Serai

• resultPass w/ Conditions
• critical violations2
• last inspectedOctober 18, 2023
• address2169-2171 N Milwaukee Ave, Chicago 60647

Is Serai clean?

Serai is currently Pass w/ Conditions from Chicago Department of Public Health, from an inspection on October 18, 2023. Inspectors wrote up 2 critical violations — the kind most directly linked to foodborne illness. On Cooked's ladder that reads mid 😬.

What did inspectors find at Serai?

These are the violations recorded at the most recent inspection on October 18, 2023, in plain English, with the city's own wording underneath.

• 📋certified manager paperwork missingcritical
  City Of Chicago Food Service Sanitation Certificate • NO CITY OF CHICAGO CERTIFIED FOOD MANAGER PRESENT WHILE TCS FOODS (RICE AT 150F) IS BEING PREPARED. MANAGEMENT INSTRUCTED THAT A CERTIFIED FOOD MANAGER MUST BE PRESENT AT ALL TIMES WITH A CITY OF CHICAGO FOOD SANITATION CERTIFICATE WHILE TCS FOODS ARE BEING PREPARED OR SERVED. PRIORITY FOUNDATION VIOLATION 7-38-012. CITATION ISSUED.
• 🤒sick-employee policy not followedcritical
  Management, Food Employee And Conditional Employee; Knowledge, Responsibilities And Reporting • OBSERVED NO WRITTEN EMPLOYEE HEALTH POLICY ON THE PREMISES. MANAGEMENT INSTRUCTED TO HAVE A SIGNED EMPLOYEE HEALTH POLICY FOR EACH EMPLOYEE. PRIORITY FOUNDATION VIOLATION 7-38-010. CITATION ISSUED.
• ⚠️Personal Cleanliness • OBSERVED A FOOD HANDLING EMPLOYEE PREPARING FOOD WITHOUT A HAIR RESTRAINT. MANAGEMENT INSTRUCTED THAT ALL FOOD HANDLING EMPLOYEES MUST WEAR A HAIR RESTRAINT WHILE PREPARING FOOD.
  Personal Cleanliness • OBSERVED A FOOD HANDLING EMPLOYEE PREPARING FOOD WITHOUT A HAIR RESTRAINT. MANAGEMENT INSTRUCTED THAT ALL FOOD HANDLING EMPLOYEES MUST WEAR A HAIR RESTRAINT WHILE PREPARING FOOD.
• 🛠️surfaces / setup not up to code
  Food & Non-Food Contact Surfaces Cleanable, Properly Designed, Constructed & Used • OBSERVED RUST ON THE BOTTOM SHELF OF THE SMALL PREP TABLE NEXT TO THE GRILL AREA. MANAGEMENT INSTRUCTED TO SCRAPE AND PAINT OVER THE RUST OR REPLACE THE PREP TABLE.
• 🚿plumbing acting up
  Non-Food/Food Contact Surfaces Clean • CLEAN THE INTERIOR OF THE FREEZER.
• 🧹floors, walls, or ceilings grimy
  Physical Facilities Installed, Maintained & Clean • OBSERVED CHIPPED PAINT ON THE CEILING OF THE BASEMENT WALK-IN FREEZER. MANAGEMENT INSTRUCTED TO SCRAPE AND REPAINT THE AFFECTED AREA. • CLEAN THE FLOOR OF THE BASEMENT LIQUOR STORAGE CLOSET.

When was Serai last inspected?

Serai has 11 inspections on record going back to December 20, 2016.

Serai vs Logan Square

Logan Square runs 66% clean across 1,321 tracked restaurants — 870 clean, 253 mid, 186 cooked.

Against the 1,321 spots Cooked tracks in Logan Square, this one comes out cleaner than 15% of them.

Other spots in Logan Square

• ✓ Serai
  clean · December 20, 2016
• ✓ Jimmy Beans, A Logan Square Roaster
  clean · December 10, 2024
• ✓ Tbd
  clean · September 14, 2017
• ✓ The Moonlighter
  clean · June 4, 2026
• ✓ Your Happy Place Liquors
  clean · November 8, 2016
• ✓ Farmers Pride Produce & Market
  clean · September 8, 2016

See every restaurant inspection in Logan Square →

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 October 18, 2023. Inspection results describe one moment in a kitchen's life, not a permanent verdict.