Where to find your restaurant's health inspection report

The paper the inspector hands you at the end of a visit is a summary. The official record your health department publishes is the version that drives your fine, your posted grade, and what shows up when a customer searches your name.

It also carries the details a defense depends on: the exact code section cited, the condition level, the point value, the inspector's written observation, and the inspection date that starts your appeal clock. Fighting a violation without those is guesswork.

Restaurant inspections are run at the city, county, or state level depending on where you are — there is no single national database. Search for "[your county] health department restaurant inspections" and look for a .gov result. If the county comes up empty, check the state health or licensing agency: several states (Florida, Tennessee, Rhode Island among them) inspect restaurants centrally.

If nothing is published online, call the inspecting office and request a copy of your establishment's inspection history — as the license holder you're entitled to your own records, usually by email within a few days.

Violation code. Every line cites a specific section of the local food code. That citation — not the plain-English summary — defines what the department has to prove and what your response has to answer.

Critical vs. general. Critical (or "priority") items are the ones tied directly to foodborne illness: temperatures, cross-contamination, handwashing, pests. They carry the most points and the steepest fines. General items are maintenance and documentation issues.

Points and scores. Most jurisdictions add points for each violation. In NYC lower is better and points map to a letter grade; in Los Angeles County a percentage score maps to A/B/C. Either way, one or two critical items can move you a full grade.

Inspector's remarks. The narrative matters more than owners expect. Vague or inconsistent observations, or notes that don't actually establish the elements of the cited code, are among the most successful grounds for a reduction.

Check the dates first. Your window to contest, request a hearing, or submit a written response is short — often 15 to 30 days from the notice — and missing it usually means the full fine by default. Note any re-inspection date too; correcting items before that visit is the fastest way to move a grade.

Then gather proof for each cited item: dated photos of the correction, repair or exterminator invoices, temperature logs, employee training records. That evidence is what actually reduces fines.

Upload the report to ViolationIQ and our AI reads every line, matches each violation to the code section behind it, scores your odds of a reduction, tells you whether to fight it online, in person, or by written appeal — and on a paid plan drafts the response letter for you.

If you operate in New York City, you don't have to search the DOHMH site yourself. Add your restaurant and we pull your official inspection history automatically — every violation, your score, your letter grade, and your fine-reduction odds.

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