How restaurant inspections work in Virginia
Who inspects Virginia's restaurants, how results are graded, and how to read them on CleanPlate.
CleanPlate's Virginia coverage is Fairfax County — the D.C. suburbs' biggest jurisdiction and one of the largest county health systems on the East Coast.
Who does the inspecting
The Fairfax County Health Department inspects the county's food establishments under Virginia Department of Health regulations.
How results are graded
Virginia doesn't grade or score inspections; reports record violations against the FDA Food Code and an overall outcome. CleanPlate maps compliant outcomes to PASS and violation-driven follow-up outcomes to their CONDITIONAL/FAIL equivalents, with the county's own wording preserved on each inspection.
Reading it on CleanPlate
Every Virginia restaurant page on CleanPlate shows the establishment's current standing, its full inspection history with dates, and a link to the official agency behind the record. Grades are shown exactly as reported; where the source publishes no summary grade, the derived status is labeled as derived. Establishments with no inspection in over two years are treated as likely closed and excluded from search.