Specialty's Cafe & Bakery

• resultPass w/ Conditions
• critical violations3
• last inspectedFebruary 19, 2020
• address525 W Monroe St, Chicago 60661

Is Specialty's Cafe & Bakery clean?

Specialty's Cafe & Bakery is currently Pass w/ Conditions from Chicago Department of Public Health, from an inspection on February 19, 2020. 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 Specialty's Cafe & Bakery?

These are the violations recorded at the most recent inspection on February 19, 2020, in plain English, with the city's own wording underneath.

• 📋no certified food manager on dutycritical
  Person In Charge Present, Demonstrates Knowledge, And Performs Duties • OBSERVED PERSON IN CHARGE WITHOUT CITY OF CHICAGO FOOD SANITATION CERTIFICATE. INSTRUCTED TO OBTAIN. PRIORITY FOUNDATION VIOLATION.
• 📋certified manager paperwork missingcritical
  City Of Chicago Food Service Sanitation Certificate • OBSERVED NO CITY OF CHICAGO CERTIFIED FOOD MANAGER ON SITE WHILE PREPARING AND SERVING TIME/TEMPERATURE CONTROL OR SAFETY FOODS ( QUICHES, TOMATOES, DAIRY CREAMER, SOUPS,EGG SANDWICHES). INSTRUCTED TO PROVIDE AT LEAST ONE CITY OF CHICAGO CERTIFIED FOOD MANAGER ON SITE AT ALL TIMES WITH VALID ORIGINAL CERTIFICATE POSTED FOR PUBLIC VIEW. PRIORITY FOUNDATION VIOLATION. 7-38-012. CITATION ISSUED.
• 🚰handwashing sink blocked or barecritical
  Adequate Handwashing Sinks Properly Supplied And Accessible • OBSERVED HAND WASHING SINK LOCATED IN IN USE REAR PREP (CATERING/DISH WASHING ) AREA WITH HOT WATER TEMPERATURE @ 200F. NOTED COLD WATER WAS TURNED OFF DURING TIME OF INSPECTION AND HOT WATER WAS ONLY AVAILABLE FOR HANDWASHING THROUGH MANUAL FAUCET. COLD WATER WAS RESTORED ONCE GENERAL MANAGER ARRIVED AFTER THE CLOSE OF INSPECTION. HAND-SINKS SHALL HAVE MAXIMUM HOT WATER TEMPERATURE OF 120F PER CODE. MUST MAINTAIN. PRIORITY FOUNDATION VIOLATION. 7-38-030 (C). CITATION ISSUED.
• 🧹floors, walls, or ceilings grimy
  Physical Facilities Installed, Maintained & Clean • OBSERVED EXCESSIVE TRASH AND FOOD DEBRIS ON FLOORS THROUGHOUT COFFEE PREP, STORAGE ROOM, WALK IN FREEZER AND REAR PREP AREA UNDER PREP TABLES, AND AROUND FLOOR DRAINS. MUST CLEAN AND MAINTAIN.
• 🥜allergen training missing
  Allergen Training As Required • ALL CITY OF CHICAGO CERTIFIED FOOD MANAGERS MUST OBTAIN ALLERGEN TRAINING COMPLETION CERTIFICATES. INSTRUCTED TO MEET REQUIREMENT.

When was Specialty's Cafe & Bakery last inspected?

Specialty's Cafe & Bakery has 18 inspections on record going back to March 29, 2010. The 12 most recent are shown below.

Specialty's Cafe & Bakery vs Loop

Loop runs 70% clean across 3,616 tracked restaurants — 2,521 clean, 764 mid, 300 cooked.

Against the 3,616 spots Cooked tracks in Loop, this one comes out cleaner than 9% of them.

Other spots in Loop

• ✓ Bar Louie
  clean · January 14, 2020
• ✓ Bar Louie
  clean · August 27, 2010
• ✓ Buddy Guy's Legends
  clean · May 19, 2010
• ✓ Fft Cafe
  clean · October 22, 2015
• ✓ Srd Lobby Shop
  clean · October 28, 2016
• ✓! Brown's Chicken
  mid · October 11, 2013

See every restaurant inspection in Loop →

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 February 19, 2020. Inspection results describe one moment in a kitchen's life, not a permanent verdict.