Use San Mateo County’s inspection report search for a restaurant’s inspection history. Match the address before reading a green, yellow, or red placard. For copies of older reports or to ask about a closure, the County’s Food Inspection Results page says to email envhealth@smcgov.org or call 650-372-6200.
At a glance
- Score: a placard instead of a number: green Pass, yellow Conditional Pass or red Closed (2026 placard guide).
- Yellow placard: major violations had to be corrected, and a reinspection follows within three business days.
- Most serious violations: major violations, meaning a CDC foodborne-illness risk factor or an imminent health hazard (placarding FAQ).
- Checked: San Mateo County Health pages checked October 24, 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.
Checked August 26, 2026 against the current routes published by San Mateo County Health, Environmental Health Services, San Mateo County Environmental Health Services, San Mateo County Health, Environmental Health Services, San Mateo County Health, Environmental Health Services.
History and current closure status live on different pages
| Question | County source | Important limit |
|---|---|---|
| What inspections are recorded for this premises? | Inspection report search | Match the facility and open dated reports |
| Is the facility on the current closure/hearing list? | Environmental Health by email or phone, per the Food Inspection Results page | The County’s separate closure list was not online after its recent website update |
| What does the posted color communicate? | Examples linked from Food Safety | The placard summarizes a disposition; read the report for the observed violations |
Match the facility before trusting the placard
- Search the restaurant name and compare the returned street addresses.
- Open the facility record and copy its identifier, address, and newest inspection date.
- Check whether the same premises appears on the closure page.
- Keep the placard color with the report that produced it, not with an undated screenshot.
- Open any later inspection or reinstatement before describing the facility’s current listed status.
Green, yellow, and red are dispositions, not permanent labels
San Mateo County’s placarding materials use green for Pass, yellow for Conditional Pass, and red for Closed. The current 2026 placard material explains that a closed facility must remain closed until written permit reinstatement is issued. A later official event can therefore change the facility’s status; preserve both dates.
| Placard | Record meaning to retain | Next evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Green / Pass | Pass disposition for that inspection | Read any documented violations and later visits |
| Yellow / Conditional Pass | Conditional disposition requiring the related report | Find the County’s follow-up and resulting placard |
| Red / Closed | Operating permit suspended for the recorded condition | Written reinstatement or later reopening evidence |
The closure list deliberately drops corrected entries
San Mateo County Health updated its website recently, and its separate closures and administrative-hearings page is no longer online. Until the County posts a replacement, a question about a current or past closure needs an email or call to Environmental Health; the inspection report search still shows dated inspection reports.
- Listed now: record the business, address, closure date, reason, and page-check date.
- No longer listed: inspect the facility history and request older reports before concluding there was no closure.
- Closed independently of a County inspection: the closure list may not contain the event.
- Name changed at the same address: search both identities and separate the operators by date.
Request the report when the portal cannot supply it
San Mateo County’s Food Safety page says that if the report is not found, you can request copies by emailing envhealth@smcgov.org or calling 650-372-6200. Include the exact address, business and former names, approximate date, and whether you need the inspection, closure, or reinstatement record.
| Request detail | Why it helps |
|---|---|
| Facility address and suite | Separates similarly named businesses |
| Current and former names | Finds records across an ownership or brand change |
| Inspection or closure date range | Identifies the missing event |
| Document type | Distinguishes report, hearing, closure, and reinstatement material |
| Portal search attempted | Shows why the online route was insufficient |
Write the result as a sequence, not a color verdict
The defensible sequence is: inspected on a stated date, received the stated disposition, had the stated violations, and later received the stated follow-up or reinstatement. A placard alone does not prove conditions today.
For a broader explanation of violation and correction fields, use Food Inspection Reports and Violations. If the address falls under another Bay Area agency, return to Restaurant Inspection Check by City.
Separate inspection, closure, and reinstatement dates
A red placard may be connected to several dated records: the inspection that identified the condition, the suspension or closure action, and the written reinstatement that permits reopening. Put each event on its own row even when they occur close together. The current closure page can confirm a present listing, but the facility history or requested documents are needed to reconstruct a past sequence after the listing is removed.
| Event | Primary evidence | Statement it can support |
|---|---|---|
| Inspection | Dated facility inspection report | What the inspector documented at that visit |
| Closure | Red placard, suspension, or County closure record | The official action and its date |
| Correction | Follow-up report describing the corrected condition | What the later inspector verified |
| Reinstatement | Written permit reinstatement or reopening record | When the County allowed operations to resume |
| Current-list removal | Later version of the nonhistorical page | Only that the business is no longer displayed there |
Explain an empty closure search without erasing history
Use precise wording: the facility was not shown on the County’s current closure page on the date checked. Then say whether you also reviewed the inspection-history portal or requested older closure and reinstatement records. This avoids the unsupported leap from not currently listed to never closed. For a due-diligence file, retain the page-check date because tomorrow’s list can differ after a correction update.
When the same address has a new operator, label the ownership boundary beside the dated events. Preserve the premises history, but do not attribute a former operator’s closure or correction work to the current business without an official record connecting them.