In Louisville and Jefferson County, Kentucky, the letter on a restaurant placard turns on critical violations more than on the score. From October 25, 2025 to October 23, 2026, Louisville Metro Public Health and Wellness gave a C after 239 of 4,693 regular restaurant inspections (5.1%). 209 of those C placards came with a score of 85 or higher, and 150 with a score of 90 or higher. The follow-up visit came a median of 7 days later, and 202 of 233 followed-up restaurants (87%) had an A at that visit.
- Regular restaurant inspections: 4,693 at 2,637 food service establishments
- A: 4,449 (94.8%); C: 239 (5.1%); B: 1; no grade recorded: 4
- C placards with a score of 85 or higher: 209 of 239 (87%)
- Regular inspections scoring below 85: 30
- Next inspection after a C: median 7 days; 224 of 233 within 10 days
- Grade at that next inspection: A in 202 of 233
- Restaurants with a C on two regular inspections in a row: 11
How Louisville’s ABC placard is decided
The ABC Placard policy linked from the Food Safety Program page (dated March 14, 2016) sets three placards:
- A (green): a score of 85 to 100 with no critical violations. It stays up until the next routine inspection.
- C (red): a score of 84 or below, plus every inspection with a critical violation, whatever the score. It stays up for at least 7 and at most 10 days, and a follow-up inspection must be done.
- B (blue): a restaurant that failed two regular inspections in a row, failed a follow-up, or was closed for an imminent health hazard and then reopened. It stays up until the restaurant passes its next regular inspection.
Two failed regular inspections in a row also put a restaurant under administrative review. A restaurant moved to more frequent inspections keeps the placard from its routine inspection, so the extra visits do not change the sign on the door. The 2016 thresholds still match the 2026 data: the lowest score that received an A this year was 88.
The scores behind Louisville’s C placards
| Score | C placards |
|---|---|
| 72 to 84 | 30 |
| 85 to 89 | 59 |
| 90 to 94 | 101 |
| 95 to 98 | 49 |
| Total | 239 |
Every regular inspection that scored 85, 86 or 87 received a C. A C in the 90s means the inspector found at least one critical violation, such as food held at the wrong temperature, even though the deductions were small. A C below 85 can come from the score alone. In both cases the inspection report lists what was wrong.
In this year of data, 11 restaurants received a C on two regular inspections in a row, while the score layer shows a single B. The public data does not show how each of those 11 cases was handled, so check the restaurant’s current placard and the follow-up report.
How fast Louisville follows up after a C
- 233 of the 239 C placards had a later inspection by October 23, 2026. The other 6 came near the end of the period.
- Median gap: 7 days. 224 came within 10 days and 232 within 14; 9 came after the 10-day mark in the policy.
- The next record was a follow-up in 199 cases, a regular inspection in 16, an enforcement action in 13, a complaint visit in 4 and an office record in 1.
- Grade at that next record: A in 202, B in 4, C in 5. 22 records carried no grade, mostly enforcement actions.
Other cities give restaurants more time; what happens when a restaurant fails a health inspection compares the rules in Chicago, New York City, King County and Los Angeles County.
Louisville ZIP codes with the most C placards
| ZIP code | Regular inspections | Share with a C |
|---|---|---|
| 40291 | 118 | 17.8% |
| 40213 | 133 | 12.0% |
| 40219 | 179 | 9.5% |
| 40205 | 211 | 9.0% |
| 40214 | 158 | 7.6% |
| 40217 | 106 | 6.6% |
| 40204 | 217 | 6.0% |
| 40218 | 113 | 5.3% |
| 40223 | 121 | 5.0% |
| 40216 | 155 | 4.5% |
| 40299 | 231 | 4.3% |
| 40220 | 142 | 4.2% |
| 40202 | 578 | 3.1% |
| 40203 | 127 | 3.1% |
| 40222 | 228 | 3.1% |
| 40245 | 104 | 2.9% |
| 40206 | 223 | 2.7% |
| 40243 | 138 | 2.2% |
| 40207 | 305 | 2.0% |
| 40208 | 191 | 1.6% |
| 40241 | 196 | 1.5% |
| 40209 | 170 | 1.2% |
| All Louisville Metro | 4,693 | 5.1% |
The table covers ZIP codes with at least 100 regular inspections. Small numbers of restaurants can move a ZIP code: the 21 C placards in 40291 went to 20 restaurants, out of 118 inspections there.
How to check one Louisville restaurant
- Open the Food Safety Program page and choose the Restaurant Inspection Score Look Up Tool.
- Search by restaurant name and confirm the street address.
- If the latest result is a C, check its date. A follow-up inspection should replace it within about 10 days, so look for a newer record.
- If the placard is a B, look back through earlier reports for the failed inspections or closure that led to it.
Our Louisville inspection search guide explains the lookup in more detail, and Louisville complaint records covers complaint visits. Looking for Jefferson County, Alabama? That is the Birmingham area; see Jefferson County, Alabama inspection scores.
How we counted
We downloaded the Louisville Metro KY Restaurant Inspection Scores layer from Louisville open data on October 25, 2026. It covers inspections from October 25, 2025 to October 23, 2026. Rates use facility type “FOOD SERVICE” and inspection type “REGULAR.” The next inspection is the next record of any type for the same establishment ID. The separate violations layer currently stops at older inspections, so this page does not count violation types. These are our calculations, not health department statistics.
Louisville Metro pages and data checked October 25, 2026.