ParseForge
Chicago Restaurant Inspections Scraper
parseforge/chicago-restaurant-inspections-scraper
Lead generationOther
Scrapes Chicago restaurant inspection records from the city's public data portal. Returns facility name, address, inspection date, result, risk level, and violation details as flat rows.
- Total users
- 2
- Monthly active
- 1
- Total runs
- 97
- Bookmarked
- 0
- Rating
- Not rated yet
- Last modified
- 9 days ago
Overview
Chicago Restaurant Inspections Scraper
Scrape Chicago restaurant inspections from the city's public data portal, up to a million per run. Every record comes with the facility name, address, inspection date, result, risk level, and violation details. No login or API key. Export to CSV, JSON, Excel, or XML.
Chicago's restaurant inspection data lives in a public portal, but downloading it means manual filters, pagination, and messy exports. This Actor reads the inspection records directly, filters by result or risk level as it goes, and returns each match in one flat row. You get clean, structured data for every restaurant, food truck, or cafeteria in the city.
| Who uses it | What they scrape Chicago Restaurant Inspections for |
|---|---|
| Public health researchers | Tracking which neighborhoods have the most failed inspections |
| Food safety consultants | Building a list of restaurants that need compliance help |
| Local journalists | Finding stories about repeat offenders or sudden closures |
| Restaurant owners | Monitoring their own inspection history and competitor results |
| Data analysts | Combining inspection data with other city datasets for trend analysis |
What it does
This Actor collects Chicago restaurant inspection records from the city's public data portal and returns each one as a flat row with facility details, inspection outcome, risk level, and violation information.
- 🔍 Result filter: Pass, Pass w/ Conditions, Fail, Not Ready, No Entry, Out of Business, or Business Not Located.
- ⚠️ Risk level filter: Risk 1 (High), Risk 2 (Medium), Risk 3 (Low), or All.
- 📊 Flat row output: One record per inspection, ready for CSV, JSON, Excel, or XML.
- ⚡ Up to a million records: Set maxItems to pull as many inspections as you need in one run.
Results export to CSV, JSON, Excel, or XML, or straight from the API.
What you can do with Chicago Restaurant Inspections data
📈 Track food safety trends.
A public health researcher pulls all failed inspections from the last year and maps them by ZIP code to see which areas need more outreach.
📰 Find repeat offenders.
A local journalist filters for Fail results and cross-references facility names to identify restaurants with multiple violations in a short period.
📋 Build a compliance list.
A food safety consultant exports all Risk 1 (High) facilities with Pass w/ Conditions results to create a targeted outreach list.
🏪 Monitor your own record.
A restaurant owner runs the Actor weekly with their facility name in the result filter to catch any new inspection before the public does.
📊 Combine with other data.
A data analyst joins inspection results with Yelp ratings or census data to study the relationship between food safety and neighborhood demographics.
Why choose this scraper
| What you get | |
|---|---|
| No API key or login | The city's data portal is public, and this Actor reads it directly. |
| Clean, flat schema | Every inspection is one row with the same fields, no nested JSON to untangle. |
| Filter before download | Result and risk filters cut the noise so you only pay for the records you need. |
| Export anywhere | CSV, JSON, Excel, or XML, ready for your spreadsheet, database, or BI tool. |
How it compares
This Actor focuses on Chicago only, with dedicated filters for result and risk level, while the competitor covers both NYC and Chicago in one normalized format.
| Feature | ParseForge | NYC + Chicago Restaurant Inspections Scraper |
|---|---|---|
| Chicago inspection data | Yes | Yes |
| Filter by inspection result | Yes | Yes |
| Filter by risk level | Yes | Not listed |
| Filter by facility name | Not listed | Yes |
| NYC inspection data | Not listed | Yes |
| Violation details | Yes | Yes |
Configure the run
Drive the Actor with a maximum record count, then narrow the dataset by inspection result and risk level. Filters run as each record is read, so only matches reach your dataset. The Input tab lists every parameter.
A first run with the defaults:
{
"maxItems": 10
}
A larger pull:
{
"maxItems": 200
}
Pricing
Pay-per-result: $0.021 per result collected. You pay only for the results written to your dataset.
| Results collected | Approximate cost |
|---|---|
| 100 results | $2.10 |
| 1,000 results | $21.00 |
| 10,000 results | $210.00 |
New Apify accounts start with $5 in free credit.
Free users
Free-plan runs return up to 10 results as a preview. Upgrade your Apify plan to collect up to 1,000,000 results per run.
Run it
- Create a free Apify account with $5 in credit.
- Open the Chicago Restaurant Inspections Scraper.
- Set your inputs and any filters, then click Start.
- Export the results as CSV, Excel, JSON, or XML from the Dataset tab.
Run it programmatically through the Apify API (run-sync-get-dataset-items) or the ApifyClient for JavaScript and Python.
Use with AI agents (MCP)
Give an AI agent live access to Chicago Restaurant Inspections through the Model Context Protocol. Add the Actor to Claude, Cursor, or any MCP client:
claude mcp add --transport http apify "https://mcp.apify.com?tools=parseforge/chicago-restaurant-inspections-scraper"
Then prompt it in plain language to run the scraper and read back the results.
Troubleshooting
Why am I getting no results?
Check your filters. If you set a result like Fail and a risk level like Risk 3 (Low), the combination may not exist in the current data. Try clearing one filter or setting both to Any.
The run stops before reaching maxItems.
The Actor stops when it has collected the number of records you set in maxItems, or when it reaches the end of the available data. If you need more, increase maxItems and run again.
Some fields are empty in the output.
The city's data portal sometimes leaves fields blank for certain inspections. This is normal and reflects the source data.
Can I get historical inspections from years ago?
The Actor reads whatever is currently available on the city's public data portal. If the portal only shows recent inspections, that is all you can scrape.
FAQ
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| What data does this Actor return? | Each record includes the facility name, address, inspection date, result, risk level, and violation details as published by the City of Chicago. |
| Can I filter by a specific restaurant? | The input schema does not include a facility name filter. You can filter by inspection result and risk level, then search the output for a specific name. |
| How many records can I get in one run? | Set maxItems to any number from 1 to 1,000,000. The Actor will stop after collecting that many matching inspections. |
| Does this include violation details? | Yes, the output includes violation information as published by the city, including violation codes and descriptions when available. |
| Is the data current? | The Actor reads from the city's live public data portal, so you get the latest inspections available at the time of your run. |
| Do I need an API key? | No. The city's data portal is public, and this Actor reads it directly without any authentication. |
| What export formats are supported? | You can export the results as CSV, JSON, Excel, or XML from the Apify platform. |
| Can I schedule this to run automatically? | Yes, you can set up a schedule in Apify to run the Actor daily, weekly, or at any interval you choose. |
| Does this cover the whole city of Chicago? | Yes, it includes all facilities inspected by the Chicago Department of Public Health, including restaurants, food trucks, and cafeterias. |
| What is the difference between risk levels? | Risk 1 (High) facilities are those with complex food preparation, Risk 2 (Medium) have some preparation, and Risk 3 (Low) are mostly pre-packaged foods. |
Related actors
Browse the full ParseForge collection for more scrapers.
🆘 Need help? Email parseforge@protonmail.com with your run ID, your input, and what you expected.
⚠️ Disclaimer. This Actor is unofficial and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by City of Chicago. It collects only publicly available data. You are responsible for using the collected data in compliance with the source's terms of service and applicable data-protection laws, including GDPR, CCPA, and PIPL. Do not use it to collect personal data unlawfully.
Input
| Field | Type | What it does | Default |
|---|---|---|---|
| maxItems | integer | Maximum number of restaurant inspections to collect per run. | 10 |
| result | string (8 options) | Filter to a specific outcome. | not set |
| risk | string (5 options) | Filter by facility risk category. | not set |
Pricing
from $19.00 per 1,000 results
| Charged for | What it is | Price each |
|---|---|---|
| result | Single result in the default dataset. | $0.019 to $0.021 |
Tiered: the lower figure is the price on a higher Apify plan. Billing and the free credit live on Apify.
API
One POST returns the dataset directly. Same shape for every scraper in the library, so swapping the slug is the only change.
curl -X POST "https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/parseforge~chicago-restaurant-inspections-scraper/run-sync-get-dataset-items?token=$APIFY_TOKEN" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{
"helloWorld": 123
}' Examples
Input that runs as-is.
{
"helloWorld": 123
} Reviews
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Issues
We build and maintain this scraper, so a problem with it comes to us. Report it on the Apify listing and the thread stays attached to the scraper where the next person can find it: open an issue.
Broken and urgent, or you would rather not post in public? Write to parseforge@protonmail.com and it reaches the people who wrote it.
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