Across King County, 32% of routine health inspections at restaurants and other general food service businesses came back Unsatisfactory between October 1, 2025 and September 30, 2026, which means the inspector found at least one red critical violation. That rate runs from 22% in Federal Way and Woodinville to 44% in Kent and Des Moines, and inside Seattle from 5% in ZIP 98144 to 47% in 98118. On the window signs, 64% of rated businesses inspected in that year now show Excellent, up from about 55% when the county introduced the signs in 2017.
These are our own counts from the county’s Food Establishment Inspection Data on King County Open Data (pulled October 24, 2026), one record per inspection number. To look up a single restaurant, use our Seattle and King County inspection search guide.
How King County scores a routine inspection
Inspectors record red critical violations, worth 5 to 25 points each, and blue violations, which are mostly cleaning and maintenance items. Any red item makes the inspection Unsatisfactory. The inspector must come back when red points total more than 35, and closes the business at 90 red points, 120 total points, the same red item three times in 12 months (5-point items excepted) or an imminent health hazard such as no water (King County food safety program).
The sign in the window is a separate measure. For restaurants and other Risk 3 businesses, the county averages red points over the last four routine inspections: 0 to 3.75 is Excellent, 3.76 to 16.25 is Good and anything higher is Okay. Lower-risk businesses use up to two inspections, and only a perfect 0 earns Excellent. Needs to Improve means a closure in the last 90 days or several return inspections (King County food safety rating system). Grocery stores, school food services, farmers market vendors and temporary event vendors are inspected but don’t get a sign.
Restaurant Inspection Check tool · rules checked October 21–23, 2026
Inspection score reader
Pick the program that inspected the restaurant, then enter what the report or door sign shows. The reader explains it on that agency's own scale and tells you what usually happens next.
King County restaurant inspection results by city
Cities with at least 100 routine inspections of general food service businesses in the year, listed alphabetically. “Rated Excellent” is the share of each city’s rated businesses whose current sign is Excellent.
| Area | Routine inspections | Unsatisfactory | Over 35 red points | Rated businesses | Rated Excellent |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Auburn | 376 | 25% | 1.1% | 240 | 67% |
| Bellevue | 585 | 40% | 5.5% | 481 | 54% |
| Burien | 124 | 35% | 2.4% | 111 | 61% |
| Des Moines | 108 | 44% | 2.8% | 68 | 49% |
| Federal Way | 621 | 22% | 1.9% | 310 | 79% |
| Kent | 429 | 44% | 7.2% | 344 | 47% |
| Kirkland | 558 | 29% | 0.7% | 328 | 67% |
| Redmond | 452 | 39% | 2.9% | 325 | 60% |
| Renton | 415 | 29% | 2.9% | 300 | 69% |
| SeaTac | 176 | 33% | 1.1% | 117 | 60% |
| Seattle | 5,223 | 31% | 2.2% | 3,825 | 63% |
| Shoreline | 168 | 33% | 1.2% | 127 | 58% |
| Tukwila | 293 | 42% | 3.1% | 194 | 55% |
| Woodinville | 138 | 22% | 3.6% | 120 | 68% |
- Kent and Bellevue have the most serious visits. 7.2% of Kent’s routine inspections and 5.5% of Bellevue’s went above 35 red points, the level that triggers a return visit, against 2.2% in Seattle.
- Federal Way stands out at the other end. Its 22% Unsatisfactory rate is the lowest of the large cities, and 79% of its rated businesses show Excellent.
- The city is the mailing city in the data. Unincorporated areas use the nearest city’s mailing address; White Center, for example, has a Seattle address and counts under Seattle.
Read the city gaps with one caveat in mind. The dataset doesn’t name the inspector, and the county itself says it added side-by-side peer review inspections after operators raised concerns about consistency between inspectors (rating system page). Part of a difference between two cities can come from the inspection team as well as the kitchens.
Seattle restaurant inspection results by ZIP code
Seattle ZIP codes with at least 120 routine inspections of general food service businesses in the year:
| ZIP | Routine inspections | Unsatisfactory | Over 35 red points | Rated businesses | Rated Excellent |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 98101 (Downtown) | 553 | 29% | 1.6% | 389 | 62% |
| 98103 | 388 | 14% | 0.0% | 288 | 79% |
| 98104 | 282 | 35% | 5.0% | 240 | 52% |
| 98105 | 365 | 36% | 5.5% | 279 | 63% |
| 98107 | 310 | 31% | 0.6% | 214 | 71% |
| 98108 | 141 | 43% | 4.3% | 99 | 44% |
| 98109 | 470 | 34% | 1.7% | 336 | 70% |
| 98115 | 138 | 30% | 4.3% | 122 | 56% |
| 98116 | 207 | 38% | 2.4% | 135 | 56% |
| 98118 | 157 | 47% | 5.1% | 125 | 44% |
| 98121 | 255 | 28% | 2.7% | 191 | 63% |
| 98122 | 458 | 38% | 0.9% | 315 | 63% |
| 98125 | 134 | 25% | 1.5% | 102 | 57% |
| 98134 (SODO) | 352 | 20% | 0.6% | 189 | 67% |
| 98144 | 167 | 5% | 0.0% | 104 | 91% |
Two Seattle areas sit far apart. In 98144, 5% of routine inspections were Unsatisfactory and 91% of rated businesses show Excellent. In 98118 and 98108, more than four in ten inspections found a red violation and fewer than half the rated businesses show Excellent. Downtown (98101) lands close to the county average at 29%, while 98104, 98105 and 98118 had the highest share of visits above 35 red points, about 5% each.
Food trucks, groceries and school kitchens compared
Routine inspections of all business types in the year, and the share with no violation points at all:
| Business type | Routine inspections | Unsatisfactory | No points at all |
|---|---|---|---|
| General food service (restaurants, cafes, bars) | 10,592 | 32% | 47% |
| School lunch program | 876 | 9% | 81% |
| Grocery store | 734 | 20% | 71% |
| Mobile food unit (food trucks and carts) | 617 | 29% | 60% |
| Meat or fish market | 509 | 24% | 63% |
| Nonprofit institution | 282 | 17% | 64% |
| Catering operation | 251 | 20% | 68% |
| Bakery | 222 | 11% | 68% |
| All types | 14,217 | 29% | 53% |
Food trucks come close to restaurants at 29%, and 3.4% of their routine inspections went above 35 red points, the highest share of any type. School lunch programs had the cleanest record, with 81% of visits finding nothing at all.
Why restaurants fail more often than coffee stands
The county sorts every permit into three risk categories by how food is prepared. The more cooking, cooling and reheating a kitchen does, the more ways it can break a temperature rule, and the numbers follow that order:
- Risk 3 (same-day service or complex preparation, meat and seafood markets): 32% Unsatisfactory across 11,343 routine inspections.
- Risk 2 (food preparation with no cook step, such as ice cream shops and some bakeries): 14% of 1,535.
- Risk 1 (cold holding and limited preparation, such as coffee and hot dog stands): 16% of 1,209.
The red violations behind most Unsatisfactory results
Share of general food service routine inspections that cited each red item at least once:
- Cold food held above 45°F: 7% (744 inspections)
- Inadequate handwashing facilities: 7% (694)
- Person in charge missing, lacking food safety knowledge, or no certified food manager on staff: 6% (631)
- Cold food held between 42°F and 45°F: 6% (587)
Other business types fail on different items. Handwashing facilities (9%) and permit or operating-plan problems (8%) lead for food trucks, while raw meat stored above ready-to-eat food and shellfish tag or fish parasite-destruction problems (5% each) lead for meat and fish markets. For the most cited violations in other cities, see the most common health code violations.
How often King County closes a restaurant, and how fast it reopens
The county’s inspection data began marking closures on December 5, 2025. From then through October 13, 2026 it records 37 inspections that closed a business, at 36 establishments; 22 were in Seattle and 6 were food trucks or other mobile units. About 10,000 establishments had a routine inspection over the same stretch, so roughly 1 in 280 was closed at least once. New York City closed 2.5% of the restaurants it inspected in a year (our NYC closure analysis), though the two health departments close for different triggers.
The point total alone tells you little about a closure. The median closure inspection scored 45 points, but 15 of the 37 scored 35 or less. These are the items that appeared most often on closure inspections:
- 2600, valid permit and required operating or risk control plans: 28 of 37 (76%)
- 0600, adequate handwashing facilities: 20 (54%)
- 2110, cold holding above 45°F: 15 (41%)
- 1900, room-temperature storage or improper use of time as a control: 12 (32%)
- 1400, raw meat stored above or near ready-to-eat food: 11 (30%)
- 0100, person in charge or certified manager duties: 11 (30%)
- 1600, improper cooling: 10 (27%)
Most closed places reopened within days. By October 23, 2026, 29 of the 37 closures were followed by an inspection with no closure recorded: 18 of those 29 came within three days and 22 within a week, and 22 were Satisfactory return inspections. The other 8 closures had no later inspection in the data yet. The county posts dates and reopenings on its food establishment closures page.
How to use these numbers before you eat out
- Treat the city or ZIP rate as background. It tells you how often inspectors in that area find a red item, and the individual restaurant’s history matters more.
- Look up the business on the county’s restaurant safety rating search and open its inspection list, newest first.
- Check the newest routine inspection: its date, whether it was Unsatisfactory, and which red items it lists. A cold-holding or handwashing item is more telling than a single blue cleaning item.
- If the sign says Needs to Improve, check the King County closures page for the closure date and reopening.
Limits: the rating is the one in the data on October 24, 2026 and changes after each routine inspection. Educational visits (2,061 in the year) carry no points and are left out, as are return inspections. Rates for areas with a few hundred inspections can move several points from one year to the next. For the same kind of breakdown in other cities, see Chicago inspection results by ZIP code and NYC grades by borough and cuisine.
King County food safety program and rating system pages checked October 24, 2026.