Start with Larimer County’s Retail Food Establishment Inspections page, then open its public inspection portal. Search the establishment name and match the street address and current operator before opening a report. When browsing inspection results, choose Retail Food in the Program Type filter and check the Date Range. Larimer County warns that a business under new ownership can appear twice, with one profile showing the previous owner’s inspections. Two results at one address may therefore represent two separate operating histories.
The responsible agency is the Larimer County Department of Health and Environment (LCDHE). Its database covers restaurants, fast-food operations, delis, markets, cafeterias, convenience stores, and other establishments regulated by LCDHE. The broader Food Safety Program page also lists grocery stores, concession stands, certain food processors, mobile units, and pushcarts. Facility type still matters: the county cautions that other regulators or permits may apply, so confirm the regulator from the facility type rather than the business name.
Treat current and previous owners as different profiles
Larimer County says retail food licenses are tied to the owner and location and do not transfer to another operator or address. That makes the operator boundary central to the search.
Suppose, as a fictional example, Pine Lake Cafe occupies an address where Cedar Table formerly operated. If the portal returns two profiles for that address, keep Cedar Table’s inspections out of Pine Lake Cafe’s history. Open each profile separately and keep the establishment name, address, operator information when shown, and dated inspections together. The older profile documents the former operation only.
The current result list helps separate a facility profile from an inspection event. A result card displays a linked establishment name and address, its Result, visit type and Retail Food program, inspection date, and a View Inspection link. The establishment-name link uses a permitID parameter; the inspection link uses a separate inspectionID parameter. Preserve those link identifiers if you need to return to the same records, and call a permitID a license number only if the county does.
Larimer’s county page says clicking the business name opens its history. Use View Inspection for the dated event you are evaluating. This distinction prevents one inspection’s result from being mistaken for the facility’s entire record.
Read the visit type before comparing ratings
Larimer describes several inspection types, each covering different ground.
| Visit type or rating label | What it answers | What it leaves open |
|---|---|---|
| Complete or Routine | Broad compliance with retail food rules, including food handling, contamination risks, sanitation, and structural conditions | Whether conditions changed after the visit |
| Key-Item | Food handling, preparation, and contamination risks | A complete structural review; the county says some structural violations may be omitted |
| Re-Inspection Required inspection | A full routine inspection that rechecks efforts to comply after an adverse point result | Whether every correction was verified before this dated event |
| Not Rated rating | A non-full visit that may concern plans, construction, opening, a complaint, enforcement, or follow-up | A zero-point score, a pass, or an all-clear |
Keep the inspection date and visit type beside every result. Read a Not Rated follow-up alongside the earlier rated inspection, and compare a narrower key-item visit only on the items it covered.
Larimer points run lower to higher risk
The county’s three-tier rating framework began January 1, 2020. It adds the point values for items marked OUT of compliance and publishes these bands:
| Published rating | Risk-index points |
|---|---|
| Pass | 0–49 |
| Re-Inspection Required | 50–109 |
| Closure | 110 or more |
A Pass can still contain violations. Priority items directly control foodborne hazards; Priority Foundation items support those controls, such as training or equipment; Core items cover other requirements, commonly sanitation and maintenance. A category identifies the requirement’s role, while its compliance field records what the inspector found.
IN and OUT mean compliant and noncompliant. NO means not observed; NA means not applicable. Neither counts as a pass. COS records a correction made on site, while R marks a repeat violation. A COS entry sits alongside the original finding. The site’s food inspection violations guide explains how to keep the observed condition, category, correction, and later action separate.
Larimer County’s own page has one conflict. Its rating table begins Re-Inspection Required at 50, while the inspection-type description says that the reinspection follows totals greater than 50. For a record at exactly 50 points, use the rating and wording printed on the official inspection, and ask LCDHE if the next action is unclear.
Larimer’s two date statements: January 2020 and April 2023
Larimer’s inspection page says to click a business name to see its full history. The county’s separate Environmental Health page describes its View Inspection Results link as covering inspections completed after April 2023. Read that as a description of the linked portal rather than a guaranteed archive start date for every establishment.
January 1, 2020 marks the start of the rating framework, and April 2023 describes the current results link; older inspections may exist outside both. If an older dated report is missing, record the profile and search terms you used and request the missing period from LCDHE.
If a search comes up empty, check the address, current and former names, operator, facility type, and date range. A prior-owner profile may still be present even when the current name produces an incomplete-looking sequence.
Larimer closure records and approval to reopen
Larimer publishes Closure for 110 or more risk-index points and describes significant unsanitary conditions or other imminent health hazards. The county says a closed facility must stop operating until the conditions and violations are corrected and must receive health-authority approval before restarting.
For a closure timeline, keep the closing inspection, correction or follow-up record, and the county’s later approval together. Permission to reopen comes from that approval, separate from a correction note, a later routine score, or the absence of a current Closure result. The restaurant closure and permit-suspension guide explains why the inspection, operating restriction, correction evidence, and reinstatement decision should remain separate.
If the history lacks a clearly identified reopening decision, ask LCDHE for the dated approval or other record that authorized operations to resume.
Ask LCDHE for a missing report or decision
The Environmental Health page lists 970-498-6700 as the department’s main number. Larimer County’s current CORA page also links its Public Records Request Form. The form asks for a document name or a specific description with dates, document type, and parties, and directs the requester to the office believed to be the custodian. Direct a food-inspection request to LCDHE or Environmental Health rather than assuming the county’s general inbox is the record custodian.
Include:
- the establishment name and complete street address;
- the current operator and any former operator or business name you know;
- a defined inspection-date range;
- the visit type or missing event, such as routine, reinspection, follow-up, enforcement, closure, or approval to reopen; and
- any visible
permitID,inspectionID, or report link, described exactly as displayed.
A concise request could say: “Please provide LCDHE retail food inspection reports for [establishment and address] from [start date] through [end date], including reports under [former operator or name], and any related reinspection, closure, correction-verification, or approval-to-resume-operation record.”
For an older record, also ask which years LCDHE holds and whether the requested period is available electronically. Keep the operator, report date, findings, and any later agency decision together so you have a dated history to work from.
Larimer County health pages checked September 27, 2026.