Zest Cafe

• resultPass w/ Conditions
• critical violations2
• last inspectedMay 8, 2020
• address2666-2668 N Halsted St, Chicago 60614

Is Zest Cafe clean?

Zest Cafe is currently listed as closed by Chicago Department of Public Health, as of its inspection on May 8, 2020. A closure means inspectors found conditions serious enough to stop service — it is not the same as a restaurant choosing to shut down, and the listing can change once the problems are fixed and re-inspected.

What did inspectors find at Zest Cafe?

These are the violations recorded at the most recent inspection on May 8, 2020, in plain English, with the city's own wording underneath.

• 🤒sick-employee policy not followedcritical
  Management, Food Employee And Conditional Employee; Knowledge, Responsibilities And Reporting • FOUND NO EMPLOYEE HEALTH POLICY/TRAINING ON SITE. INSTRUCTED FACILITY TO ESTABLISH AN APPROPRIATE EMPLOYEE HEALTH POLICY/TRAINING SYSTEM AND MAINTAIN WITH VERIFIABLE DOCUMENTS ON SITE. PRIORITY FOUNDATION VIOLATION 7-38-010.
• 🤒staff working while sickcritical
  Procedures For Responding To Vomiting And Diarrheal Events • FOUND NO PROCEDURE/PLAN AND KIT FOR RESPONDING TO VOMITING AND DIARRHEAL EVENTS. INSTRUCTED FACILITY TO DEVELOP AND MAINTAIN A PROCEDURE/PLAN AND TO MAINTAIN ANY APPROPRIATE SUPPLIES ON SITE. PRIORITY FOUNDATION VIOLATION 7-38-005.
• 🛠️surfaces / setup not up to code
  Food & Non-Food Contact Surfaces Cleanable, Properly Designed, Constructed & Used • HANDLE AT TWO DOOR REACH-IN COOLER REPAIRED WITH DUCT TAPE.INSTRUCTED TO REPLACE WITH A REGULAR HANDLE.SURFACE MUST BE SMOOTH,CLEANABLE AND NON-ABSORBENT SURFACE. A SPLASH GUARD IS NEEDED BETWEEN HANDWASHING SINK AND ICE BIN. IF ICE BIN IS ICE TO STORED ICE MUST PROVIDE LID FOR SAID UNIT(FRONT JUICE BAR)
• ⚠️Sewage & Waste Water Properly Disposed • NO GREASE TRAP PROVIDED UNDER THREE COMPARTMENT SINKS. INSTRUCTED TO INSTALL UNDER BOTH THREE COMPARTMENT SINK OR KNOW THE LOCATION .
  Sewage & Waste Water Properly Disposed • NO GREASE TRAP PROVIDED UNDER THREE COMPARTMENT SINKS. INSTRUCTED TO INSTALL UNDER BOTH THREE COMPARTMENT SINK OR KNOW THE LOCATION .

When was Zest Cafe last inspected?

Zest Cafe has 3 inspections on record going back to April 29, 2020.

Zest Cafe vs Lake View

Lake View runs 68% clean across 2,211 tracked restaurants — 1,492 clean, 440 mid, 272 cooked.

Against the 2,211 spots Cooked tracks in Lake View, this one comes out cleaner than 0% of them.

Other spots in Lake View

• ✓ Smylie Brothers Brewing Company
  cooked · June 15, 2022
• ✓! Smylie Brothers Brewing Company
  mid · February 9, 2021
• ✓ Southport Lanes
  cooked · December 17, 2019
• ✓ 7 Eleven
  clean · August 11, 2020
• ? G & S Fast Food Inc
  cooked · October 3, 2012
• ✓ Musashiya Ramen
  clean · May 20, 2026

See every restaurant inspection in Lake View →

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 8, 2020. Inspection results describe one moment in a kitchen's life, not a permanent verdict.