Stax Cafe

• resultPass w/ Conditions
• critical violations1
• last inspectedJune 1, 2026 →
• address522 N Milwaukee Ave, Chicago 60642

Is Stax Cafe clean?

Stax Cafe is currently Pass w/ Conditions from Chicago Department of Public Health, from an inspection on June 1, 2026. 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 Stax Cafe?

These are the violations recorded at the most recent inspection on June 1, 2026, in plain English, with the city's own wording underneath.

• 🚰handwashing sink blocked or barecritical
  Adequate Handwashing Sinks Properly Supplied And Accessible
• 🏷️food improperly labeled
  Food Properly Labeled; Original Container
• ⚠️Contamination Prevented During Food Preparation, Storage & Display
• 🧻grimy wiping cloths
  Wiping Cloths: Properly Used & Stored
• ⚠️Utensils, Equipment & Linens: Properly Stored, Dried, & Handled
• ⚠️Toilet Facilities: Properly Constructed, Supplied, & Cleaned

When was Stax Cafe last inspected?

Stax Cafe has 14 inspections on record going back to June 14, 2018. The 12 most recent are shown below.

Stax Cafe vs Near West Side

Near West Side runs 80% clean across 1,294 tracked restaurants — 1,031 clean, 233 mid, 18 cooked.

Against the 1,294 spots Cooked tracks in Near West Side, this one comes out cleaner than 4% of them.

Other spots in Near West Side

• ✓ Stax Cafe
  clean · June 21, 2018
• ✓ Mcdonalds
  clean · April 27, 2026
• ✓! Infuse Tyson
  cooked · December 19, 2019
• ✓ Wishbone Restaurant
  clean · January 6, 2026
• ✓! Wishbone Restaurant
  mid · October 23, 2018
• ✓ Y & H Foods Inc
  clean · March 22, 2012

See every restaurant inspection in Near 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.

Read the Chicago ratings guide →

Inspection findings and available history come from the authority’s published records. Cooked checks daily; publication can lag behind an inspection. Read the date on each result and check the official source for newer information.

Source: Chicago Department of Public Health via Chicago Data Portal. Cooked refreshes this data daily — this listing's most recent inspection is dated June 1, 2026. Inspection results describe one moment in a kitchen's life, not a permanent verdict.

check your own block 📸

Cooked covers 10 cities on official inspection data — see who's clean, mid, or cooked near you.