Lexington Restaurant Health Inspection Scores

The Lexington-Fayette County Health Department (LFCHD) regulates thousands of food establishments in Fayette County. This includes restaurants, but also schools and university cafeterias, daycares, nursing homes, hospitals, delis, ice cream shops, bars, caterers, grocery stores, convenience stores, meat and seafood markets, farmers' markets, vending machines, and temporary food vendors.

Each establishment is inspected at least twice a year by LFCHD inspectors. Inspections are unannounced and check for compliance with state and local food safety regulations across categories like food handling, equipment, temperature control, cleanliness, and employee health practices.

Inspection scores range from 0 to 100. LFCHD uses a color-coded placard system that you'll see posted near the entrance of every regulated establishment:

A green placard means the establishment scored 85 or higher with no priority violations. This is the passing grade.

A red placard means the establishment scored 84 or lower, OR had one or more priority violations regardless of the numeric score. Priority violations are the ones most directly tied to foodborne illness risk.

Establishments scoring below 60 are closed until issues are remedied.

The 'Inspection Type' column distinguishes regular inspections (the routine twice-yearly visits) from follow-up inspections (after a previous failure or violation) and complaint-driven inspections (prompted by a member of the public reporting a concern).

When you're checking a restaurant before visiting, look at both the most recent inspection score AND the pattern of recent scores. A single low score after years of high scores is different from a consistent pattern of low scores.

The inspection data on this page comes directly from LFCHD's published inspection records. LFCHD publishes batches of inspection data periodically, and the data shown here reflects the most recent batch available. The current batch covers inspections conducted from July 2025 through December 2025.

Since establishments are inspected twice a year, the next batch will typically reflect the following six-month period of inspections. LFCHD also posts the latest individual inspection scores at lfchd.org for current information between batch releases.

If you want the absolute latest inspection score for a specific establishment, the green or red placard posted at the establishment's entrance will always show the current score. The data on this page is useful for searching across all Fayette County establishments and looking at historical patterns.