Food Safety Report: El Buen Valle Restaurant, 4114 W North Ave, Chicago, Il, USA.

Chicago, 60639 Illinois, United States

Report date: Oct 10, 2025
23. Proper date marking and disposition
- comments: observed ready-to-eat, time/temperature control for safety (tcs) foods (cooked shrimp, cooked chicken in green sauce, beans and pork) not date marked to indicate the product's name and date in which the food must be sold, discarded or consumed within 7 days. Instructed to provide proper labels for date marking and discard date for refrigerated, ready-to-eat, tcs foods held over 24hrs placed in all cold-holding units. Person in charge discarded and denatured approx. 50 lbs valued at $100 priority foundation violation #7-38-005. Citation issued

40. Personal cleanliness
- comments: noted food handlers without proper hair restraints. Instructed to provide and maintain.

41. Wiping cloths: properly used & stored
- comments: noted orange and white whiping cloths throughout kitchen/ prep area and front register. Instructed to hold wiping cloths in the proper sanitizing buckets with proper sanitizing solution in between use

47. Food & non-food contact surfaces cleanable, properly designed, constructed & used
- comments: noted cutting boards in kitchen with deep cuts and stains. Instructed to restore to a smooth and easy to clean surface by sanding and resealing or replace and maintain.

51. Plumbing installed; proper backflow devices
- comments: observed back up at 3 compartment sink in kitchen. When testing drainage from sink, water was drained from middle sink and flowed into empty sanitizing sink. Also noted a slow drain. Instructed to repair - restoring proper drainage. Recommends having grease trap cleaned/ serviced. Priority violation 7-38-030(c). Citation issued.

54. Garbage & refuse properly disposed; facilities maintained
- comments: observed enclosed area to dumpster not clean. Noted tools, scrap wood, debris and equipment scattered in area. Instructed to remove all unnecessary items and clean the grounds underneath and behind dumpster.

55. Physical facilities installed, maintained & clean
- comments: observed broken/unused equipment in facility. Instructed to remove ice machine and broken chest cooler.

60. Previous core violation corrected
- comments: noted continued non-compliance from report #2613914 conducted on 3/17/2025. Previous core violations not corrected:(49) noted heavy ice buildup inside the chest freezers in the storage area. Instructed management to defrost, remove ice, clean, and maintain. (55) observed cardboard being used as floor mats in the rear prep area and walk-in cooler. Must remove and provide floor coverings that are a non-absorbent, non-corrosive, smooth, easily cleanable surface (57) observed no food handler training certificates on site. Instructed to provide for current employees. (58) observed no allergen training on site at time of inspection. Instructed all employees holding city of chicago foodservice manager certificates must complete allergen training and maintain records thereof on-site at all times. Instructed manager to clean and maintain. Must correct core violations by the date on the report. Priority foundation violation #7-42-090. Citation issued.

Source: chicago.gov