Taco Bell

• resultPass w/ Conditions
• critical violations2
• last inspectedMay 21, 2026
• address500 W Madison, Chicago 60661

Is Taco Bell clean?

Taco Bell is currently Pass w/ Conditions from Chicago Department of Public Health, from an inspection on May 21, 2026. 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 Taco Bell?

These are the violations recorded at the most recent inspection on May 21, 2026, 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 NO PERSON-IN-CHARGE ON-SITE WITH CITY OF CHICAGO CERTIFIED FOOD MANAGER TRAINING OR ORIGINAL CERTIFICATE AT TIME OF INSPECTION. INSTRUCTED TO PROVIDE AT LEAST ONE PERSON-IN-CHARGE WITH CITY OF CHICAGO CERTIFIED FOOD MANAGER TRAINING AND MAINTAIN ORIGINAL CERTIFICATE(S) DISPLAYED ON-SITE AT ALL TIMES. PRIORITY FOUNDATION VIOLATION.
• 📋certified manager paperwork missingcritical
  City Of Chicago Food Service Sanitation Certificate • OBSERVED NO FOOD EMPLOYEE ON-SITE WITH CITY OF CHICAGO CERTIFIED FOOD MANAGER TRAINING OR ORIGINAL CERTIFICATE WHILE FACILITY IS PREPARING TCS FOOD ITEMS (PROTEINS, DAIRY, FRIED FOODS) AT TIME OF INSPECTION. INSTRUCTED TO PROVIDE AT LEAST ONE FOOD EMPLOYEE WITH CITY OF CHICAGO CERTIFIED FOOD MANAGER TRAINING AND MAINTAIN ORIGINAL CERTIFICATE(S) DISPLAYED ON-SITE AT ALL TIMES. PRIORITY FOUNDATION VIOLATION. 7-38-012 CITATION ISSUED.
• ⚠️Utensils, Equipment & Linens: Properly Stored, Dried, & Handled • OBSERVED FOOD EMPLOYEE UTILIZING CLEAN LINEN TO MANUALLY DRY CLEAN UTENSIL IN THE WAREWASHING AREA. INSTRUCTED TO ALLOW UTENSILS THAT HAVE BEEN PROPERLY WASHED, RINSED, AND SANITIZED TO AIR DRY PRIOR TO USE AND MAINTAIN.
  Utensils, Equipment & Linens: Properly Stored, Dried, & Handled • OBSERVED FOOD EMPLOYEE UTILIZING CLEAN LINEN TO MANUALLY DRY CLEAN UTENSIL IN THE WAREWASHING AREA. INSTRUCTED TO ALLOW UTENSILS THAT HAVE BEEN PROPERLY WASHED, RINSED, AND SANITIZED TO AIR DRY PRIOR TO USE AND MAINTAIN.
• 🚿plumbing acting up
  Non-Food/Food Contact Surfaces Clean • OBSERVED EQUIPMENT MOUNTS AND BEVERAGE HOSE LINES BEHIND SODA MACHINE TO BE HEAVILY SOILED WITH DUST DEBRIS. INSTRUCTED TO CLEAN NONFOOD-CONTACT SURFACES OF EQUIPMENT AT ADEQUATE FREQUENCY TO PREVENT BUILD UP OF DUST DEBRIS AND OTHER SOILS AND MAINTAIN.

When was Taco Bell last inspected?

Taco Bell has 23 inspections on record going back to April 7, 2014. The 12 most recent are shown below.

Taco Bell 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 48% of them.

Other spots in Loop

• ✓ Sports Illustrated Resorts
  clean · December 30, 2025
• ✓ Subway #7706
  cooked · December 2, 2014
• ✓ Davidstea
  cooked · July 24, 2018
• ✓ Dollop Coffee Co At The Fisher Building
  cooked · October 19, 2022
• ✓ Porkchop
  cooked · October 5, 2016
• ✓ Buck's Four Star Grill
  cooked · September 18, 2014

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 May 21, 2026. Inspection results describe one moment in a kitchen's life, not a permanent verdict.