Lao Sze Chuan

• resultPass
• critical violations0
• last inspectedJanuary 21, 2026
• address520 N Michigan Ave, Chicago 60611

Is Lao Sze Chuan clean?

Lao Sze Chuan is currently Pass from Chicago Department of Public Health, from an inspection on January 21, 2026. No critical violations were recorded at that visit. On Cooked's ladder that reads clean 😇.

What did inspectors find at Lao Sze Chuan?

These are the violations recorded at the most recent inspection on January 21, 2026, in plain English, with the city's own wording underneath.

• 🛠️surfaces / setup not up to code
  Food & Non-Food Contact Surfaces Cleanable, Properly Designed, Constructed & Used • OBSERVED PREP AREA REACH IN COOLERS RUBBER DOOR GASKETS RIPPED/DAMAGED. INSTRUCTED MANAGER MUST REPAIR/REPLACE ALL DAMAGED PREP AREA COOLERS DOOR RUBBER GASKETS.
• ⚠️Adequate Ventilation & Lighting; Designated Areas Used • OBSERVED VENTILATION HOOD/FILTERS WITH ACCUMULATED GREASE/FOOD BUILD UP. MUST CLEAN VENTILATION HOOD/FILTERS.
  Adequate Ventilation & Lighting; Designated Areas Used • OBSERVED VENTILATION HOOD/FILTERS WITH ACCUMULATED GREASE/FOOD BUILD UP. MUST CLEAN VENTILATION HOOD/FILTERS.

When was Lao Sze Chuan last inspected?

Lao Sze Chuan has 20 inspections on record going back to September 23, 2014. The 12 most recent are shown below.

Lao Sze Chuan vs Near North Side

Near North Side runs 75% clean across 2,889 tracked restaurants — 2,147 clean, 530 mid, 203 cooked.

Against the 2,889 spots Cooked tracks in Near North Side, this one comes out cleaner than 28% of them.

Other spots in Near North Side

• ✓ Lao Sze Chuan
  clean · September 23, 2014
• ✓ Pranzi
  clean · May 19, 2017
• ✓ Pranzi
  clean · November 12, 2013
• ✓ Eddie V's
  clean · October 13, 2015
• ✓ Eddie V's
  clean · February 25, 2014
• ✓ Scoozi
  clean · August 14, 2013

See every restaurant inspection in Near North 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.

Source: Chicago Department of Public Health via Chicago Data Portal. Cooked refreshes this data daily — this listing's most recent inspection is dated January 21, 2026. Inspection results describe one moment in a kitchen's life, not a permanent verdict.