St. Louis County, MO Public Health Rules: Restaurant Grade Cards (2026)

100, requires every food establishment to display, where the Director designates, a Director-approved placard stating its grade, except that temporary food establishments are not graded at all. Grades run: Grade A for a rating score of 90 or more, Grade B for 80 up to 89, and Grade C for 79 or below, with the Director authorized to reset the qualifying score annually and downgrade any establishment whose score later falls below it. All food establishments must conspicuously post their grade where the public can see it at all times, and failing to display the grade after being degraded triggers a $300 fine under subsection (D).

13's correction timeline: an establishment scoring 90 or above must fix minor violations by its next routine inspection; one scoring 80-89 gets up to 30 days; critical violations must be corrected immediately regardless of score; and a score of 79 or below forces the Director to immediately suspend the permit and/or degrade the establishment to Grade C, with 10 days to correct or face continued suspension. An establishment degraded twice or more in a calendar year must have its certified food protection manager register for and complete the Department's Food Safety School, and the county charges a $25 fee for every follow-up inspection triggered by a degrade.