Smoothe Cafe

• resultPass w/ Conditions
• critical violations1
• last inspectedNovember 28, 2011
• address909 W Montrose Ave, Chicago 60613

Is Smoothe Cafe clean?

Smoothe Cafe is currently Pass w/ Conditions from Chicago Department of Public Health, from an inspection on November 28, 2011. 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 Smoothe Cafe?

These are the violations recorded at the most recent inspection on November 28, 2011, in plain English, with the city's own wording underneath.

• ⚠️Source Of Cross Contamination Controlled I.E. Cutting Boards, Food Handlers, Utensils, Etc • All food shall be protected from contamination and the elements, and so shall all food equipment, containers, utensils, food contact surfaces and devices, and vehicles. SOURCE OF CONTAMINATION.OBSERVED INTERIOR OF ICE MACHINE WATER RESERVOIR WITH BLACK SLIME SUBSTANCE AND MINERAL BUILD-UP DRIPPING INTO WATER WHERE ICE IS MADE.UNIT WAS TURNED OFF AND TAGGED"HELD FOR INSPECTION" DO NOT USE ICE, BUY ICE IN BAGS AND KEEP RECEIPT ON PREMISES.FAX A LETTER WHEN UNIT IS CLEANED AND SANITIZED(FAX #312-746-4240). CRITICAL VIOLATION:7-38-0005(A) HOOOO75244-15critical
  Source Of Cross Contamination Controlled I.E. Cutting Boards, Food Handlers, Utensils, Etc • All food shall be protected from contamination and the elements, and so shall all food equipment, containers, utensils, food contact surfaces and devices, and vehicles. SOURCE OF CONTAMINATION.OBSERVED INTERIOR OF ICE MACHINE WATER RESERVOIR WITH BLACK SLIME SUBSTANCE AND MINERAL BUILD-UP DRIPPING INTO WATER WHERE ICE IS MADE.UNIT WAS TURNED OFF AND TAGGED"HELD FOR INSPECTION" DO NOT USE ICE, BUY ICE IN BAGS AND KEEP RECEIPT ON PREMISES.FAX A LETTER WHEN UNIT IS CLEANED AND SANITIZED(FAX #312-746-4240). CRITICAL VIOLATION:7-38-0005(A) HOOOO75244-15
• 🪳pests in the house
  Ventilation: Rooms And Equipment Vented As Required: Plumbing: Installed And Maintained • Ventilation: All plumbing fixtures, such as toilets, sinks, washbasins, etc., must be adequately trapped, vented, and re-vented and properly connected to the sewer in accordance with the plumbing chapter of the Municipal Code of Chicago and the Rules and Regulations of the Board of Health. REPLACE BROKEN WATER HANDLE AT FIRST WASHBOWL IN THE MEN'S WASHROOM/LOCKER ROOM.
• ⚠️Refrigeration And Metal Stem Thermometers Provided And Conspicuous • All food establishments that display, prepare, or store potentially hazardous foods shall have calibrated metal stem thermometers, provided and conspicuous, for refrigerated and hot food units. THERMOMETER IS NEEDED INSIDE THE SMALL COOLER IN PREP AREA.
  Refrigeration And Metal Stem Thermometers Provided And Conspicuous • All food establishments that display, prepare, or store potentially hazardous foods shall have calibrated metal stem thermometers, provided and conspicuous, for refrigerated and hot food units. THERMOMETER IS NEEDED INSIDE THE SMALL COOLER IN PREP AREA.

When was Smoothe Cafe last inspected?

Smoothe Cafe has 3 inspections on record going back to August 8, 2011.

Smoothe Cafe vs Uptown

Uptown runs 62% clean across 725 tracked restaurants — 446 clean, 137 mid, 137 cooked.

Against the 725 spots Cooked tracks in Uptown, this one comes out cleaner than 26% of them.

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• ✕ Grace African Restaurant
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• ✓ Demera Ethiopian Restaurant
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• ? Bun Bo Dong Kinh
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See every restaurant inspection in Uptown →

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 November 28, 2011. Inspection results describe one moment in a kitchen's life, not a permanent verdict.