Environmental Health Services

The County of San Luis Obispo Environmental Health Services Division conducts many types of health inspections, including but not limited to Food Facilities (commonly known as restaurant inspections, food inspections, or Food Facility inspections) , Public Swimming Pools and/or Spas, and Body Art Facilities, just to name a few. At this time, only Food Facility and Public Swimming Pool and Spa Facility (added January 2019) health inspection results are tracked through the online database and are posted on this website.

Health inspections are conducted at retail food service establishments that provide food to the general public throughout San Luis Obispo County. These include restaurants, bars, markets/grocery stores, and school cafeterias.

The online database containing all Food Facility health inspection results is intended to allow the general public access at all times to health inspection results with the most recent health inspection scores (food facilities only, swimming pool and spa inspections are not scored with a point value). The database is updated nightly.

A food facility health inspection is an evaluation of food preparation and food employee practices, facility condition, food storage and many other factors that contribute to the overall safety of the food products being sold or dispensed for consumption to the public.

The purpose of a health inspection report is to document the health inspection findings and to provide an overall summary of the health inspection. The report is provided to the facility owner or operator following a health inspection.

Health inspection reports are public record and are required to be maintained onsite at the facility and must be made available upon request at any time. However it is not required that health inspection reports be conspicuously posted.

The County of San Luis Obispo Environmental Health Services food facility health inspection report contains at minimum the following information:

• The date and time of the health inspection,
• The name and address of the food facility,
• The permit holder's name,
• The health permit expiration date and health permit fee payment status,
• The type of food facility (restaurant, retail market, etc.),
• The The type of health inspection (regular inspection (routine) or follow up inspection (reinspection)),
• The score of the health inspection,
• The food safety certified manager,
• A list, if applicable, of all violations observed during the health inspection and an overall summary of the health inspection,
• The name, title, and signature of the person in charge accepting the report,
• A summary of corresponding laws and regulations taken from the California Retail Food Code,
• If applicable, an award of excellence may also be issued with the report. View the Award of Excellence web page for more information.

There are several types of health inspections which get posted on this site: a regular, or routine inspection; a follow up inspection, or reinspection; change of ownership inspections; and opening inspections for initial health permit approval.

Regular health inspections are routine unannounced health inspections.

Follow up inspections, or reinspections, are conducted only when the health inspector has determined during a regular health inspection that a follow up inspection is required to verify compliance with documented California Retail Food Code violations noted during the regular health inspection.

It is the policy of the County of San Luis Obispo Environmental Health Services Division to not present a health inspection score as a letter restaurant grade or restaurant rating, but rather as an overall restaurant score which is based on a maximum of 100 points scoring system.

Points are deducted based on observations of violations occurring within, or in conjunction with, the food facility at the time of the health inspection. More points are deducted for violations that may result in a higher food safety risk if they are not corrected. These can include such things as non-compliance with hand washing, food temperatures, surface sanitization, safe food sources, and employee health.

Fewer points are deducted for minor violations that are usually associated with the condition of the facility, the equipment, and less risky food handling violations.

Additional points are deducted if a violation is determined to be a repeat violation which either wasn't corrected following the last inspection, or was corrected but is found to be in violation again. 

A Food Facility health inspection may result in closure if any violation is observed which is found to create an imminent health hazard which cannot be corrected during the inspection. Common examples include, but are not limited to:

• Surfacing or inability to properly discharge liquid waste (sewage)
• Vermin infestation (rodents, cockroaches, etc.)
• Power or water outages
• Lack of ability to properly clean and sanitize food contact utensils or equipment
• Operation without a valid health permit to operate

Only the most recent health inspection results for facilities that occurred over the last two (2) years are displayed on this website. If the facility recently underwent an ownership change, then only the most recent inspection results following the ownership change and which apply to the new owner are displayed.