Pilsen Yards/The Alderman

• resultPass w/ Conditions
• critical violations3
• last inspectedSeptember 18, 2025
• address1159-1163 W 18Th St, Chicago 60608

Is Pilsen Yards/The Alderman clean?

Pilsen Yards/The Alderman is currently Pass w/ Conditions from Chicago Department of Public Health, from an inspection on September 18, 2025. Inspectors wrote up 3 critical violations — the kind most directly linked to foodborne illness. On Cooked's ladder that reads mid 😬.

What did inspectors find at Pilsen Yards/The Alderman?

These are the violations recorded at the most recent inspection on September 18, 2025, in plain English, with the city's own wording underneath.

• 📋certified manager paperwork missingcritical
  City Of Chicago Food Service Sanitation Certificate • UPON ARRIVAL, OBSERVED NO CERTIFIED FOOD MANAGER ON SITE WITH THE ORIGINAL CITY OF CHICAGO FOOD SERVICE MANAGER CERTIFICATE ON SITE. INSTRUCTED A CITY OF CERTIFIED FOOD MANAGER MUST BE ON SITE AT ALL TIMES WITH THE ORIGINAL CITY OF CHICAGO FOOD SERVICE MANAGER CERTIFICATE. WHEN RETURNED ON SITE MANAGER PURCHASED A DUPLICATE OF CERTIFICATE. PRIORITY FOUNDATION VIOLATION 7-38-012, CITATION ISSUED
• 🚰handwashing sink blocked or barecritical
  Adequate Handwashing Sinks Properly Supplied And Accessible • OBSERVED THE HANDWASHING SINKS IN REAR DISHWASHING AREA, EMPLOYEE TOILET ROOM, AND BEHIND BARS MISSING HANDWASHING SIGNS. INSTRUCTED TO PROVIDE AND MAINTAIN.
• ⚠️Required Records Available: Shellstock Tags, Parasite Destruction • OBSERVED THAT FACILITY PREPARES AND SERVES SHELLFISH. SHELLFISH TAGS OBSERVED STORED WITHOUT PROPER DATING WHEN IS LAST ONE STORED OR PREPARED. MUST MAINTAIN RECORDS, PROPERLY MARKED TAGS AND STORED THEM FOR 90 DAYS FROM DATE LAST ONE FROM BOX PREPARED OR SOLD. ALSO, MUST CREATE A DATING SYSTEM FOR SHELLSTOCK TAGS PRIORITY FOUNDATION VIOLATION 7-38-005, CITATION ISSUEDcritical
  Required Records Available: Shellstock Tags, Parasite Destruction • OBSERVED THAT FACILITY PREPARES AND SERVES SHELLFISH. SHELLFISH TAGS OBSERVED STORED WITHOUT PROPER DATING WHEN IS LAST ONE STORED OR PREPARED. MUST MAINTAIN RECORDS, PROPERLY MARKED TAGS AND STORED THEM FOR 90 DAYS FROM DATE LAST ONE FROM BOX PREPARED OR SOLD. ALSO, MUST CREATE A DATING SYSTEM FOR SHELLSTOCK TAGS PRIORITY FOUNDATION VIOLATION 7-38-005, CITATION ISSUED
• 🏷️food improperly labeled
  Food Properly Labeled; Original Container • OBSERVED BULK DRY STORAGE CONTAINERS NOT LABELED. INSTRUCTED TO LABEL AND MAINTAIN.
• 🪳pests in the house
  Insects, Rodents, & Animals Not Present • OBSERVED DEAD ROACHES ON THE FLOOR UNDER THE REAR DISHWASHING MACHINE EQUIPMENT. INSTRUCTED TO REMOVE, CLEAN, AND SANITIZE AFFECTED AREA.
• ⚠️Contamination Prevented During Food Preparation, Storage & Display • OBSERVED THE ICE BIN AT THE OUTDOOR BAR NOT COVERED, WHILE UNATTENDED. INSTRUCTED TO COVER TO PREVENT POTENTIAL CONTAMINATION.
  Contamination Prevented During Food Preparation, Storage & Display • OBSERVED THE ICE BIN AT THE OUTDOOR BAR NOT COVERED, WHILE UNATTENDED. INSTRUCTED TO COVER TO PREVENT POTENTIAL CONTAMINATION.
• ⚠️Utensils, Equipment & Linens: Properly Stored, Dried, & Handled • OBSERVED CLEAN SPOONS NOT INVERTED IN THE REAR FOOD PREP AREA. INSTRUCTED TO INVERT AND MAINTAIN.
  Utensils, Equipment & Linens: Properly Stored, Dried, & Handled • OBSERVED CLEAN SPOONS NOT INVERTED IN THE REAR FOOD PREP AREA. INSTRUCTED TO INVERT AND MAINTAIN.

When was Pilsen Yards/The Alderman last inspected?

Pilsen Yards/The Alderman has 15 inspections on record going back to April 19, 2018. The 12 most recent are shown below.

Pilsen Yards/The Alderman vs Lower West Side

Lower West Side runs 68% clean across 1,153 tracked restaurants — 775 clean, 162 mid, 205 cooked.

Against the 1,153 spots Cooked tracks in Lower West Side, this one comes out cleaner than 18% of them.

Other spots in Lower West Side

• ✓ Monnie Burke's Restaurant
  clean · April 26, 2018
• ✓ Home Run Inn
  clean · November 26, 2019
• ✓ La Comodita
  clean · October 4, 2017
• ✓ Dunkin Donuts
  clean · May 18, 2026
• ✓ Big Wang's
  clean · May 16, 2019
• ✓ Diez Y Ocho
  clean · August 8, 2017

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.

Source: Chicago Department of Public Health via Chicago Data Portal. Cooked refreshes this data daily — this listing's most recent inspection is dated September 18, 2025. Inspection results describe one moment in a kitchen's life, not a permanent verdict.