Restaurants

How often are restaurants inspected?

How frequently health departments inspect restaurants, why the cadence varies, and how to tell if an inspection is stale.

Updated Jul 2, 2026

Inspection frequency isn't the same everywhere, and it depends on the type of establishment and its track record. Here's the general picture.

Typical cadence

  • Most full-service restaurants are inspected roughly once or twice a year.
  • Higher-risk operations (those handling raw meat, doing complex prep) tend to be inspected more often.
  • A poor result usually triggers a re-inspection sooner than the normal schedule.

Because inspections are periodic, a grade can be several months old. Radius always shows the inspection date so you can judge how current it is.

Why the date matters

A clean inspection from two years ago tells you less about a restaurant today than one from last month. When a result is old, Radius flags it and weights it accordingly rather than presenting stale data as current.

Frequently asked

How often do health inspectors visit restaurants?
It varies by city and risk level, but most restaurants are inspected about one to two times per year, with more frequent visits for higher-risk operations or after a poor result.
Can an inspection grade be out of date?
Yes. Grades reflect the last inspection, which can be months old. Radius shows the inspection date and flags older inspections so you know how current the information is.

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