Taqueria El Malecon

• resultPass
• critical violations0
• last inspectedApril 29, 2025
• address2817 W Irving Park Rd, Chicago 60618

Is Taqueria El Malecon clean?

Taqueria El Malecon is currently Pass from Chicago Department of Public Health, from an inspection on April 29, 2025. No critical violations were recorded at that visit. On Cooked's ladder that reads clean 😇.

What did inspectors find at Taqueria El Malecon?

These are the violations recorded at the most recent inspection on April 29, 2025, in plain English, with the city's own wording underneath.

• 🧽surfaces not properly sanitized
  Food-Contact Surfaces: Cleaned & Sanitized • OBSERVED INTERIOR GUARD OF ICE MACHINE WITH SOME DIRT, NOT CLEAN. INSTRUCTED THE PERSON IN CHARGE TO DETAIL CLEAN AND MAINTAIN.
• ⚠️Contamination Prevented During Food Preparation, Storage & Display • OBSERVED BOXED FOOD AND BULK FOOD CONTAINERS BEING STORED ON FLOOR IN THE WALK-IN COOLER IN THE REAR PREP AREA. INSTRUCTED THE PERSON IN CHARGE TO ELEVATE ALL FOOD ITEMS SIX INCHES FROM FLOOR AND MAINTAIN.
  Contamination Prevented During Food Preparation, Storage & Display • OBSERVED BOXED FOOD AND BULK FOOD CONTAINERS BEING STORED ON FLOOR IN THE WALK-IN COOLER IN THE REAR PREP AREA. INSTRUCTED THE PERSON IN CHARGE TO ELEVATE ALL FOOD ITEMS SIX INCHES FROM FLOOR AND MAINTAIN.
• 🛠️surfaces / setup not up to code
  Food & Non-Food Contact Surfaces Cleanable, Properly Designed, Constructed & Used • OBSERVED MULTIPLE CUTTING BOARDS WITH DEEP SCRATCHES AND STAINS ON PREP SURFACES THROUGHOUT FRONT AND REAR PREP AREAS. INSTRUCTED THE PERSON IN CHARGE TO RESURFACE/REPLACE CUTIING BOARDS AND MAINTAIN. • OBSERVED RUST ON STORAGE SHELVES IN WALK-IN COOLER. INSTRUCTED THE PERSON IN CHARGE TO REMOVE RUST AND ENSURE ALL NONFOOD-CONTACT SURFACES REMAIN SMOOTH AND EASILY CLEANABLE.
• 🧹floors, walls, or ceilings grimy
  Physical Facilities Installed, Maintained & Clean • OBSERVED HOLES SUROUNDING PIPING IN CEILING ABOVE HOT WATER TANK NEAR MOP SINK. INSTRUCTED THE PERSON IN CHARGE TO SMOOTHLY SEAL ALL HOLES AND MAINTAIN.

When was Taqueria El Malecon last inspected?

Taqueria El Malecon has 8 inspections on record going back to November 22, 2021.

Taqueria El Malecon vs North Center

North Center runs 68% clean across 976 tracked restaurants — 657 clean, 151 mid, 163 cooked.

Against the 976 spots Cooked tracks in North Center, this one comes out cleaner than 36% of them.

Other spots in North Center

• ? Gorilla's Lakeview
  cooked · April 13, 2023
• ✓ Artifact Events
  clean · September 9, 2021
• ✓ Climbzone
  clean · March 25, 2024
• ✓! Climbzone
  mid · January 20, 2022
• ✓ Dave's Hot Chicken
  clean · December 3, 2025
• ✓ The Crab Pad
  clean · November 10, 2022

See every restaurant inspection in North Center →

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 April 29, 2025. Inspection results describe one moment in a kitchen's life, not a permanent verdict.