Amarillo, TX Public Health Rules: Restaurant Grade Cards (2026)

Section 8-5-20(a) sets the four-tier scale used on every initial and follow-up food establishment inspection: Grade 'A' for a sanitation score of 90 or above, Grade 'B' for 80 to 89, Grade 'C' for 70 to 79, and Grade 'F' for 69 or below. Subsection (b) explains the math: point values for every violation found are added together and subtracted from 100 to reach the numerical score. S. Food and Drug Administration or the Texas Department of State Health Services, per subsection (c). The resulting placard, showing the letter grade, the numerical score, and the number of priority violations, has to go up on each entrance to the facility where every patron walking in can see it; if the Environmental Health Officer decides the entrance itself isn't a workable spot, the placard can instead go within 10 feet of each entrance, still in a conspicuous, patron-visible location.

A Grade 'F' carries consequences beyond the placard: Sec. 8-5-17(a)(2) treats any score of 69 or below as a 'Failed' inspection, and the establishment must correct every Foodborne Illness Risk Factor and Public Health Intervention noted at the time of inspection or face immediate closure. Only the Environmental Health Officer is allowed to deface or remove the placard; a permit holder, employee, or customer who defaces, removes, or hides it commits a criminal offense under Sec. 8-5-20(d), and the Officer can separately suspend or revoke the food establishment's permit for up to 30 days for intentionally tampering with it.