Restaurants’ health-inspection scores will be open to the public soon on a new Web site being created by the Evanston Department of Health and Human Services.
Officials plan to list health inspection scores from all restaurants and grocery stores in Evanston. The scores will go back to January 2006, said Karl Caneva, supervisor of environmental health. Caneva said he expects the Web site to be up sometime between mid-March and early April.
“We want to be more transparent so the people can see what we do and how the restaurants are doing as well,” Caneva said.
The department decided to make the online move after it experienced a flood of inquiries about local restaurants in the past eight months, said Jay Terry, health director. THE DAILY recently published results from these health inspections. The article showed the results for on- and off-campus eateries, such as Lisa’s Cafe and Philly’s Best. Lisa’s Cafe, 2332 Campus Drive, received a 100 in its last two inspections, while Philly’s Best, 815 Emerson St., raised its score from 66 to 90 in its most recent inspection.
Cities including Chicago and New York have Web sites for food-establishment inspection. In New York City, health officials hand out certificates known as “The Golden Apple Award” when food establishments meet the highest safety requirements.
The Web site for the Chicago Department of Public Health includes a search engine that allows residents to search for inspections by restaurant name and address. It also features a page for feedback and a page describing the different types of violations.
So far the Chicago department hasn’t noticed a strong correlation between the online scores and restaurant closings, said Tim Hadac, the department’s director of public information. The Web site doesn’t receive overwhelming activity, but residents have a right to know what’s going on, he said.
“It’s public info, and it is there for the viewing,” Hadac said.
The online scores could inspire local restaurants to be more attentive when it comes to following health codes.
Several restaurant managers said the online publication wouldn’t turn off their customer bases.
“It would be a good thing on the customer side because they’ll be able to see what the restaurant is up to,” said Dorothy Adams, assistant manager of Buffalo Joe’s, 812 Clark St. “And it’ll keep us on our toes as far as cleanliness.”
If restaurant owners are doing their jobs, they have nothing to hide, Adams added. But J.K. Sweets manager Mary Cha pointed out that some inspectors are more critical than others.
“That’s no good,” Cha said. “If we make a mistake, we’ll fix it. Why do they need to put the scores online?”
Cha has little to worry about – she said J.K. Sweets, 720 1/2 Clark St., had a high score on its last inspection.
Health department officials stressed that this is not a scare tactic to make restaurants adhere to health codes but rather a way to educate the public about food safety. Eventually the site will include tips and a glossary on proper food preparation and storage. Caneva said he hopes people will apply this information when cooking at home.
“We don’t want to use this as a tool of punishment,” he said. “This is an educational tool. When people see these inspections, we hope that they look at the glossary and learn the terms so that they can learn about food inspection and safety.”
Reach Vincent Bradshaw at [email protected].
