2026-03-08 | guide, inspections, violations, how-to
How to Read a Chicago Health Inspection Report
Every section decoded, every code explained, every result translated
Every restaurant inspection in Chicago produces a public report. The city uploads it to a database anyone can search. The reports read like they were written by bureaucrats for other bureaucrats. They were.
An actual entry: "36. THERMOMETERS PROVIDED & CONSPICUOUS - Comments: MUST PROVIDE THERMOMETERS IN ALL COOLERS." Helpful.
The Three Results
**Pass.** Nothing critical, or it got fixed while the inspector watched. About 51% of inspections.
**Fail.** Can't be fixed on the spot. Doesn't usually mean closure. About 19%. More on that later.
**Pass with Conditions.** Serious enough to document, not severe enough to fail. 15% of inspections. A restaurant can rack up conditional passes for the same violation for years with no escalation.
Foodborne illness affects 48 million Americans annually. Inspection systems are the primary line of defense.
What 'Pass with Conditions' actually means | Search any restaurant's inspection history
The Violation Codes
Forty-five active codes. Most don't matter much. The ones that do:
**Temperature (Codes 21-24, 31-32).** How people get sick. The CDC traces more restaurant outbreaks to temperature abuse than any other single factor.
**Pests (Codes 33, 38).** One mouse dropping and a full infestation both get the same code. The difference is in the comments. We built a dictionary for this.
**Sanitation (Codes 34-37, 41).** Dirty surfaces, wrong chemicals. Show up constantly. Rarely dangerous alone.
**Structure (Codes 39-45).** Bad plumbing, broken ventilation. Old building, not negligent operator.
Temperature abuse is the number one contributing factor to foodborne illness outbreaks associated with restaurants.
Complete violation dictionary | Roach violations (Code 38)
The Comments Are the Report
Two restaurants both get a Code 38. One: a fruit fly near a drain. The other: roach egg casings in the food prep area. Same code. Different universe.
The code is the category. The comments are the story. That's what this site is for.
The narrative section of an inspection report provides context that coded violations alone cannot convey.