Restaurant Inspections

Currently the retail food program grants permits to and conducts inspections of over 1,200 food service establishments in Albany County.

Inspectors do not announce their visits for routine inspections. If a re-inspection is required, a time frame for compliance is given and the re-inspection is then conducted during this time frame.

Inspections conducted since July 2012 include a compliance rating. Facilities receive a rating of excellent, good, fair or unsatisfactory based on the results of an inspection. The rating system is explained at the bottom of this page. Inspections done prior to July 2012 do not include a compliance rating.

Establishments are inspected on a risk basis based on the type of operation. For example, a concession stand serving only popcorn and nachos would not be visited as often as a full service restaurant that prepares many types of food.

Each establishment is inspected at least once a year. More frequent inspections occur based upon a higher risk or if there has been an unsatisfactory annual inspection or if there are complaints from the public. Our online reports indicate whether the results are from a routine inspection or a re-inspection. Red Violations are either corrected at the time of inspection or within 24 hours. No facility with uncorrected critical violations is allowed to continue to operate.

Our online database is updated weekly. We include inspection reports for all food establishments within Albany County that have been issued permits under the NYS Department of Health restaurant regulations. The database is typically updated at noon on Fridays. This means that in some cases remediation may not appear in our online database until the following week. If you have concerns, please contact us.

Inspections are a snapshot in time and are not always reflective of the day-to-day operations and overall condition of an establishment. Therefore, we post a history of each establishment's inspections since October 2005.

We changed our electronic reporting process in October 2005. Inspections prior to the change are not included in our online database. You can contact us if you need information about an inspection conducted prior to October 2005.

Violations fall into two main categories: “red” (critical); and “blue” (non-critical).

• Blue (non-critical) violations do not directly cause food-borne illness, but could negatively affect the operation of the restaurant. They relate to the design and maintenance of the establishment, as well as cleanliness.
• Red (critical) violations relate directly to factors which lead to food-borne illness. These violations generally involve the food source and condition, food cooking and storage temperatures, sanitary practices, water and sewage, pest control and the use of toxic materials.

COMPLIANCE RATING SYSTEM

Starting in July 2012, we have used a system to rate food service establishments and note compliance as follows:

Additional inspections and/or enforcement actions may be scheduled at the discretion of the ACHD regardless of compliance rating.

You can view the code covering food service establishments on the NYS Department of Health website here.