I have lived in areas where health department inspections were reprinted in the local paper weekly or sensationalized weekly by a local TV reporter. Here in Fl, I don't think that restaurants are even required to post the scores. I found an app called "what the health" and now I don't feel like eating out much.

I was in JAX last week and every place I was taken or we ordered food from had a low score. I was very cautious. No one else seemed overly upset. I was especially concerned over food temperature violations and presence of insects. I saw one place with a 36 and an endless list of violations. And it was a repeat inspection! Most of the worst violators were Japanese places, especially hibachi grill type establishments.

Here at home I have crossed several restaurants off my list, including the nearest Bonefish.

I don't think I am being too severe in my response. There are too many restaurants in the area to bother eating at the dirty ones. I recommend the app if you want to be informed.

Our local paper publishes all of the restaurant inspections by county. I've opted to avoid a few after reading those.

Most seem to forget, giving the inspector a few free meals.

Never forget to give the cops free coffee and more if they ask...

Most food inspectors are politically appointed.,says it all..

In the UK we have a "scores on the doors" system provided by local authority inspections and supported by a searchable web site and an IOS app. I use this largely for food deliveries when at a second home.

I always search before ordering and never order from anywhere less than a 4 or 5 rating. One place we had been ordering from for years was given a zero rating and that was soon notified by posters on Tripadvisor. It is a great incentive to improve cleanliness.

Some world class chefs have had poor ratings and a year or so back BA F and CCR lounges took a hit.

In Singapore, all food premises must prominently show their scores and it's a great way of using as a starting point for selecting hawker stalls or food centre stalls, and again we take that into account but of course you can see clearly with your own eyes how they are cooking.

An A,B,C rating is posted on the door/window of every establishment here. I take it all with a grain of salt. If they are open, I'll generally not think/look twice at the rating.

Afterall, its a snapshot in time. What does it really tell you about the operation?

City of Berkeley has a pretty hard-... inspection program (separate from the rest of the county) and differentiates between minor and major violations (for the same list of events). I really don't care about minor violations, because it could have resulted from someone not shutting a refrigerator door properly 15 minutes before an inspector came, or someone not being able to check on the soap dispenser in the bathroom after a huge customer rush about the same time as the inspector came.

I don't think they hesitate to shut a place down on the spot, if need be. Alameda County also seems to have a decent program.

Each to their own I guess.

I cannot speak for where you are, but here it can tell you that at the time of the inspection snapshot the place was so filthy and badly managed they need to improve. Sometimes a place is given a few days to improve and is then reinspected. The rating has several elements that include the hygiene processes, maintenance of safe storage, including temperature, pasteurisation of foods, structural compliance ie state if the kitchen and equipment. and confidence in management which will include the training of staff and their record keeping.

If a management can be that bad at any time it would make me wonder whether I would want to have food from them at all, or at least until it is reinspected and the results are more reassuring really.

That information I find useful and presumed most would.

In most of FL, the Health Depts. wouldn't see the "Palmetto Bugs" unless they were served grilled on skewers. Why, in FL it's hard to believe that black bits in your tomato sauce are the charred skin from fire roasted tomatoes.

NYC requires all restaurants to post their most recent grade by the door. You can look up any place's full report online. In general, I don't worry too much about it. If it were that easy, we'd all be dead by now is my mantra.

What I particularly like about this app is the detail behind the score. I really don't care about multiple minor violations like employee cups in the kitchen but no hot water at a hand washing sink or shrimp held at 72 degrees is a red flag. I eat out often and have sometimes become ill afterwards with "turista". I prefer to avoid that and feel that this may help.

I do feel that lack of score posting and publicity results in more outrageously low scores than i have seen outside of the state of Florida. 36. Really?

Yes, and rat turds might be confused for capers.

I have noticed " presence of flying insects " and interpreted that as houseflies. The cockroaches are a category unto themselves and are counted and distinguished between living and deceased, although the reason for making the distinction puzzles me.

The distinction is because if the cockroaches are dead then usually this means that the pest control plan that the restaurant has in place is working like it is supposed to. Most restaurants have what is called a "Bug Night" (usually once a month) where they cover EVERYTHING in the restaurant in the dining room and in the kitchen and a pest control company comes in and sprays for pests. If cockroaches are found alive during a health inspection then these bug nights are either not happening, not happening frequently enough, or the company is not spraying the correct areas or using the correct chemicals. Ideally, pests would never gain access into a restaurant in the first place. In reality, that is almost impossible when doors are constantly being opened and closed to the outside all day from guests, employees, and outside vendors. Even the cleanest kitchens I have ever seen still had a very minor pest presence.

As far as the actual health inspections go and how they are scored, I completely agree on not having faith in a restaurant who has several major violations. A lot of the minor violations are just that.....minor. But, a lot of minor violations can also add up to a lack of discipline in the restaurant which can lead to those major violations. I think the thing that would make me never come back to a restaurant would be if I was a guest and I saw a health inspector show up for a routine inspection and the staff panicked. That means that good behaviors and food handling were not in place on a daily basis and they were trying to fix things real quick so they could pass. Most restaurants get inspected twice a year. That means you don't know what you're getting the other 363 days at that restaurant. They might fix things just good enough to pass that day and live another 6 months. Interesting thread though.

There is a small Mexican restaurant in San Diego that I've been eating at for 25+ years. It's been owned and run by the same family all those years. It is consistently one of the best (top 2 or 3) Mexican restaurants I've found in the US. Many years ago when they first started requiring the 'grade' to be posted, it varied between a C and D. For years and years it was a C. The food and service has always been excellent. Neither myself or anyone I know has ever gotten sick.

How many would avoid this restaurant?

Of note: When dining there a few weeks ago after a 18 month hiatus, I noted the grade was an A.

I don't check the ratings and don't worry about them. If the restaurant is that bad it would be closed.

As for the people who do worry, if the kitchen in your own home were inspected to the same standard as a restaurant how would it be rated? Be honest.

Firstly in the UK the very worst can be temporarily closed for a short period and the public would not know. They can be told to take emergency measures and reopen following a re inspection say in 7 days. The rating would then be given following re inspection and presumably after forced improvements. Also people receiving low ratings can request re inspection.

There is of course the more important issue for some and that is what is personally acceptable. Set low enough standards and you will always be content. Your comment implies this is your position. Fair enough. Food hygiene standards in kitchens I don't see bothers many, me included. The issue of low ratings is also an indicator of whether you can trust and have confidence in the people that prepare food for you. Again, not for you. Fair enough again. I presume I can trust people that prepare my food until there is contrary evidence. Hygiene ratings are such evidence.

With respect to your second point, you also do not seem to understand all of the elements of inspection.

I do not keep staff training records or records of toilet cleaning or supplier date records and food rotation records. This would cause me to fail a commercial inspection. I do however have procedures and processes and a degree of kitchen cleanliness that would pass that part of an inspection. Our kitchen for example has a weekly "deep clean".