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Restaurant inspections in California

Who inspects, where the record lives, what the public actually sees, and whether it has to be posted on the door. Every line below links to the government source it came from.

Letter grade and score Run county by county Required to be posted
  • 01

    Who inspects

    California Retail Food Code enforcement is primarily carried out by 62 local environmental health regulatory agencies, with the California Department of Public Health, Food and Drug Branch, playing a supporting role Agency page

  • 02

    What the public sees

    Letter grade and placard, county by county. LA County uses a 100-point scale where 90-100 is A, 80-89 is B, 70-79 is C, and 0-69 receives a score card. San Diego County assigns an A for 90-100 percent, B for 80-89 percent, and C (a failing grade) for 79 percent or less. Source

  • 03

    Posting the result

    Required to be posted. Yes in the graded counties. LA County placards must be posted in an area clearly visible to patrons/public in unincorporated LA County and cities that adopted Ordinance 97-0071. San Diego County requires the grade card to be displayed near the public entrance during hours of operation. Rule

  • 04

    Food code in force

    2005 FDA Food Code. The FDA Food Code is a model, not a federal mandate — each state decides which edition to adopt and how far to amend it.

Worth knowing. There is no statewide portal or dataset — every county runs its own. In Los Angeles County, reports for inspections conducted on or after August 25, 2025 must be requested through a public records request rather than downloaded.
Official inspection lookups — California
Where to searchCoverage
LA County DPH inspection-results lookupCounty
San Diego County Food Facility Inspection SearchCounty
05

If you run the restaurant

The record is public either way. The useful move is to read it before a customer does.

Step one

Pull your own record

Search yourself in the lookup above and read every line of the last three reports. Repeat violations are what escalate.

Step two

Work the ten risk factors

Most citations trace back to the same ten practices the FDA measures nationally. Run the ten-minute self-check.

Step three

Fix, document, re-inspect

Dated photos and a written correction log are what a re-inspection rewards. What to do after a bad inspection.

06

Other states

Colorado · Connecticut · Delaware · District of Columbia · Florida · Georgia  — or see all 50 states and the District of Columbia.

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