Look up a state / TN
Restaurant inspections in Tennessee
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.
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01
Who inspects
Split and partly delegated: Tennessee Department of Health (TDH) Environmental Health Program permits and inspects restaurants with Environmental Health Specialists in all local health departments; the Tennessee Department of Agriculture regulates retail food stores; five contract counties (Davidson, Hamilton, Knox, Madison, Shelby) run their own food inspection, permitting and enforcement Agency page
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What the public sees
A numeric score out of 100; critical items deduct 4-5 points and less-critical items 1-2 points from 100. Source
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03
Posting the result
Required to be posted. The permit holder shall post the most recent completed report in a conspicuous location on the premises, per TN Rule 1200-23-01. Rule
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Food code in force
2009 FDA Food Code (Dept. of Health); 2009 FDA Food Code with Supplement (Dept. of Agriculture). The FDA Food Code is a model, not a federal mandate — each state decides which edition to adopt and how far to amend it.
| Where to search | Coverage |
|---|---|
| Tennessee statewide TDH inspection portal | Statewide |
| Metro Public Health Department (Davidson/Nashville) Food and Public Facilities | County |
No official bulk or API dataset found. Results are available one establishment at a time, or by public records request.
If you run the restaurant
The record is public either way. The useful move is to read it before a customer does.
Pull your own record
Search yourself in the lookup above and read every line of the last three reports. Repeat violations are what escalate.
Work the ten risk factors
Most citations trace back to the same ten practices the FDA measures nationally. Run the ten-minute self-check.
Fix, document, re-inspect
Dated photos and a written correction log are what a re-inspection rewards. What to do after a bad inspection.
Other states
Texas · Utah · Vermont · Virginia · Washington · West Virginia — or see all 50 states and the District of Columbia.
Improved a bad record in Tennessee?
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