The Understudy Coffee and Books
5531 N Clark St, Chicago, IL 60640 · Uptown · Restaurant · Medium risk
Clean record — passed all 3 inspections
Last Inspected
2025-12-19
What You Should Know
✓ 3 consecutive passes, most recently 2025-12-19
✓ No failures across all 3 inspections on record
⚠ Documentation & Training issues found across 1 inspection
⚠ Food Temperature issues found across 1 inspection
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Types of Issues Found
📋 Documentation & Training critical 1×
🌡 Food Temperature critical 1×
🚰 Plumbing & Waste minor 1×
Inspection History
1 ▾
serious Sanitation
FOOD-CONTACT SURFACES: CLEANED & SANITIZED
OBSERVED A SMALL AMOUNT OF BROWN RESIDUE ON THE INSIDE PANEL OF ICE MACHINE IN THE REAR DISHWASHING AREA. INSTRUCTED TO SCHEDULE A CLEANING AND MAINTAIN.
2024-10-24 Pass w/ Conditions Canvass CRITICAL 4 ▾
critical Documentation & Training
PERSON IN CHARGE PRESENT, DEMONSTRATES KNOWLEDGE, AND PERFORMS DUTIES
PERSON IN CHARGE DOES NOT HAVE A CITY OF CHICAGO SANITATION CERTIFICATE. PRIORITY FOUNDATION VIOLATION.
critical Food Temperature
CITY OF CHICAGO FOOD SERVICE SANITATION CERTIFICATE
FOUND NO CERTIFIED FOOD MANAGER ON SITE WHILE TCS FOODS (DAIRY, SANDWICHES ETC) ARE BEING PREPARED AND SERVED. INSTRUCTED PERSON IN CHARGE, A CERTIFIED FOOD MANAGER WITH CITY OF CHICAGO FOODSERVICE SANITATION CERTIFICATE MUST BE PRESENT AT ALL TIMES ...
minor Other
THERMOMETERS PROVIDED & ACCURATE
INSTRUCTED TO PROVIDE THERMOMETER VISIBLE INSIDE ALL REACH-IN COOLERS.
minor Sanitation
FOOD & NON-FOOD CONTACT SURFACES CLEANABLE, PROPERLY DESIGNED, CONSTRUCTED & USED
INSTRUCTED TO PROPERLY STORE CLEANING SUPPLIES 6" OFF THE FLOOR UNDERNEATH THE 3 COMPARTMENT SINK FOR EASY ACCESS ON CLEANING.
1 ▾
minor Plumbing & Waste
PLUMBING INSTALLED; PROPER BACKFLOW DEVICES
OBSERVED NO ADDITIONAL PREP/DUMP SINK IN THE FRONT PREPARATION/BEVERAGE AREA. INSTRUCTED THE PERSON IN CHARGE TO PROVIDE AN ADDITIONAL PREP/DUMP SINK IN THE FRONT PREPARATION/BEVERAGE AREA.
Data sourced from Chicago Dept. of Public Health ·
Score calculated from inspection outcomes, violation severity & recency.
· How we score
View official record on city data portal →
Eat or Beat scores are independent editorial analysis of public records and do not represent official government ratings.