One scale for every state.
Every restaurant gets a grade and a score out of 100, so you can compare any two places, anywhere.
Where the health department publishes a score out of 100, that's the score we show: the Official score. Where it publishes something else, such as violation counts, pass or fail, or its own words, GradeLocal translates that result onto the same scale: the GradeLocal score. The official result is always on the card too, with a link to the report.
The member rating is stars from GradeLocal members. It's their opinion, and it never changes a grade.
The letter scale
There are four letters: A, B, C and D. There is no F. When an agency publishes an F, we show it as a D.
Each letter has its own medal color: A is gold, B is silver, C is bronze and D is wood.
The score out of 100 puts every result on the same scale, so any two places can be compared. Higher is better. Where the health department publishes a score out of 100, the score is the agency's own: the Official score. Everywhere else it is the GradeLocal score, worked out from the agency's result.
How a grade is figured
Agencies that publish a score. The letter comes from the score: 90 or higher is an A, 80 to 89 is a B, 70 to 79 is a C and below 70 is a D.
Agencies that publish a letter, or pass or fail. When the agency publishes its own letter, we use that letter. For pass or fail results, a pass is an A, a pass with conditions or a required reinspection is a C, and a fail or a closure is a D. These results have no score of their own, so each letter gets a set score: A is 95, B is 85, C is 72 and D is 50.
Agencies that count violations. We count every violation in the latest inspection. None is an A, 1 or 2 is a B, 3 to 5 is a C, and 6 or more is a D. An emergency closure order is also a D. These letters get the same set scores.
The same rule applies everywhere. The cutoffs are never adjusted for a state, county or city.
We always use the latest inspection. If two inspections have the same date, we keep the worse result. If a place shows up twice, we keep the worse inspection result.
Averages and rankings
Every listing counts, except listings with no graded inspection. Where a state publishes a score out of 100, we use that official score. Everywhere else, we use the GradeLocal score for each result, so averages for those states are our estimate, not an official figure. Sorting by Grade puts places in order by letter, then by score.
What a grade isn't
A grade shows one inspection on one day. It is a snapshot of the latest inspection we have, not a review of the food, and it may be out of date. The official result is always on the card too, with a link to the report. When anything disagrees, the agency's result is the one that counts.
Member ratings are the opinions of GradeLocal members. They never change a grade.
Where the data comes from
Every result traces to a health department inspection. Most come straight from the agency's public record. Where a few come through a site that republishes them, the Sources page says so.
We update each state's records regularly, but there is always a delay, and a restaurant may have been inspected again since. The date on each card is the inspection date.
For restaurant owners
Claim your listing to fix your name, address or phone. Inspection results can't be changed here. They come from the health department and change only after a new inspection. If you think we copied a result wrong, tell us and we'll check it against the public record.