The Cleanest Neighborhoods for Eating Out in Chicago

City-wide pass rate: about 51%. Some neighborhoods clear that by twenty points. The reasons have almost nothing to do with the food.

The Top Five

Hyde Park at 72.2%. University of Chicago's pull — newer construction, corporate-backed operators, landlords who maintain buildings because the university is watching.

Andersonville at 71.8%. Dense restaurant neighborhood. You'd expect regression to the mean. Something about the operator culture there is different.

Beverly (70.6%), Lincoln Square (69.1%), Edison Park (68.5%). Fewer restaurants, more owner-operators, building stock that doesn't invite pests.

Building age is the strongest predictor of pest-related violations in urban food service establishments, outweighing operator experience, cuisine type, and establishment size.

Full pass rate rankings

Three Things That Matter

**Building age.** Newer construction means better seals, fewer pest entry points, modern plumbing. A restaurant in a 2010 building starts with fewer structural disadvantages than one from 1920.

**Pest pressure.** Neighborhood-level. Well-maintained alleys, occupied neighboring buildings, functioning waste management. When the building next door is vacant, every restaurant on the block pays.

**Operator tenure.** High turnover means lower pass rates. New operators inherit deferred maintenance. Someone there eight years has done this sixteen times.

Operator tenure of five years or more is associated with a 12% higher pass rate compared to operators in their first two years.

Hyde Park's 72.2% versus neighborhoods below 40%. That's infrastructure, not chef quality.

But averages are averages. Every neighborhood has consistent passers and chronic failers. All searchable on Chispections.

Chicago's dirtiest neighborhoods | Search any restaurant | How to read an inspection report