La Cocina

• resultPass w/ Conditions
• critical violations2
• last inspectedNovember 13, 2025 →
• address209 W Lake St, Chicago 60606

Is La Cocina clean?

La Cocina is currently Pass w/ Conditions from Chicago Department of Public Health, from an inspection on November 13, 2025. 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 La Cocina?

These are the violations recorded at the most recent inspection on November 13, 2025, in plain English, with the city's own wording underneath.

• 🤒staff working while sickcritical
  Procedures For Responding To Vomiting And Diarrheal Events
• 🚰handwashing sink blocked or barecritical
  Adequate Handwashing Sinks Properly Supplied And Accessible
• 🚿plumbing acting up
  Non-Food/Food Contact Surfaces Clean
• ⚠️Adequate Ventilation & Lighting; Designated Areas Used
• 🥜allergen training missing
  Allergen Training As Required

When was La Cocina last inspected?

La Cocina has 14 inspections on record going back to May 31, 2018. The 12 most recent are shown below.

La Cocina vs Loop

Loop runs 81% clean across 1,996 tracked restaurants — 1,595 clean, 329 mid, 43 cooked.

Against the 1,996 spots Cooked tracks in Loop, this one comes out cleaner than 4% of them.

Other spots in Loop

• ✓ La Cocina
  clean · June 8, 2018
• ✓! Tellers
  cooked · July 3, 2018
• ✕ Nilly Cafe
  cooked · March 4, 2020
• ✓ Londonhouse Hotel
  clean · January 9, 2026
• ? Londonhouse Hotel
  not rated · June 12, 2018
• ✓ Londonhouse Hotel
  clean · June 1, 2026

See every restaurant inspection in Loop →

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.

Read the Chicago ratings guide →

Inspection findings and available history come from the authority’s published records. Cooked checks daily; publication can lag behind an inspection. Read the date on each result and check the official source for newer information.

Source: Chicago Department of Public Health via Chicago Data Portal. Cooked refreshes this data daily — this listing's most recent inspection is dated November 13, 2025. Inspection results describe one moment in a kitchen's life, not a permanent verdict.

check your own block 📸

Cooked covers 10 cities on official inspection data — see who's clean, mid, or cooked near you.