La Vaca

• resultPass
• critical violations0
• last inspectedMay 14, 2025 →
• address1160 W 18Th St, Chicago 60608

Is La Vaca clean?

La Vaca is currently Pass from Chicago Department of Public Health, from an inspection on May 14, 2025. No critical violations were recorded at that visit. On Cooked's ladder that reads clean 😇.

What did inspectors find at La Vaca?

These are the violations recorded at the most recent inspection on May 14, 2025, in plain English, with the city's own wording underneath.

• 🧹floors, walls, or ceilings grimy
  Physical Facilities Installed, Maintained & Clean
• 🌡️thermometers missing
  Thermometers Provided & Accurate
• 🪳pests in the house
  Insects, Rodents, & Animals Not Present
• 🛠️surfaces / setup not up to code
  Food & Non-Food Contact Surfaces Cleanable, Properly Designed, Constructed & Used
• 🚿plumbing acting up
  Non-Food/Food Contact Surfaces Clean
• ⚠️Toilet Facilities: Properly Constructed, Supplied, & Cleaned
• 🥜allergen training missing
  Allergen Training As Required

When was La Vaca last inspected?

La Vaca has 45 inspections on record going back to May 6, 2011. The 12 most recent are shown below.

La Vaca vs Lower West Side

Lower West Side runs 80% clean across 699 tracked restaurants — 551 clean, 98 mid, 38 cooked.

Against the 699 spots Cooked tracks in Lower West Side, this one comes out cleaner than 22% of them.

Other spots in Lower West Side

• ✓ Carniceria Maribel Inc
  clean · July 8, 2025
• ✓ Pollo Express
  cooked · September 30, 2021
• ✓ Benny's Pizza
  cooked · October 9, 2014
• ? El Pilsen Caffe
  cooked · April 4, 2012
• ? Dave's Ice Cream
  cooked · August 19, 2013
• ✓ Taqueria Guerrero
  clean · January 3, 2012

See every restaurant inspection in Lower West Side →

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 May 14, 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.