San Marcos, CA Public Health Rules: Restaurant Grade Cards (2026)

120, the Health Officer may adopt a score card used to grade every food establishment at each inspection, and no health permit may issue to an operation scoring below 80 percent. Every permitted establishment must maintain sanitation sufficient to hold that 80 percent score continuously, not just on inspection day. When an inspection turns up a score under 80 percent, the Health Officer serves written notice listing the specific deficiencies and giving the operator 30 days to fix them before a reinspection. An establishment that ignores that notice, or that still scores below 80 percent at reinspection, must close immediately and stay closed until a follow-up inspection shows at least 80 percent.

130 then controls how that card is displayed: it must be posted continuously while the restaurant is open, either in the front window, in an approved display case within five feet of the front door, or in another spot the Health Officer approves as clearly visible to entering patrons, and it cannot be defaced, weather-damaged, or hidden from public view. The health permit itself must also stay posted in a conspicuous, Health Officer-approved location inside the establishment. Because San Diego County's Department of Environmental Health administers food inspections for San Marcos under the County Health Officer designation, restaurant operators deal directly with County inspectors for both the initial score and any reinspection.