After having an interesting ::) back and forth in another thread, I started thinking about how when I traveled in NC that every restaurant had a sign in the window displaying a letter grade. The letter grade representing the last health inspection. A being excellent, B being good and so on and so forth.
My question is why doesn't FL or Jacksonville have that? I know while traveling it made things easier since I didn't have to wonder about the restaurant since I knew the grade going in and I think having that here would help weed out some of these places that have violations.
If we do have this here, I'm sorry I've never seen it.
It's called ZAGAT. Go to any big city and you'll see their ratings paraded somewhere, provided the restaurant/service received a good rating. Jax has some things rated, mostly chains, though. I'm afraid we don't warrant too much of their attention yet.
Also, check out the Folio's annual "Best of" edition, and the obvious yet innumerable online sources.
I'm familiar with ZAGAT, but I'm pretty sure the one's in NC that I saw were from the State. I was in a mountain town with less than 15k for the whole county.
And I know the internet is a great place for reviews but sometimes if your trying a new place or a place that you've gone before you might not think to check before going in. With what they have there it's a clear rating that is easy to understand and in plan view.
I have seen those posted ratings elsewhere, too. They are indeed official state inspection reports. Could it be that tourist-dependent Florida doesn't want to scare customers away if some of the touristy places got bad grades? I think the tourist industry is a major contributor to political campaigns, and could have "invested" in stopping such practices here. Of course, all under the guise of "not confusing consumers" who may not understand an A-F letter grade system. ::)
[cynic mode off]
I found something that kinda goes over it.
http://www.deh.enr.state.nc.us/ehs/Food/score%20card%20press%20release%20lhd%20boilerplate2.pdf
I was thinking it might have something to do with tourism. But I think that would be counter productive. I know when I was traveling up there I felt better with eating in a new city since I quickly caught on to the ratings. It also allowed me to feel better eating in local places.
Georgia uses a numeric system 0-100, and it has to be visable to the restaurant public, basically when you walk in the restaurant. No having to hunt for the item. In Florida, its not mandatory to have it plain view, the license, and inspections, but they are available online at the State of Florida website, Dept of Professional and Business Regulations.
The easiest way to see if a restaurant is clean is to go and inspect the bathrooms. If the bathrooms are a problem, you can be 90% sure that the kitchens are equally the same. There are always some that come back to bite you, but its the best and quickest way to check.
Here is the Jacksonville.com link...
http://www.jacksonville.com/entertainment/dining/violations
I know about that link, but I was thinking more towards something at the restaurant posted for everyone to see.
If your from out of town you might now know about that site or even have access to the internet. I didn't when I was in the mountains. We didn't even have cell service.
I would love to see a restaurant ratings system. The health inspections should be posted on the front door of the place or on the front page of the menu. Accountability upholds standards and quickly weeds out businesses that are not in compliance.
All I know is Sumo Sushi got a perfect score!! It's one of my favorite places, so I enjoy bragging about it.
I agree that a system like that would be great, but I also can see how tourism could come into play. I like an A-F system because it gives a little wiggle room to the restaurant, but it also informs the customer. It's also a great motivator for the C's and D's to get up in the A-B range.