The Chicago Restaurants, Grocery Stores Ordered Closed Last Week

CHICAGO, IL — Dozens of Chicago restaurants and grocery stores are slapped with fines for health violations each week, but it takes a serious violation for a restaurant to be ordered closed, the city said. Places are ordered shuttered for reasons such as roach and mice infestations, major plumbing problems, food stored at the wrong temperatures and basic food safety rules not being followed, the city said.

Less-serious violations, which don't require closures, often include issues such as poor ventilation, inadequate lighting, worn seal on refrigerators, a few fruit flies and inappropriate materials like cardboard and paper sitting in the wrong places. Restaurants and stores are required to fix those problems immediately.

These were the restaurants and grocery stores that were ordered closed last week, according to the city's Department of Health:

• The Taco Bell at 407 S. Dearborn St. in the Loop was ordered closed after health inspectors found no hot running water at the restaurant.
• Great Wall Gifts And Grocery at 2806 S. Wentworth Ave. on the Near South Side was ordered closed after a rodent infestation was found in the store, the city said. Details about the infestation were not provided in the city's data portal.

Information on which Chicago restaurants and grocery stores have been ordered closed is not available on the city's data portal. The city's public health department has committed to sending Patch weekly reports, and we will publish those as long as they are made available.

Image via Serghei Starus/Shutterstock