Alphabet Soup: NYC to Start Grading Restaurants

JILLIAN SCHARR NBC New York 06/15/2010 16:20

Sure you may be eating Grade A meat, but what if the restaurant serving it is an "F?" Restaurants will be graded on food safety starting at the end of July, city officials said today.

The NYC Health Department announced it has drawn up plans to begin assigning grades of A, B or C to the city's over 24,000 restaurants.

The restaurant inspections will be the same as they've always been, and each cited violation will still contribute to a certain number of points. But restaurants used to be given the total score, now, the score will correspond to a letter grade which must be posted at the restaurant's entrance.

Restaurants with 0 to 13 "violation points" will receive an A. Scores of 14 to 27 points are a B, and 28 or more results in a C.

The Department hopes the new rating system will save time. Restaurants with A grades will be inspected yearly, while those with Bs will be every 5 to 7 months and those with Cs every 3 to 5 months.

Restaurants can appeal grades, too, and receive a "Grade Pending" sign to post in lieu of the contested letter until a re-inspection is conducted one month later.

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