Papa Joe's Pizza

• resultPass w/ Conditions
• critical violations1
• last inspectedJanuary 23, 2025
• address5750 N Milwaukee Ave, Chicago 60646

Is Papa Joe's Pizza clean?

Papa Joe's Pizza is currently Pass w/ Conditions from Chicago Department of Public Health, from an inspection on January 23, 2025. Inspectors wrote up 1 critical violation — the kind most directly linked to foodborne illness. On Cooked's ladder that reads mid 😬.

What did inspectors find at Papa Joe's Pizza?

These are the violations recorded at the most recent inspection on January 23, 2025, in plain English, with the city's own wording underneath.

• 📋certified manager paperwork missingcritical
  City Of Chicago Food Service Sanitation Certificate • OBSERVED NO CITY OF CHICAGO FOODSERVICE MANAGER CERTIFICATE POSTED ON SITE AT TIME OF INSPECTION. INSTRUCTED TO MAINTAIN AN EMPLOYEE HOLDING A VALID CITY OF CHICAGO FOODSERVICE MANAGER CERTIFICATE ON SITE AT ALL TIMES. PRIORITY FOUNDATION VIOLATION 7-38-012. CITATION ISSUED.
• 🧊food not cooled down right
  Proper Date Marking And Disposition • OBSERVED CHICKEN WINGS PREPARED ON SITE AND HELD PAST 7 DAY DISCARD DATE. 2 CONTAINERS OF CHICKEN WERE OBSERVED WITH DISCARD DATES OF 1/5 AND 1/12 ON 1/23/2025. MANAGEMENT VOLUNTARILY DISCARDED APPROXIMATELY 20LBS OF CHICKEN VALUED AT APPROXIMATELY $100. INSTRUCTED TO NOT KEEP PREPARED TCS ITEMS PAST ALLOWABLE RANGE. PRIORITY VIOLATION 7-38-005. CITATION ISSUED.
• ⚠️Adequate Ventilation & Lighting; Designated Areas Used • OBSERVED HEAVY BUILD UP OF DUST ON FILTERS IN HOOD OVER COOK LINE. INSTRUCTED TO DETAIL CLEAN AND MAINTAIN IN GOOD CONDITION. • OBSERVED SEVERAL BURNT OUT LIGHTS IN CEILING OF REAR PREP AREA. INSTRUCTED TO CORRECT AND MAINTAIN IN GOOD CONDITION.
  Adequate Ventilation & Lighting; Designated Areas Used • OBSERVED HEAVY BUILD UP OF DUST ON FILTERS IN HOOD OVER COOK LINE. INSTRUCTED TO DETAIL CLEAN AND MAINTAIN IN GOOD CONDITION. • OBSERVED SEVERAL BURNT OUT LIGHTS IN CEILING OF REAR PREP AREA. INSTRUCTED TO CORRECT AND MAINTAIN IN GOOD CONDITION.
• ⚠️All Food Employees Have Food Handler Training • OBSERVED 2 OF 4 EMPLOYEES WITHOUT FOOD HANDLER TRAINING. INSTRUCTED ALL EMPLOYEES MUST COMPLETE FOOD HANDLER TRAINING AND MAINTAIN RECORDS THEREOF ON SITE AT ALL TIMES.
  All Food Employees Have Food Handler Training • OBSERVED 2 OF 4 EMPLOYEES WITHOUT FOOD HANDLER TRAINING. INSTRUCTED ALL EMPLOYEES MUST COMPLETE FOOD HANDLER TRAINING AND MAINTAIN RECORDS THEREOF ON SITE AT ALL TIMES.
• 🥜allergen training missing
  Allergen Training As Required • OBSERVED NO ALLERGEN TRAINING CERTIFICATES ON SITE AT TIME OF INSPECTION. INSTRUCTED ALL EMPLOYEES HOLDING CITY OF CHICAGO FOODSERVICE MANAGER CERTIFICATE MUST COMPLETE ALLERGEN TRAINING AND MAINTAIN RECORDS THEREOF ON SITE AT ALL TIMES.

When was Papa Joe's Pizza last inspected?

Papa Joe's Pizza has 26 inspections on record going back to October 29, 2010. The 12 most recent are shown below.

Papa Joe's Pizza vs Jefferson Park

Jefferson Park runs 69% clean across 272 tracked restaurants — 188 clean, 47 mid, 37 cooked.

Against the 272 spots Cooked tracks in Jefferson Park, this one comes out cleaner than 19% of them.

Other spots in Jefferson Park

• ✓ Mom's Old Recipe Mexican Restaurant
  clean · March 18, 2025
• ✓ Rosati's Pizza
  clean · March 20, 2013
• ✓! My Mart
  mid · October 21, 2010
• ? Lasko's
  cooked · December 7, 2017
• ? Prohibition Club
  cooked · October 3, 2014
• ✕ Kovala Bakery
  cooked · January 29, 2021

See every restaurant inspection in Jefferson 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.

Source: Chicago Department of Public Health via Chicago Data Portal. Cooked refreshes this data daily — this listing's most recent inspection is dated January 23, 2025. Inspection results describe one moment in a kitchen's life, not a permanent verdict.