Cooked?
Yolk Cafe
- resultPass
- critical violations0
- last inspectedJanuary 26, 2026
- address500 W Madison St, Chicago 60661
Is Yolk Cafe clean?
Yolk Cafe is currently Pass from Chicago Department of Public Health, from an inspection on January 26, 2026. No critical violations were recorded at that visit. On Cooked's ladder that reads clean 😇.
What did inspectors find at Yolk Cafe?
These are the violations recorded at the most recent inspection on January 26, 2026, in plain English, with the city's own wording underneath.
- 🚻bathroom / plumbing issuesPlumbing Installed; Proper Backflow Devices • OBSERVED HANDWASHING SINK AT THE FAR END OF THE MAIN COOK LINE TO BE IN POOR REPAIR, UNABLE TO TURN OFF WATER COMPLETELY WHEN NOT IN USE, BUT FUNCTIONAL. INSTRUCTED TO REPAIR OR REPLACE HANDWASHING SINK FAUCET OR PLUMBING TO ALLOW WATER SUPPLY TO BE TURNED OFF WHEN NOT IN USE AND MAINTAIN ALL PLUMBING FIXTURES IN GOOD REPAIR.
- 🧹floors, walls, or ceilings grimyPhysical Facilities Installed, Maintained & Clean • OBSERVED CEILING VENTILATION FAN AND ADJACENT CEILING TILES ABOVE THE WAREWASHING AREA TO BE HEAVILY SOILED WITH DUST DEBRIS. INSTRUCTED TO CLEAN MECHANICAL VENTILATION, CEILING TILES, AND OTHER PHYSICAL FACILITIES AT ADEQUATE FREQUENCY TO PREVENT BUILD UP OF DUST DEBRIS AND OTHER SOILS AND MAINTAIN.
When was Yolk Cafe last inspected?
Yolk Cafe has 24 inspections on record going back to December 4, 2013. The 12 most recent are shown below.
| date | result | score |
|---|---|---|
| January 26, 2026 | Pass | |
| April 7, 2025 | Pass | |
| July 18, 2024 | Pass | |
| July 8, 2024 | Fail | |
| January 30, 2024 | Pass w/ Conditions | |
| March 15, 2023 | Pass | |
| March 13, 2023 | Fail | |
| January 26, 2022 | Pass w/ Conditions | |
| October 14, 2021 | Pass w/ Conditions | |
| October 7, 2021 | Fail | |
| July 9, 2019 | Pass | |
| June 25, 2019 | Fail |
Yolk Cafe 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 33% of them.
Other spots 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 January 26, 2026. Inspection results describe one moment in a kitchen's life, not a permanent verdict.