHEN PREP AREAS. INSTRUCTED MANAGER TO DETAIL CLEAN AND MAINTAIN AT ALL TIMES.
• ⚠️Walls, Ceilings, Attached Equipment Constructed Per Code: Good Repair, Surfaces Clean And Dust-Less Cleaning Methods • OBSERVED CONDENSER LEAKING IN WALK-IN COOLER AT TIME OF INSPECTION. ACTIVE LEAK WAS NOT IN CONTACT WITH FOOD. INSTRUCTED MANAGEMENT TO REPAIR AND MAINTAIN IT ALL TIMES.
  Walls, Ceilings, Attached Equipment Constructed Per Code: Good Repair, Surfaces Clean And Dust-Less Cleaning Methods • OBSERVED CONDENSER LEAKING IN WALK-IN COOLER AT TIME OF INSPECTION. ACTIVE LEAK WAS NOT IN CONTACT WITH FOOD. INSTRUCTED MANAGEMENT TO REPAIR AND MAINTAIN IT ALL TIMES.
• 🪳pests in the house
  Ventilation: Rooms And Equipment Vented As Required: Plumbing: Installed And Maintained • OBSERVED SMALL LEAK AT DRAIN PIPE UNDERNEATH THREE-COMPARTMENT SINK, NEXT TO WALK IN COOLER. INSTRUCTED MANAGER TO REPAIR AND MAINTAIN AT ALL TIMES.

When was Happy Cafe last inspected?

Happy Cafe has 11 inspections on record going back to August 21, 2013.

Happy Cafe vs Armour Square

Armour Square runs 75% clean across 644 tracked restaurants — 481 clean, 114 mid, 46 cooked.

Against the 644 spots Cooked tracks in Armour Square, this one comes out cleaner than 9% of them.

Other spots in Armour Square

• ✕ Happy Chef Dim Sum House
  cooked · April 26, 2010
• ✓ The New Three Happiness, Inc
  clean · September 26, 2013
• ✓ Shui Wah Chinese Cuisine
  clean · December 27, 2011
• ✓! Lao Sze Chuan Restaurant
  mid · May 1, 2018
• ✓ Spring World Restaurant
  clean · June 23, 2010
• ? New China Town Chop Suey
  cooked · January 25, 2012

See every restaurant inspection in Armour Square →

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 December 26, 2017. Inspection results describe one moment in a kitchen's life, not a permanent verdict.