In a city that’s not exactly known for being the cleanest, a health-rating system for restaurants is a helpful tool for figuring out where to and not to eat.
Some people follow the system, which grades restaurants on an A to C scale, religiously. If it’s not an A, they won’t dare go in. But others are far more lax, claiming that places with truly authentic flavors may just end up with a B or C, and it won’t deter them.
New York City isn’t the only place with this sanitary rating system. Los Angeles, North Carolina, South Carolina, Chicago, and even our neighbors to the north in Toronto do it, too.
While it’s easy to write a restaurant off for not achieving that illustrious, a few people know what actually goes into this letter grade and what it might mean for the quality of their food and prep.
Man calls out restaurant with low score
In a trending video with more than 28,000 views, singer-songwriter Kenny Supreme (@kennysupremee) shares his not-so-hot take on the restaurant system.
“So I don’t know if I’m the only one that does this, but every single time that I go in a restaurant and I see that they have a B, I don’t go in it,” Kenny says.
“If it doesn’t have an A, then I don’t want it,” he adds.
Kenny says he’s skeptical of what health-code violations they got that would merit them getting knocked down a grade.
“When it comes to food, every spot should have an A,” he decides.
What does the grade really mean?
The NYC Health Department started requiring restaurants to display their letter grades on their storefronts in 2010.
The grade depends on how well a place follows the city and state’s food safety requirements. That includes food handling, food temperature, personal hygiene, facility and equipment maintenance, and pest control.
For example, not keeping food at a safe temperature equals at least 7 points. Not properly washing raw ingredients that go into a salad is at least 5 points. And general violations, like not properly sanitizing cooking utensils, are at least 2 points.
Each violation earns a place a certain number of points. The fewer points a place earns, the better.
If the violation can’t be fixed by the end of the inspection, the Health Department may shut the restaurant down until the issue is addressed.
Here is how many points correspond to each grade and what they might mean, according to Serious Eats:
- A: 0 to 13 points. These are usually technicalities or non-critical violations, like canned food being dented or inadequate lighting.
- B: 14 to 27 points. Most NYC restaurants have this score. This could mean there are more serious violations, like lack of proper sanitization or food prep.
- C: 28 points or more. “This is when things start to get pretty gross—and possibly dangerous.” This could mean there are live pests in the facility, food is spoiled, or there isn’t a proper hand-washing area.
A C is the lowest rating a restaurant can get. If it gets too many points, it’s at risk of being temporarily shut down by the city.
Can a restaurant improve its score?
Restaurants have two chances per inspection cycle to earn their A. If they don’t get it in the initial round, they’ll be scored but ungraded.
Typically, they’ll have a “Grade Pending” sign in the meantime.
The restaurant then gets randomly reinspected (typically within a month).
Commenters react
“Not me completely oblivious to those signs,” a top comment read.
“Saw a C once and they had a line out the door,” a person said.
“I mean I worked at an A that was really not clean so imagine how bad it gotta be to get a B… they even give you a chance to try again for an A if you don’t get it the first time,” another shared.
“Sometimes it’s something like a towel out of place or like a trash can in the wrong place. Because if it’s infestation or food out of date they don’t get B,” a commenter added.
@kennysupremee If the restaurant grade isn’t an A, I’m not staying to play. 🍽️🚫 Standards are standards! Period! #GradeAOnly #FoodSafety #DiningOut #NoBGrade #StandardsAreStandards ♬ original sound – Kenny Supreme
The Daily Dot reached out to Kenny for comment via Instagram and TikTok direct message
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