Cooked?
Pollo Express Pilsen
- resultPass
- critical violations1
- last inspectedJune 17, 2026
- address1315 W 18Th St, Chicago 60608
Is Pollo Express Pilsen clean?
Pollo Express Pilsen is currently Pass from Chicago Department of Public Health, from an inspection on June 17, 2026. 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 Pollo Express Pilsen?
These are the violations recorded at the most recent inspection on June 17, 2026, in plain English, with the city's own wording underneath.
- 🧼hand hygiene slippingcriticalProper Eating, Tasting, Drinking, Or Tobacco Use • OBSERVED FOOD HANDLER PREPARING TO EAT SOMETHING AT FRONT FOOD PREP AREA. INSTRUCTED FOOD HANDLER NO EATING IN FOOD PREP AREA. HE DISCARDED FOOD ITEM CORRECT AT TIME OF INSPECTION
- 🚻bathroom / plumbing issuesPlumbing Installed; Proper Backflow Devices • LEAK AT FAUCET ON 3 COMPARTMENT SINK AT 1ST FLOOR PREP AREA. INSTRUCTED TO CORRECT AND MAINTAIN.
When was Pollo Express Pilsen last inspected?
Pollo Express Pilsen has 7 inspections on record going back to November 23, 2021.
| date | result | score |
|---|---|---|
| June 17, 2026 | Pass | |
| September 4, 2025 | Pass | |
| March 21, 2025 | Pass w/ Conditions | |
| October 15, 2024 | Pass | |
| August 5, 2024 | — | |
| May 12, 2023 | Pass w/ Conditions | |
| November 23, 2021 | Pass |
Pollo Express Pilsen 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 32% of them.
Other spots 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 June 17, 2026. Inspection results describe one moment in a kitchen's life, not a permanent verdict.