To find a Rock County food inspection, open the official Food Establishment and Restaurant Reports portal, enter at least two characters from the establishment name, and match the result to its street address and facility type. Open the facility page before choosing a dated inspection. A Re-inspection and a Follow-up Inspection are different county labels: the first is required under the conditions described by Rock County, while the second is performed at the inspector’s discretion.
Match the facility before opening an inspection
The facility list shows the establishment name, address, most recent inspection date, and facility type. Rock County’s licensed-facilities page says its food program includes restaurants, grocery and convenience stores, mobile food trucks and carts, bakeries, and temporary food stands. The facility type is therefore necessary context; a result in the food module is not automatically a conventional sit-down restaurant.
On a facility page, retain the Facility ID, location, facility type, Status, and last-inspection date. Its inspection history lists visits by date and type and summarizes Priority, Priority Foundation, Core, and repeat findings when present. If names are similar or one operation appears in more than one format, the address, type, and Facility ID prevent the histories from being combined.
The portal pages checked for this guide did not expose a total score or letter grade. Read the dated report fields instead of calculating your own score from the number of findings.
Routine, Re-inspection, and Follow-up answer different questions
Rock County describes a Routine Inspection as a risk-based review conducted annually within the licensing year. A Re-inspection is required when a routine inspection finds a risk-factor violation that could not be corrected onsite or when consecutive violations appear in earlier reports. A Follow-up Inspection is a discretionary check used to confirm correction of routine-inspection violations.
Those labels describe why a later visit occurred. They do not tell you its outcome. Open the later report and compare its date, inspection type, Re-inspection required field, observed violations, and corrections with the earlier report.
Do not rename a Follow-up as a Re-inspection simply because it occurred after a routine visit. The site’s reinspection and follow-up guide can help keep the trigger and later result on separate lines.
Follow one finding through three dated reports
During an AI-assisted remote record check on October 5, 2026 (KST), we opened the facility history and three dated reports for 29 South Cafe, 29 S Main Street in Janesville. The facility history identifies the same operation as HSAT-7QXLNE across a May 2, 2023 Routine visit and July 20 and September 20 Follow Up visits. The Facility ID helps keep the sequence attached to one record. This was an online lookup, not a visit to the restaurant.
The May report marked Re-inspection required: Yes. Its Priority Foundation item 23 concerned missing date marks on refrigerated, ready-to-eat food held longer than 24 hours. The report gave May 12 as the correction date; item 23 was not marked corrected during the May visit. The July Follow Up listed the same item as REPEAT, with a July 30 correction date.
In the September Follow Up, item 23 appears under Corrected violations, while several Core items remain under Observed violations as repeats. That supports a later documented correction of the date-marking item, without giving an exact correction date or showing that every issue was resolved. Both later visits retain the Follow Up label even though the reports also say Re-inspection required: Yes. Keep both fields as printed; this history does not establish a numeric score, closure, or present-day conditions.
Read Priority, Priority Foundation, and Core with correction status
The report’s Main tab shows the inspection date, facility type, year-round indicator, complexity rating, inspection type, and whether reinspection is required. The Violations tab identifies the numbered item and Food Code citation, its category, the inspector’s observation, and the correction. A finding can also be marked as corrected during the inspection.
Rock County explains its categories this way:
| Category | County interpretation | Reader action |
|---|---|---|
| Priority | Directly associated with foodborne-illness risk; immediate correction is required and reinspection may be triggered | Read the observation, correction marker, and reinspection field |
| Priority Foundation | Supports or enables control of a Priority item | Keep the category and stated correction with the dated report |
| Core | General cleanliness, procedures, equipment design, or maintenance | Read the individual finding; do not convert it to points |
“Corrected during inspection” records what happened during that visit. It is not a warranty about conditions after the inspector left. Conversely, a finding without that marker should not be called uncorrected today; look for the later report or ask the county.
July 1, 2016 is the portal’s history floor
The county says online reports begin with the 2016–2017 fiscal year, on or after July 1, 2016, because it used different inspection software before that date. A blank period before the cutoff is outside the portal’s stated coverage. It is not evidence that no inspection occurred.
For dates within the online period, remember that Rock County calls an inspection a snapshot and says the site may not yet reflect corrections or new violations. A facility page can show a later visit while an older report remains part of the history. Keep each event’s own date and label.
Rock County’s Data & Reports page links recent routine inspection reports. If you need an older pre-2016 inspection or a missing detailed record, use the department contact route rather than stretching the online history beyond its stated boundary.
Treat status, closure, and reopening as separate evidence
A required reinspection is not, by itself, a closure. The facility page has a Status field, but an inspection report’s date, violation count, or reinspection requirement does not substitute for a dated closure order. If closure is the question, retain the relevant county notice or order, then look for a later report or county response that addresses the facility’s status.
An old closure record does not establish that the facility remains closed. A later inspection establishes reopening only if the report or another county record actually documents authorization to resume operations.
Ask Rock County about a missing or unclear record
Rock County Public Health’s contact page is the official route for questions about records or report meaning. The department publishes 608-757-5440 on its licensing material. Provide the facility name, full address, Facility ID, approximate inspection date, and the exact visit type you need.
For a correction or status question, identify both reports: for example, the routine inspection and the later Re-inspection or Follow-up. For a pre-July 2016 request, say that the date falls before the portal’s online floor and ask whether the retained record can be provided. That gives the agency a specific event to locate without assuming that the public portal is the complete archive.
The linked report example and portal overview were checked October 5, 2026 (KST). County guidance was originally checked September 27; the licensing and Data & Reports wording was rechecked in indexed official text on October 5 because direct county-page requests returned access errors.