Iron Age Korean steakhouse in Wicker Park closed after failed health inspection

Iron Age, the popular Korean steakhouse in Chicago's Wicker Park neighborhood, has been closed by the city after failing a health inspection last week.

According to the city's website, health inspectors found more than 500 rat droppings throughout the restaurant, including in the kitchen, prep, dishwashing and dining areas. They also found black slime dripping onto ice that was meant to be served to customers, no chemical test kits on site for testing dishwashing equipment, inadequate lighting in some parts of the staff areas, and incomplete food handler training certificates.

The city's report also said the restaurant had not corrected previous violations from a previous inspection in April.

The city posted a license suspended notice on the front door of the restaurant. The restaurant must address the violations by cleaning and sanitizing the affected areas before they can reopen. 

Several restaurants across Chicago have recently had their licenses suspended after failing health inspections in the last month. Stella's Diner in Lakeview closed permanently in July after the Chicago Department of Public Health found a cockroach infestation and other violations, as did The Bagel across the street under the same owners.  The Bagel has since reopened.

A cockroach infestation was also behind the brief shutdown of Magnolia Bakery in Block 37 on State Street, which reopened after about a week.