A restaurant inspection is an unannounced visit by a local health inspector who checks how a kitchen stores, cooks and handles food, then records any violations. Most inspection results are public: some cities post letter grades in the window, and nearly every county health department lets you look up reports online. Reading one takes a couple of minutes and tells you far more than a review site star rating about whether a cheap find is a safe one.
Key facts
- Restaurant inspections are run by state, county or city health departments, not by a single national agency.
- Most local rules are based on the FDA Food Code, a model code that states adopt and adapt.
- Violations are usually split into serious ones that can directly cause illness and minor ones about upkeep and cleaning.
- In New York City, an A grade means 0 to 13 points; B is 14 to 27; C is 28 or more.
- A report is a snapshot of one day. Look at the pattern over several inspections, not a single visit.
Who inspects restaurants?
In the United States, restaurants are inspected locally. Your state, county or city health department licenses food businesses, sets how often they are inspected and publishes the results. The rules inspectors use are mostly drawn from the FDA Food Code, which the Food and Drug Administration publishes as a model for state and local governments. Because each jurisdiction adopts it in its own way, the format of reports, the scoring and the way results are shown to the public vary from place to place.
That is why a restaurant in one city shows a letter grade on the door while a similar place across a county line shows nothing at all. The inspection still happened; it is just published differently.
How do inspection scores and grades work?
There are four common systems, and you may meet several of them if you travel:
| System | What you see | How to read it |
|---|---|---|
| Letter grades | A, B or C card in the window | A is best; anything else means the restaurant had more violations |
| Point deductions | A score out of 100 | Higher is better; points come off for each violation |
| Violation points | A points total | Lower is better; zero is a clean inspection |
| Pass / conditional / closed | A colored placard or online status | Conditional means problems were found that must be fixed by a re-check |
New York City is a well-documented example. Its health department explains on its letter grading page that an A is 0 to 13 violation points, a B is 14 to 27 and a C is 28 or more, and that restaurants must post the grade card where people walking by can see it. The department’s scoring guide adds that a restaurant gets two chances to earn an A in each inspection cycle: if the first inspection is not an A, an inspector returns unannounced for a graded re-inspection. A restaurant that disputes a B or C can post a “Grade Pending” card until its hearing.
What do the violations actually mean?
The total score matters less than which violations were found. Most systems separate them into two broad groups:
- Serious violations (often called critical, priority or risk-factor violations) are the ones most likely to make someone sick: food held at the wrong temperature, raw meat stored above ready-to-eat food, staff not washing hands, or signs of pests.
- Minor violations (general, core or good-retail-practice violations) cover upkeep such as a cracked floor tile, a missing thermometer or a dirty storage shelf.
New York City’s scoring guide, for example, gives critical violations a minimum of 5 points and general violations a minimum of 2, with more added depending on how bad the condition was. A report with one serious violation that was corrected on the spot is a different story from one listing several temperature and pest problems.
How to look up a restaurant’s inspection report
- Search for your local health department’s inspection lookup. Try the restaurant’s city or county name plus “restaurant inspections”. Use the official government site rather than a third-party copy, which may be out of date.
- Search by the restaurant’s name or address. Chains often have many listings, so match the street address.
- Open the last two or three reports. Note the dates, the score or grade and whether there were follow-up inspections.
- Read the violation descriptions. Look for words such as temperature, cross-contamination, handwashing and pests.
- Check whether problems were corrected. Many reports say “corrected during inspection” or show a clean re-inspection.
If you cannot find results online, call the health department and ask how to request them. Most treat inspection reports as public records.
Should a lower grade stop you eating there?
Not automatically. A useful way to judge a report:
- One bad visit, then clean ones: the kitchen probably fixed the problem.
- Repeat serious violations: the same temperature or pest finding on several visits is a pattern worth avoiding.
- Closure or suspension: check that a re-inspection cleared the restaurant before it reopened.
- Only minor violations: usually about maintenance rather than food handling.
This matters most for budget spots that cook large batches and hold food hot or cold for long periods, such as buffets and hot-food counters. Our guides to getting value from a buffet and supermarket hot food cover what to look for in person, and our street food safety checklist covers stalls and trucks.
What you can check yourself at the table
An inspection report is a few hours out of a whole year, so your own eyes count too. Hot food should arrive hot and cold food cold. Restrooms and dining areas give a hint of how the kitchen is kept. Staff handling ready-to-eat food with bare hands, or a strong sour smell from a salad bar, are reasons to order something else. If you take leftovers home, follow the timing in our guide to taking restaurant leftovers home safely.
If you think you got sick from a restaurant meal, report it to your local health department. Reports from diners are one of the ways inspectors find problems between routine visits.
Frequently asked questions
How often are restaurants inspected?
It depends on the local health department and the type of food a restaurant serves. Many places inspect at least once or twice a year, and more often for kitchens with complex cooking or a history of violations.
Are restaurant inspection reports public?
In most places, yes. Many health departments publish them in an online search tool, and others provide them on request as public records.
What does a Grade Pending sign mean in New York City?
It means the restaurant received a B or C on a re-inspection and has asked for a hearing to dispute it. It can show the Grade Pending card until the hearing.
Is a score of 90 out of 100 good?
In systems that deduct points from 100, a 90 is generally a decent result, but read the violations listed. One serious food-handling problem can matter more than several minor ones.
Do review apps show inspection results?
Some apps display them in certain cities, but the data can lag. The health department’s own website is the most reliable source.
The short version
Find your local health department’s inspection lookup, check the last few reports, and focus on serious violations and whether they were fixed. A single grade is a starting point; the pattern over time is what tells you whether a bargain restaurant is also a safe one. For more ways to eat well for less, browse our cheap eats guides.
Featured photo: Food Health Inspection by U.S. Army 2BCT-3ID (Spc. Devron Bost), public domain.
