The Chicago Restaurants, Grocery Stores Ordered Closed Last Week

CHICAGO — 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:

Harold's Chicken Shack at 7348 S. Stony Island Ave in the Grand Crossing neighborhood was ordered closed after health inspectors discovered a mice infestation in the restaurant, the city said. A live mouse was even seen running across the food prep area during the inspection, according to the city's data portal. Nearly 200 rodent droppings were found around refrigeration units, in the storage room, on the bottom shelf of a prep table and on other shelving, the city said.

Carnicerias Jimenez Inc. at 4204 W. North Ave in the Hermosa neighborhood was ordered closed after the grocery store failed to fix a rodent problem that inspectors had previously warned the business about, the city said. More than 150 mouse droppings were found under hot holding units, under meat coolers, under basement storage shelves, in the second floor storage area and even on the food storage shelves in the retail aisles, according to the city's data portal. The Jimenez Ice Cream Parlour in the same building was also ordered closed after health inspectors found evidence of a pest infestation, the city said.

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.