Carson City restaurants have new inspection process

Carson City’s new restaurant inspection process went into effect July 1.

Customers will soon find a placard with a grade prominently posted in each restaurant, although the roll out may take up to a year, according to Dustin Boothe, division manager, Health and Human Services.

“Depending on when the establishment is inspected next they will be issued a card,” said Boothe. “We believe that this process will take us 12 months.”

The grades will be A, B, or C, based on the eateries’ inspection score. The scoring system behind the grades has changed. In the past, scoring started at 100 and restaurants were marked down for each violation so the lower the score, the worse the inspection.

Now, a lower score is better. Scoring starts at zero and restaurants are given points for each violation — five points for each critical high-risk factor such as inadequate cooking or holding temperatures, contaminated equipment, or poor employee hygiene, and two points for more minor high-risk infractions that aren’t considered critical.

A grade of A means the restaurant scored between 0-10, B equates to a score of 11-20, and C equals a score of 21-40. Any restaurant scoring 41 or above is closed.

Low-risk factors will no longer be factored into the scoring, but the restaurants will still be required to take corrective actions.

Full-service restaurants are inspected twice a year while a bar with no food service is inspected once a year, said Boothe.

The city began revamping its inspection process a year ago, holding public meetings to gather input from restaurant owners, and going through the public process of amending the municipal code.