How restaurant inspections work in Washington
Who inspects Washington's restaurants, how results are graded, and how to read them on CleanPlate.
Washington's counties run their own inspection programs with a shared state food code underneath. CleanPlate covers the state's biggest system — Seattle & King County — plus Clark County (Vancouver), across the river from Portland.
Who does the inspecting
Public Health – Seattle & King County and Clark County Public Health inspect food establishments in their counties under the Washington State Retail Food Code.
How results are graded
Washington counts violation points where zero is perfect: red-critical items (foodborne-illness risk factors) weigh heaviest, blue items (maintenance and practice) less. King County additionally rolls recent inspections into a posted food-safety rating; Clark County publishes the per-inspection point totals. CleanPlate converts point totals so higher is better on our scale and maps them to letter equivalents, with the raw points visible on each inspection.
Reading it on CleanPlate
Every Washington 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.