Vajra has had one of the more eventful arcs in recent Chicago restaurant history — and in November 2025, general manager Dipesh Kakshapaty gave Block Club Chicago a candid accounting of why. The Himalayan-Indian restaurant, which earned Michelin Bib Gourmand recognition in 2021 and 2022, had just closed its Wicker Park dining room for the second time — a little more than a year after finally reopening it. "It was not very sustainable. The dining habits have changed. It's hard to fill the dining room," Kakshapaty said. He also mentioned, almost in passing, that the restaurant had faced "several recent temporary closures due to mechanical issues." That phrase looks different now: on Monday, March 30, a Chicago Department of Public Health complaint inspection found cockroaches, a dish machine operating at zero sanitizing capacity, and a front door gap that has been flagged since the restaurant's first inspection at this address in 2023. The result was a Fail.
What the Inspection Found
According to the city's public food inspection database, the March 30 complaint visit produced ten separate violations. The cockroach findings are what drive the result: a live roach was observed crawling on the floor near the dish machine in the prep area, earning a citation under Chicago Municipal Code 7-38-020(A). Several dead roaches were also found on floors throughout the prep, dishwashing, storage, and bar areas. The structural pathway for those pests is documented in the same report: a quarter-inch gap at the bottom and middle of the front entrance doors. That gap was first flagged at the May 2023 inspection — Vajra's first at the North Avenue location — and it is still not sealed.
The dishmachine is a separate, equally serious problem. Inspectors measured 0 parts per million in the sanitizing rinse of both the three-compartment sink and the low-temperature dishmachine — meaning neither was sanitizing dishes at all. The machine has been tagged out of service and must not be used until reinspected. A citation was issued under code 7-38-025. The three-compartment sink also has a leaking faucet.
Rounding out the sheet: the inspection notes that core violations cited on July 31, 2025 — missing ceiling tile panels, the same leaking three-compartment sink, and no proof of food handler training on file — have still not been corrected. A citation was issued for that failure under 7-42-090. The July 2025 visit, which resulted in a Pass with Conditions, had already been eventful: a cold-holding cooler was found with chicken ranging from 69.6°F to 87.8°F and cooked cauliflower at 87.8°F. Fifteen pounds of food worth approximately $250 was voluntarily disposed of on the spot.
The Restaurant's Current Configuration
As of the inspection date, Vajra is no longer operating its dining room or bar. After closing the dine-in program in October 2025, the restaurant pivoted to a multi-concept takeout model: the original Vajra menu of Nepalese-Indian cooking running alongside a new Mediterranean brand called Oma — charcoal kebabs, falafel, hummus, baba ghanoush, saffron rice — out of the same kitchen, per Block Club. The former bar space was being converted to a Sparrow Coffee cafe, with pastry ambitions from chef Min Thapa, who is trained in pastry as well as savory cooking.
The Infatuation, which reviewed Vajra when it was still a full-service dine-in restaurant, called it "the right balance between predictable and interesting" and praised everything from the samosa chaat to the smoke-infused soju cocktails. Their review noted tandoori venison, gruyere-filled naan, and a lobster Malabar curry among the highlights. The dining room that housed all of that is now empty weekday mornings, apparently functioning as a remote-work cafe. The kitchen producing the food is what the March 30 inspection addresses.
A Pattern Worth Noting
Vajra is not a neglected or indifferent operation — the Bib Gourmand recognition and the press coverage reflect genuine culinary ambition, and Kakshapaty's public comments about the business challenges are more transparent than most operators manage. But the inspection record at 2039 W. North Ave. shows a facility that has been struggling to keep pace with compliance requirements across multiple categories simultaneously. The front door gap has been unfixed for nearly three years. The food handler training records were requested in July 2025 and were still absent in March 2026. The mechanical closures Kakshapaty mentioned in November now have a documented inspection corollary in the form of a dishmachine that isn't sanitizing.
The restaurant's full inspection history is searchable at the Chicago Department of Public Health food inspection database. Vajra can be reached at (773) 697-4211. Hoodline has reached out for comment on the inspection result and current operational status.
