Back On Track: Tank Noodle Reopens After Health Inspection

It's business as usual in Uptown for Tank Noodle, open for business after city inspector's reinstated the restaurant's business license.

Management says the Vietnamese restaurant reopened between 2 p.m. and 3 p.m. on Friday, a day after Health inspectors revoked the Eater 38 restaurant's license, forcing a sudden closure. The city classifies "critical" violations as problems that need immediately fixing, concerns that will force a restaurant's closure. Inspectors found three such problems during their Thursday afternoon inspection.

Tank quickly addressed the violations, and an inspector came in on Friday giving them a green light to reopen, restaurant manager Ly Nguyen said Monday morning. A sewage clog posed the biggest concern, as Tank ownership posted a note on the front door blaming that for the closure.

Management didn't know about any of the problems until the inspection, Nguyen said. The restaurant contacted the building's owner and the problems were rectified. Tank's optimistic the problems are behind them.

"I hope so, you know it's an old building," Nguyen said.

The health inspector found standing water in areas including the kitchen, bathrooms and front-service area. The inspector also cited the restaurant's cooler for not being able to hold a low enough temperature to store meats. That problem was also resolved, and Nguyen said pest control service handled the health inspector's observation of "over 50 live fruit flies in the front prep area and customer bathroom."

Here's the city health inspector's full report:

City of Chicago's Oct. 28 Health Inspection of Tank Noodle