Cooked?
Tropical Smoothie Cafe
- resultPass w/ Conditions
- critical violations1
- last inspectedDecember 4, 2025
- address6448 N Sheridan Rd, Chicago 60626
Is Tropical Smoothie Cafe clean?
Tropical Smoothie Cafe is currently Pass w/ Conditions from Chicago Department of Public Health, from an inspection on December 4, 2025. 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 Tropical Smoothie Cafe?
These are the violations recorded at the most recent inspection on December 4, 2025, in plain English, with the city's own wording underneath.
- 📋certified manager paperwork missingcriticalCity Of Chicago Food Service Sanitation Certificate • OBSERVED FACILITY FOOD HANDLERS PREPARING AND HANDLING TIME AND TEMPERATURE CONTROL FOR SAFETY(TCS) (EGGS, SLICED TOMATOES, SANDWICH WRAPS, ETC) FOODS WITHOUT ORIGINAL CITY OF CHICAGO FOOD SERVICE MANAGER AND CERTIFICATE ON SITE. INFORMED PERSON IN CHARGE CITY OF CHICAGO ORIGINAL FOOD SERVICE CERTIFICATE MUST REMAIN POSTED ON SITE AND CERTIFIED MANAGER ON SITE DURING TCS FOOD PREP, COOKING, SERVING AND OPERATING HOURS. PRIORITY FOUNDATION VIOLATION #7-38-012. CITATION ISSUED.
- 🛠️surfaces / setup not up to codeFood & Non-Food Contact Surfaces Cleanable, Properly Designed, Constructed & Used • OBSERVED MILK CRATES BEING USED AS SHELVING THROUGHOUT THE PREP AND STORAGE AREAS. MUST REMOVE AND PROVIDE SHELVING THAT IS 6" OFF THE FLOOR AND PROVIDES FLOOR ACCESSIBILITY TO ENSURE ADEQUATE FACILITY CLEANING.
- 🧹floors, walls, or ceilings grimyPhysical Facilities Installed, Maintained & Clean • OBSERVED LOOSE DEBRIS, DIRT AND DUST BUILDUP ON THE FLOORS AND CORNERS THROUGHOUT THE FACILITY. INSTRUCTED TO DETAIL CLEAN AND INCREASE CLEANING FREQUENCY OF FLOORS. MUST MAINTAIN AT ALL TIMES. • OBSERVED MOP IN A POSITION THAT DOES NOT ALLOW TO DRY PROPERLY AND PREVENT PEST HARBORAGE. MUST STORE MOP AFTER USE IN A MOUNTED POSITION THAT ALLOWS FOR AIR-DRYING WITHOUT SOILING AND PEST HARBORAGING.
- ⚠️All Food Employees Have Food Handler Training • OBSERVED NO PROOF OF TRAINING FOR ALL FOOD HANDLERS. INSTRUCTED TO PROVIDE AND MAINTAIN RECORDS AT ALL TIMES.All Food Employees Have Food Handler Training • OBSERVED NO PROOF OF TRAINING FOR ALL FOOD HANDLERS. INSTRUCTED TO PROVIDE AND MAINTAIN RECORDS AT ALL TIMES.
When was Tropical Smoothie Cafe last inspected?
Tropical Smoothie Cafe has 4 inspections on record going back to January 7, 2022.
| date | result | score |
|---|---|---|
| December 4, 2025 | Pass w/ Conditions | |
| April 25, 2024 | Pass | |
| April 17, 2024 | Fail | |
| January 7, 2022 | Pass |
Tropical Smoothie Cafe vs Edgewater
Edgewater runs 64% clean across 997 tracked restaurants — 633 clean, 186 mid, 172 cooked.
Against the 997 spots Cooked tracks in Edgewater, this one comes out cleaner than 23% of them.
Other spots in Edgewater
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 December 4, 2025. Inspection results describe one moment in a kitchen's life, not a permanent verdict.