Mel-Bay Grocery

• resultPass
• critical violations1
• last inspectedSeptember 26, 2024 →
• address4401 W Cortez St, Chicago 60651
• cuisineGrocery Store

Is Mel-Bay Grocery clean?

Mel-Bay Grocery is currently Pass from Chicago Department of Public Health, from an inspection on September 26, 2024. 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 Mel-Bay Grocery?

These are the violations recorded at the most recent inspection on September 26, 2024, in plain English, with the city's own wording underneath.

• 🚰handwashing sink blocked or barecritical
  Adequate Handwashing Sinks Properly Supplied And Accessible
• 🛠️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
• 🧹floors, walls, or ceilings grimy
  Physical Facilities Installed, Maintained & Clean

When was Mel-Bay Grocery last inspected?

Mel-Bay Grocery has 9 inspections on record going back to September 20, 2010.

Mel-Bay Grocery vs Humboldt Park

Humboldt Park runs 77% clean across 316 tracked restaurants — 239 clean, 56 mid, 16 cooked.

Against the 316 spots Cooked tracks in Humboldt Park, this one comes out cleaner than 23% of them.

Other spots in Humboldt Park

• ✓ Chen's Garden
  cooked · January 14, 2022
• ✓! Central Park Foods Inc
  cooked · November 2, 2023
• ✕ Maiz
  cooked · May 25, 2012
• ? La Perla Tapatia Restaurant
  cooked · January 2, 2013
• ✓ Aldi Foods -Store #04
  clean · January 14, 2025
• ? Juri Food Market Inc
  cooked · July 24, 2018

See every restaurant inspection in Humboldt Park →

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 September 26, 2024. 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.