For a restaurant inside Bismarck, use the city’s eTRAKiT inspection instructions to find the right food-service license, then open a dated report under Inspections. Read the visit type, completed date, result and item notes together. A PASS result can still accompany documented priority findings; a future scheduled row does not show that an inspection took place.
This is the City of Bismarck Environmental Health Division’s route for food establishments it licenses and inspects. The city food-establishment page describes that scope. For a location outside the city, use the North Dakota inspection-record custodian guide to find the responsible agency first. Sources and the example below were checked October 16, 2026; the city pages were rechecked October 20, 2026.
Find the food-service license, then open one visit
Open the public License Search. The city’s instructions say to choose Corporate Name under Search By, Contains under Search Operator, and enter the establishment name. In the results, check the License Type column for FOOD SERVICE; the page may require side-scrolling. Match the street address as well as the name and license type. A name alone can lead to more than one license. If you already have its identifier, the same form offers a License # search; the example below uses that route.
Select the matching license, open Inspections, and choose More Info for the visit you want to read. Note the inspection type and both date fields before interpreting the result. If More Info does not populate when opened as a stand-alone link, start again from the city instructions and the public license search. The report may depend on the selected license and inspection in that session.
A PASS row can contain priority findings
The history for food-service license FOOD2015-00077 supplies a dated example. Its routine inspection was scheduled July 1, 2026 and completed July 9, 2026 with a PASS result. The opened report listed two priority findings. Its notes say a dishwashing sanitizer dispenser problem was corrected on site. For a separate temperature-control finding, one food was discarded and other items were moved to another cooler. The recorded actions matter more than an assumption that PASS means zero observations.
| Entry in that license history | What the displayed fields establish | What they leave open |
|---|---|---|
| June 28, 2024 complaint | A COMPLAINT - FOOD visit with INCONCLUSIVE result | It is a separate event, not the result of the 2026 routine visit. |
| July 2026 routine | Scheduled July 1; completed July 9; PASS; report notes two priority findings and specific actions | The label supplies no numeric grade or proof of every later condition. |
| January 1, 2027 routine row | Scheduled date shown; no completed date or result when checked October 16, 2026 | It is not evidence of a completed future visit or its outcome. |
Use the dates to build a sequence, but keep the result attached to its own inspection type. The city’s displayed PASS is a result label here; the report’s finding count and notes tell you what inspectors recorded during that visit. Do not convert it into an invented percentage or assume a blank result means no violations.
Details that change how you read a Bismarck report
- The code behind the findings. The city links its food code as the 2013 FDA Food Code. That edition sorts violations into priority, priority foundation and core items, which is why the example report counts “priority findings” rather than points. Look up a cited section there to see the exact requirement.
- Other license types share the search. The city’s inspection-report page says eTRAKiT also holds lodging, body art, swimming pool and tanning inspections. A hotel with a restaurant can have a lodging license and a food license; only the food-service license history answers a kitchen question.
- Temporary and mobile food count too. The city licenses and inspects temporary food setups and mobile food units as food establishments, so a festival stand or food truck may have its own license and history.
- A new restaurant may have no report yet. The city requires plan review before a food establishment is built, extensively remodeled or converted, and says a review generally takes 7 to 10 days. An empty inspection tab for a newly licensed place can simply mean the first routine visit hasn’t been recorded yet; ask the division before reading anything into it.
On site, the city requires every food establishment to post either its most recent inspection report or a Notice of Inspection sign telling customers the report is available on request. If the copy you’re shown is older than the latest completed visit in eTRAKiT, go by the dated online record. To raise a current problem, use the city’s food complaint form; for records questions, Bismarck-Burleigh Public Health is at 407 S. 26th St. and 701-355-1540.
If you need the next action, ask for its dated record
The online example does not establish a closure, reopening, complete correction history or the establishment’s condition today. If you need to know whether a particular item was later verified, save the license number and the inspection type and completion date, then ask Bismarck-Burleigh Public Health for the relevant later record through the city’s food-establishment contact page. The city also says food establishments must make their most recent inspection report available to customers upon request.
For a report you have already obtained, the inspection-report reading guide helps keep observations, corrective notes and later visits separate. Recheck the official record when the timing of an action matters. This dated report does not prove current safety or that every cited item was later verified.