Several restaurants across Chicago have licenses suspended after failing health inspections
Several recognizable spots have been forced to close at least for now after failing health inspections.
A sign was placed outside a popular downtown bakery where workers were spotted cleaning and sanitizing to get back up to code. The failed inspection is one of many around town as of late.
At North Broadway and Barry Ave in East Lakeview, the patio chairs at Stella's Diner are stacked as its license is suspended. The Chicago Department of Public Health shut it down after finding a cockroach infestation and other health code violations.
"I think the word infestation is a little scary," said Stella's Diner owner Marvin Barsky.
He acknowledges getting shut down by the health department doesn't look good, but insists what inspectors found wasn't as extreme as the report outlines.
"They don't come in the food. They come in cardboard boxes. They come in from the outside. So, and they multiply unbelievably. So could they be there? Yes ... this is a terrible thing to say, but I, we could probably go to almost every restaurant in the city and find one or two or three, but infestation, I think that was a stretch," he said.
Stella's closure comes less than a month after inspectors closed The Bagel right across the street—also owned by Barsky. That business was also shut down after inspectors documented a cockroach infestation during a complaint investigation, but has since reopened.
"Nothing in the report that I saw, I felt, was that egregious to shut us down. Do we have things we had to correct? Yes. In fact, we are basically all done," Barsky said.
Health leaders reported a similar on State Street in Block 37.
"When you look at an infestation, especially when it comes to cockroaches, that's a sign of poor sanitation and poor cleaning," Barsky said.
Jasmine Davenport Murray is a registered environmental health specialist who operates ARF Food Safety Consulting Group. She trains restaurant owners and employees to help stay in compliance with health regulations.
"You're supposed to have a pest control company, a certified pest control company, come to your establishment at least monthly," she said.
Davenport Murray adds that with more than 11,000 restaurants in the city, inspectors can't be everywhere and customers should look at three areas—the dining hall, restrooms and staff.
"That's in plain sight, so what's going on behind closed doors?" she asked.
Davenport Murray says you can always call 311 if you see something that does not look right at a restaurant.
CBS News Chicago has reached out to Magnolia Bakery about its failed inspection, but has yet to hear back. However, in a published article, it said they're working on a "corrective plan" which includes retraining employees.
