Open the Arkansas Department of Health Food Establishment Inspection Search. Enter part of the establishment name and add the city or county. If the name is common, add the street, ZIP code, or an inspection date range. Match the returned street address before opening a record.
At a glance
- Score: report only. The ADH inspection portal marks each item IN, OUT, N/O, N/A or R.
- How often: 1 to 3 inspections a year, depending on the establishment’s risk category.
- Most serious violations: Priority (P) and Priority Foundation (Pf) items in the Arkansas retail food rules; Core items are the lower tier.
- Checked: Arkansas Department of Health pages checked October 21, 2026.
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.
The result row has three different paths. When observations were recorded, Observation(s) opens finding-specific information. The report icon opens the inspection report for that event. Past Inspection(s) opens earlier dated visits. Use all three when the question is whether a problem was corrected or followed up; the latest row alone cannot show the whole sequence. Each report describes a dated inspection and is not a guarantee of current food safety.
Search the premises, then keep each event together
The retail-food definition covers regulated operations that store, prepare, package, serve, vend, or otherwise provide food to consumers, including restaurants, markets, institutions, mobile units, and temporary operations. It does not cover every food activity. Examples outside the definition include a store offering only prepackaged food that does not require time and temperature control, a stand selling only whole uncut produce, a food processing plant, and qualifying private-home food production under the Food Freedom Act.
The public form also supports Region, map display, and a radius search tied to an address. Start narrowly enough to avoid mixing locations or similarly named businesses.
- Search a distinctive part of the name with the city or county.
- Confirm the full physical address in the result.
- Record the Most Recent Inspection date and Inspection Type.
- Open Observation(s) when present for the cited items and comments.
- Open the report icon for that same inspection.
- Use Past Inspection(s) to look for a later follow-up or an earlier related event.
The search can label events Routine, Follow-up, or Complaint. Keep the date, event type, observations, and report together. A follow-up belongs to its own date and does not rewrite what the routine inspection documented.
The visible results identify the establishment by name and address rather than exposing a stable public permit or facility number. If a report or records response supplies an identifier, save it with the source that supplied it. Do not assume that two records with similar names cover the same premises.
Risk Category controls inspection frequency, not the result
The portal divides regulated food establishments into three risk categories. These labels describe the complexity of the operation, the population served, and how often routine inspections are scheduled. They are not grades for the inspection you opened.
| Portal category | What the portal says about routine frequency | How to use it |
|---|---|---|
| Category 1 — Low | Once per year; examples include grocery stores and operations with little direct contact with unpackaged food | Use it as scheduling context, not a clean-inspection label |
| Category 2 — Medium | Twice per year; the portal says this includes the majority of food establishments, such as restaurants | Read the dated observations rather than treating “Medium” as a score |
| Category 3 — High | Three times per year; examples include certain hospitals, nursing homes, day cares, complex preparation, and operations with repeat violations | Do not infer that the current inspection caused closure |
Additional visits can occur for a previous violation or a complaint. That means the number and type of events in Past Inspection(s) may reflect more than the routine schedule.
Read IN and OUT before P, PF, and Core
The portal uses one set of marks for what the inspector observed:
- IN means the item was in compliance;
- OUT means the item was out of compliance;
- N/O means not observed;
- N/A means not applicable;
- an asterisk marks an item corrected on site; and
- R marks a repeat violation.
The portal says its comment section identifies the finding, the code provision, what must be corrected, and the correction date. Keep that comment with the item status. An OUT item corrected on site answers a different question from an OUT item awaiting later verification.
Priority level describes the role of the requirement. The portal explains P as a Priority item that directly controls a foodborne-illness hazard and PF as a Priority Foundation item that supports that control. The current Code of Arkansas Rules definition section defines a Core item as a provision that is neither P nor PF and usually concerns sanitation, operating controls, facilities, equipment design, or maintenance.
Read the status and priority together: OUT describes compliance with that item at the visit, while P, PF, or Core describes what kind of requirement it is. The site’s food inspection violations guide gives a practical way to preserve the item, category, correction note, and inspection date as one record.
Correction windows require verification
Current 20 CAR section 197-405 makes correction during the inspection the default for Priority and Priority Foundation violations. Based on the hazard and the complexity of the correction, the regulator may allow a longer period of up to 72 hours after the inspection for a Priority item or 10 calendar days after the inspection for a Priority Foundation item or HACCP deviation. The same section requires the regulator to verify and document the correction.
For Core items, 20 CAR section 197-406 sets a date agreed to or specified by the regulator, no later than 90 calendar days after inspection. The regulator may approve a longer schedule if the permit holder submits it in writing and no health hazard exists or will result from the extension.
Those periods are conditional outer limits, not automatic grace periods. Use the correction date in the comment and then look for the regulator’s verification or a later follow-up. A corrected-on-site mark applies to the cited item; check other findings separately. A missing online follow-up does not establish that no verification occurred.
Closure and resumption need different evidence
An item marked OUT, P, or PF does not by itself mean the establishment closed. Arkansas’s current imminent-health-hazard rule requires operations to stop and the regulator to be notified when an imminent health hazard may exist, subject to an exception for an unaffected area. If operations stop under that section or other law, the permit holder must obtain regulatory approval before resuming.
For a closure question, look for the dated notice or order and the later approval or other agency disposition. A follow-up inspection can be part of that sequence, but its presence is not a reopening authorization. The site’s closure and permit-suspension guide explains how to keep the inspection, order, and return-to-operation record separate.
Use the current code and request missing history narrowly
The ADH portal still links a rule PDF in the older format. The Department’s Final Rules page says that, beginning January 1, 2025, the Code of Arkansas Rules is the official version and the previous-format rules are for reference. Use the current code when the legal correction, closure, or resumption rule matters.
The current report-of-findings section requires the report to document the establishment’s legal identity, addresses, operation type, inspection date, factual violations, and correction timeframe, along with other applicable administrative information. It also treats the inspection report as a public document available for disclosure as provided by law.
Use Past Inspection(s) first, but do not treat the search form’s starting date as a guaranteed archive boundary. For an older report, missing verification, or closure and resumption documents, the ADH FOIA page says only Arkansas citizens may request access to ADH public records under Arkansas law. It lists adh.foia@arkansas.gov for general requests and links Adh.ehs@arkansas.gov for Environmental Health–Food inquiries.
An Arkansas requester should provide the establishment name, full address, county, a bounded date range, and any identifier already found. Ask separately for inspection reports, follow-up or correction-verification records, and any closure, suspension, or resumption record. If you are not an Arkansas citizen, use the public portal and ask Environmental Health what access route applies rather than assuming FOIA eligibility. A request does not guarantee that a record exists, is complete, or is disclosable.
Official sources checked September 27, 2026.