Chicago Restaurant Inspection Records Since 2010

Inspections of restaurants and other food establishments in Chicago from January 1, 2010 to the present, performed by the Chicago Department of Public Health's Food Protection Program. Results are reviewed and approved by a State of Illinois Licensed Environmental Health Practitioner (LEHP).

Use Cases

• Analyze inspection result trends (e.g., pass, pass with conditions, fail) over time to identify seasonal food safety patterns.
• Map inspection findings and violations to specific establishments for geographic risk assessment.
• Study the impact of procedural changes implemented on July 1, 2018, on subsequent violation rates.

Strengths

• Data covers over a decade of inspections, starting from January 1, 2010.
• Inspections follow a standardized procedure and are approved by licensed professionals (LEHPs).
• Data is provided in multiple accessible formats, including CSV, JSON, XML, and RDF.

Limitations

• The dataset may contain duplicate inspection reports despite efforts to minimize them.
• Inspection results reflect findings at a specific point in time and may not represent conditions at other times.
• The specific data elements and column structure are not detailed in the provided input.

Provenance

Source

City of Chicago

Collection Method

Inspections performed by Chicago Department of Public Health staff using a standardized procedure, with results input into a database and reviewed by a Licensed Environmental Health Practitioner.

Time Range

January 1, 2010 to present

Freshness

Data is updated to the present, with a last recorded update on March 22, 2026.

Geography

Chicago, Illinois, USA