Harold's Chicken

• resultPass
• critical violations1
• last inspectedAugust 6, 2025
• address8653 S State St, Chicago 60619

Is Harold's Chicken clean?

Harold's Chicken is currently Pass from Chicago Department of Public Health, from an inspection on August 6, 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 Harold's Chicken?

These are the violations recorded at the most recent inspection on August 6, 2025, in plain English, with the city's own wording underneath.

• 🚰handwashing sink blocked or barecritical
  Adequate Handwashing Sinks Properly Supplied And Accessible • OBSERVED NO HAND WASHING SIGNS AT HAND WASHING SINKS IN PREP AND DISH WASHING AREAS. INSTRUCTED MANAGER TO PROVIDE HAND WASHING SIGNS AT ALL HAND WASHING SINKS USED BY EMPLOYEES.
• 🏷️food improperly labeled
  Food Properly Labeled; Original Container • OBSERVED BULK CONTAINERS NOT LABELED IN PREP AREA. INSTRUCTED MANAGER TO LABEL ALL BULK CONTAINERS WITH COMMON NAME OF FOOD.
• 🪳pests in the house
  Insects, Rodents, & Animals Not Present • OBSERVED FLY STRIPS HANGING FROM CEILING IN PREP AND DISH WASHING AREAS. INSTRUCTED MANAGER TO REMOVE ALL FLY STRIPS FROM PREP AND DISH WASHING AREAS.
• ⚠️Contamination Prevented During Food Preparation, Storage & Display • OBSERVED FOOD ITEMS STORED ON FLOOR INSIDE WALK-IN FREEZER. INSTRUCTED MANAGER TO ELEVATE ALL FOOD ITEMS SIX INCHES OFF FLOOR AND MAINTAIN.
  Contamination Prevented During Food Preparation, Storage & Display • OBSERVED FOOD ITEMS STORED ON FLOOR INSIDE WALK-IN FREEZER. INSTRUCTED MANAGER TO ELEVATE ALL FOOD ITEMS SIX INCHES OFF FLOOR AND MAINTAIN.
• 🚿plumbing acting up
  Non-Food/Food Contact Surfaces Clean • OBSERVED DEBRIS ON INTERIOR AND EXTERIOR SURFACES FRYER CABINETS, PREP TABLES, SHELVING UNITS COOLERS, FREEZERS. INSTRUCTED MANAGER TO CLEAN AND MAINTAIN ALL FOOD AND NON-FOOD CONTACT SURFACES AND EQUIPMENT.
• 🧹floors, walls, or ceilings grimy
  Physical Facilities Installed, Maintained & Clean • OBSERVED FOOD SPILLS ON WALLS AND DEBRIS ON FLOORS UNDER ALL EQUIPMENT, ALONG WALLS AND IN ALL CORNERS IN PREP, STORAGE, AND DISH WASHING AREAS. INSTRUCTED MANAGER TO CLEAN WALLS AND FLOORS IN ALL AREAS. • OBSERVED LOOSE AND MISSING BASEBOARDS ALONG WALLS IN PREP AREA. INSTRUCTED MANAGER TO REPLACE BASEBOARDS AND MAINTAIN.
• ⚠️Adequate Ventilation & Lighting; Designated Areas Used • OBSERVED GREASE BUILDUP ON FILTERS AND INTERIORR SURFACES OF VENTILATION HOOD. INSTRUCTED MANAGER TO CLEAN AND MAINTAIN. • OBSERVED LOOSE LIGHT SHIELDS IN PREP AREA. INSTRUCTED MANAGER TO SECURE ALL LIGHT SHIELDS AND MAINTAIN.
  Adequate Ventilation & Lighting; Designated Areas Used • OBSERVED GREASE BUILDUP ON FILTERS AND INTERIORR SURFACES OF VENTILATION HOOD. INSTRUCTED MANAGER TO CLEAN AND MAINTAIN. • OBSERVED LOOSE LIGHT SHIELDS IN PREP AREA. INSTRUCTED MANAGER TO SECURE ALL LIGHT SHIELDS AND MAINTAIN.
• ⚠️All Food Employees Have Food Handler Training • OBSERVED NO FOOD HANDLER TRAINING FOR EMPLOYEES. INSTRUCTED MANAGER TO PROVIDE FOOD HANDLER TRAINING FOR ALL EMPLOYEES AND MAINTAIN.
  All Food Employees Have Food Handler Training • OBSERVED NO FOOD HANDLER TRAINING FOR EMPLOYEES. INSTRUCTED MANAGER TO PROVIDE FOOD HANDLER TRAINING FOR ALL EMPLOYEES AND MAINTAIN.

When was Harold's Chicken last inspected?

Harold's Chicken has 17 inspections on record going back to December 31, 2014. The 12 most recent are shown below.

Harold's Chicken vs Chatham

Chatham runs 62% clean across 443 tracked restaurants — 275 clean, 85 mid, 81 cooked.

Against the 443 spots Cooked tracks in Chatham, this one comes out cleaner than 38% of them.

Other spots in Chatham

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  mid · November 6, 2015
• ✓! Bp
  mid · August 7, 2023
• ✓ Citgo
  clean · December 29, 2015
• ✓! See Thru Chinese Kitchen
  mid · March 9, 2016
• ✓ Pizza Hut/Wing Street
  clean · April 5, 2016
• ✓! Sizzlin Skillets
  mid · November 15, 2019

See every restaurant inspection in Chatham →

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 August 6, 2025. Inspection results describe one moment in a kitchen's life, not a permanent verdict.