Western Bar & Kitchen

• resultPass
• critical violations1
• last inspectedSeptember 15, 2025
• address4301 N Western Ave, Chicago 60618

Is Western Bar & Kitchen clean?

Western Bar & Kitchen is currently Pass from Chicago Department of Public Health, from an inspection on September 15, 2025. Inspectors wrote up 1 critical violation — the kind most directly linked to foodborne illness. On Cooked's ladder that reads clean 😇.

What did inspectors find at Western Bar & Kitchen?

These are the violations recorded at the most recent inspection on September 15, 2025, in plain English, with the city's own wording underneath.

• 🚰handwashing sink blocked or barecritical
  Adequate Handwashing Sinks Properly Supplied And Accessible • OBSERVED HAND SOAP AND DISPOSABLE PAPER TOWELS PROVIDED AT THE MAIN KITCHEN AREA 1-COMPARTMENT FOOD PREPARATION SINK. INSTRUCTED TO RELOCATE HAND SOAP AND PAPER TOWELS AND PROVIDE HANDWASHING AIDS AND DEVICES ONLY AT SINKS DESIGNATED FOR HANDWASHING AND MAINTAIN.
• ⚠️Contamination Prevented During Food Preparation, Storage & Display • OBSERVED BULK DRY FOOD CONTAINERS IN THE BASEMENT KITCHEN STORAGE AREA STORED DIRECTLY ON THE FLOOR. INSTRUCTED TO RELOCATE BULK DRY FOOD CONTAINERS AND MAINTAIN FOOD CONTAINERS AT LEAST 6" ABOVE THE FLOOR AT ALL TIMES.
  Contamination Prevented During Food Preparation, Storage & Display • OBSERVED BULK DRY FOOD CONTAINERS IN THE BASEMENT KITCHEN STORAGE AREA STORED DIRECTLY ON THE FLOOR. INSTRUCTED TO RELOCATE BULK DRY FOOD CONTAINERS AND MAINTAIN FOOD CONTAINERS AT LEAST 6" ABOVE THE FLOOR AT ALL TIMES.
• ⚠️Single-Use/Single-Service Articles: Properly Stored & Used • OBSERVED SINGLE-SERVICE ARTICLES IN ORIGINAL BOXES STORED IN THE BASEMENT KITCHEN STORAGE AREA DIRECTLY ON THE FLOOR. INSTRUCTED TO RELOCATE SINGLE-SERVICE ARTICLES IN ORIGINAL BOXES AND MAINTAIN SINGLE-SERVICE ARTICLES AT LEAST 6" ABOVE THE FLOOR AT ALL TIMES.
  Single-Use/Single-Service Articles: Properly Stored & Used • OBSERVED SINGLE-SERVICE ARTICLES IN ORIGINAL BOXES STORED IN THE BASEMENT KITCHEN STORAGE AREA DIRECTLY ON THE FLOOR. INSTRUCTED TO RELOCATE SINGLE-SERVICE ARTICLES IN ORIGINAL BOXES AND MAINTAIN SINGLE-SERVICE ARTICLES AT LEAST 6" ABOVE THE FLOOR AT ALL TIMES.
• 🧹floors, walls, or ceilings grimy
  Physical Facilities Installed, Maintained & Clean • OBSERVED HEAVY BUILD UP OF GREASE AND DRIED FOOD DEBRIS ON THE FLOOR BENEATH DEEP FRYERS IN THE BASEMENT KITCHEN AREA. INSTRUCTED TO CLEAN FLOORS BENEATH COOKING EQUIPMENT AT ADEQUATE FREQUENCY TO PREVENT BUILD UP OF GREASE, DRIED FOOD DEBRIS, AND OTHER SOILS AND MAINTAIN.

When was Western Bar & Kitchen last inspected?

Western Bar & Kitchen has 23 inspections on record going back to March 29, 2010. The 12 most recent are shown below.

Western Bar & Kitchen 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 32% of them.

Other spots in North Center

• ✓! Clybourn Market
  mid · July 13, 2020
• ✓ Martyrs'
  clean · June 9, 2026
• ✓ Dominick's # 86/1086
  clean · May 11, 2010
• ✓ Lo's Chinese Kitchen
  clean · March 25, 2016
• ✓! Hungry Brain
  mid · August 22, 2018
• ✓ The Northman
  clean · July 15, 2019

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 September 15, 2025. Inspection results describe one moment in a kitchen's life, not a permanent verdict.