Or at least give up meat for a month. Dr. Terry Mason went on Fox Chicago to argue the health benefits of the meat-free lifestyle. more ›

After 19 health inspections in two years, Logan Square Kitchen finally went to the city to complain. Guess what, they won. Unfortunately, the health record of the shared-use kitchen wasn't cleared, because of the way administrative hearings work in Chicago. Undaunted, the owner, Zina Murray, told us last night that she was starting "Health Inspection Parties," with the premise that "Hey, transparency can be fun!" more ›

Our hats are off to the owners of Logan Square Kitchen. We've watched them fight, successfully, for more than a year to keep their business open amidst the city's regulatory mess. Everything seemed to be settled, but it appears now that while the city may sort of know how to categorize them, the health department might not like them very much. According to a blog post on their site, the establishment has been inspected 19 times in 2 years. The law required two per year. more ›

After the epic Subway salmonella outbreak of Summer 2010, we were kind of wary about getting our hands on some delicious foot long sandwiches smothered in Chipotle Mayo sauce. Sorry to ruin your pre-lunch hour, but right now the food contamination problem isn't with sandwiches from Subway -- but sandwiches from Jimmy John's. more ›

If you missed out on a chance to acquire an H1N1 flu vaccine this weekend, there will be more available at six clinics around the city today. All clinics open at 3 p.m. and it's part of a continuing series of clinics being held every Saturday, Tuesday, and Thursday. You can read times and locations here [PDF]. But remember, the Department of Health is asking that - for now - you get the vaccine only if you fall into one of the high-priority groups which are: "Pregnant women, household contacts and caregivers of children younger than 6 months of age, health care and emergency medical service personnel, children and young adults ages 6 months through 24 years, and persons aged 25‐ 64 years who have medical conditions which put them at high risk for complications from influenza." more ›

Word from Bleeding Heart Bakery is that they just passed their requested Health Department reinspection with flying colors and will be open for business by the time you read this. To commemorate the drama, Owner Michelle Garcia will be offering a "kitchen sink" cookie special for the weekend. more ›

Want to know how detailed a city health inspection of Our Town's restaurants can become? Tribune reporter Monica Eng recently followed two Public Health Inspectors around as they scared the hell out of unsuspecting restaurant owners with spot inspections. How detailed are the inspectors? more ›

That last tidbit we wrote in our earlier post about Fulton's on the River being open for lunch tomorrow? We were wrong. They're open for dinner right now. The Health Department gave Fulton's the go-ahead to re-open, saying the restaurant passed its re-inspection "with not even a minor food safety violation noted." more ›

It's understandable that those puke phosphorescent green "license suspended" stickers the city Health Department plasters across the doors of restaurants and stores that fail inspections can be unsightly, not to mention bad for business if enough regular customers catch sight of them. more ›

The city Health Department shut down El Paraiso Bakery (1158 W. 18th St.) today when inspectors discovered "mouse feces 'too numerous to count' throughout the premises." Our heart skipped a beat when we read the e-mail subject line "City Health Department Shuts Bakery in Pilsen;" the first one to pop in our mind was Bom Bon. Whew! more ›

First it was the advanced civilization found in O'Hare Airport. Then the North Avenue Whole Foods was shut down because of them, sending shoppers into a mild panic and showing that some of Our Town's better newspaper columnists has as loose a grasp on the definition of "irony" as Alanis Morissette. more ›

Is Illinois heading towards legalized medical marijuana? State Senator John Cullerton (pretty website!) hopes so. He's sponsoring a bill that the Senate Public Health Committee approved 6-4 yesterday. A similar measure failed in the Senate last year, but try, try again. more ›

This week Chicagoist received an email from the Chicago Department of Public Health, announcing the immediate closing of The Great American Bagel at 1248 W. Belmont. The list of serious violations included cockroach infestation and the serving of spoiled food. That's bad, obviously, but what's worse is that we have actually eaten food from this establishment! We felt kind of "eeeww" after our egg and cheese sandwich; now we realize how worse we could have felt. more ›

Today Chicagoist launches "Current Conditions." In this new weekly feature, we'll be taking a look at the most recent health inspections of a series of restaurants on file at the city Health Department, so you don't have to. more ›

The city Health Department just sent out a press release announcing that Penang, the popular Malaysian restaurant and sushi bar at 2201 S. Wentworth, was shut down yesterday for "critical violations of the City Health Code" after being tipped off by a person calling 311, reporting the sight of a rat entering the building housing Penang. Among Penang's many offenses, inspectors found live fruit flies and rodent feces throughout the kitchen and "premises" (one can... more ›

While the fish-taco revolution is swimming across the area, there are plenty of other events happening this week. Before we list them, however, we should let you know that the cockroaches are taking over our downtown restaurants. This week's victim of the ultimate survivor, Bice. Cockroaches were the least of their problems, however. A Health Department inspection also found no hot running water in a kitchen sink and fruit flies in the bar. If you... more ›

In last week's "Buffet" installment we had an item about a roach infestation shutting down Cyrano's Bistrot. The infestation, which the Health Department called "pretty severe", encompassed Cyrano's kitchen and a basement prep area and was discovered during an inspection as to whether chef/owner Didier Durand, one of the most outspoken critics of the city's foie gras ban, was selling the contraband delicacy. more ›

Poor Didier Durand. The chef/owner of Cyrano's Bistrot was visited by the Health Department Wednesday on suspicion of selling foie gras, only to be shut down with a cockroach infestation. A Health Department spokesperson told Crain's that the infestation was "pretty severe," encompassing both the kitchen and a basement food prep area. Durand said the pest control company he uses thinks the roaches were a result of ongoing condo renovations above the restaurant. Unless he... more ›

Ah, yes. First Turd Blossom, now Fredo. Yup, we're dancing a jig this evening. Are Cubs fans still waiting to exhale? Illinois' number one team - don't believe us, check the map - is only two games back. Billy Corgan will say anything to promote Zeitgeist. One viewing of this video and you'll say to yourself that at least the Chicago Public Schools aren't that bad. Illinoisans have more to love. Video of Frank... more ›

Much to the enjoyment of many of our readers, Macy’s can’t seem to catch a break. It’s no secret that sales are down, a gracious amount stemming from local boycotts. Just this Monday their food court came down with a severe case of drosophila melanogaster (we did that from memory – damn you, freshman bio!), garnering a shutdown from the Health Department. Macy’s earned the right to reopen this morning, but with last night’s news,... more ›

In news that will surely give fodder to the Macy's h8rs in the house, the city closed down the lower level food court at the flagship Macy's yesterday after they found "a fruit fly infestation, water backing up from a clogged drain, a leaking sink, and grease and food debris on the walls and floor around the inside trash can." The Health Department was there in the first place because a customer called them after... more ›

Something tells Chicagoist that Pars Cove isn't going to be rocking out a booth at next year's Taste of Chicago. The restaurant — and specifically the cucumber hummus salad it served at the Taste — is at the center of a health department investigation. So far, 126 people have reported feeling ill (up from 17 yesterday), and it isn't because of the turkey legs they ate; investigators believe the tahini used in the hummus could be contaminated with salmonella. more ›

Taste of Chicago left a bad taste in the mouths of some; 17 people have become sick after eating tainted food from the Pars Cove booth at the annual food fest. Five of these have been diagnosed with salmonella contamination.This is the first time in the Taste's 27 years that there has been an incident like this. more ›

Chicagoist is really into cheese. From your basic shredded cheddar to the fancy unpasteurized Cave Aged Swiss Guyere, our love knows no bounds. more ›

Hot Doug's is the proud recipient of the city's first Foie Gras ticket. Doug Sohn, who puts the Doug in Hot Doug's, has been taunting the hell out of city officials since the ban went into effect. Sohn framed the warning letter he received from the city and placed it on his counter. Coming half a year after the ordinance was passed, the Chicago Health Department inspector went to Hot Doug's on Friday morning, issued... more ›

Although Chicagoist would never advocate you go all Niles Crane on us, you might want to bring a clean handkerchief with you the next time you dine out, to check for dust and polish the cutlery. Fran Spielman writes in the Sun-Times today that Chicago has only 46 Health Department sanitarians and 12 supervisors to keep 15,500 restaurants in compliance with health code regulations, prompting aldermen to question just how efficiently those inspectors are doing... more ›

First of all, how many people knew that there was a plant on the West Side that made delicious corporate chocolate delights? Maybe many of you. But we can’t see you raising your hands eagerly in the air, so you’ll just have to bear with us and all the other poor saps who like to laugh at others’ misfortunes (especially corporate otherses) while we get our kicks. more ›

With all the holiday hullabaloo lately, Chicagoist is having a hard time staying motivated at work. But we bet it’d be a lot easier to do our jobs if we got to play video games all day like the folks at the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. more ›

Chicago is clearly one hell of a place: we like it, you like it, tourists like it, and - this year - even mosquitos seem to be having a love affair with our town. Yes, it's West Nile season once again, ladies and gentleman, and this year's mosquito crop appears to be especially fond of Chicago. Of the 28 human West Nile cases that have been reported in Illinois this year, 21 have occurred parts of Chicago and the greater Cook County area. more ›

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