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I'm not in LA but I have plenty of experience with the Department of Health.

Unlike one's home, a restaurant provides limitless opportunities for violations. Just when you learn the latest violations, critical or non-critical, it seems like a new batch of popular violations arise. Are your sauce pots hanging on a rack? They shouldn't be. That's a violation because a small amount of water can remain in the edge of the pot as it hangs and can harbor bacteria.

Is there any space underneath a door to your kitchen? If there is, that's a violation because rodents or insects can enter your kitchen from that space.

The scary thing about health inspections is that there are just too many places out there that don't get inspected often enough. Corporate places tend to employ heavy duty sanitation programs and most of the good restaurants are responsible and thorough with their sanitation. But so many places are just not clean--plain and simple.

Ouch. I got a "C"! To art's point above, i guess a lot of these regulations are not things that we would necessarily implement in our homes (like the pot rack mentioned above). For example, when the weather's nice, i like to leave the windows open to get some fresh air (even though its NYC), and since i don't have screens, i guess that knocked me down a point. I also don't follow the rule on putting raw meat on the lowest shelf in the refrigerator, but that's because i have solid glass shelves that prevent leaking down to lower shelves, and i store raw meat in a plastic bag to avoid leakage. etc etc etc.

Got a B. I don't do ice baths and I admit it--the counters and floor could be cleaner.

I got a B, but think this is overkill.

It told me to do ice baths, which is ridiculous.

And while we do have screens, no one else in Europe does, and manages just fine.

Try ordering a steak that ISN'T bloody in France -- they just won't do it.

Meat here comes in containers that don't leak -- one Swiss supermarket chain does nested containers (and I don't mean styrofoam trays) - never leaks.

That said, my husband worked with meat inspectors, who worked with municipal health inspectors on occasion, and it changed my approach to Asian restaurants... Toronto has a system requiring regular inspections, with the certificate posted outside -- Pass, Conditional Pass, or Closed. Needless to say, it is much appreciated by the public.

When my friend was living in San Diego, working out of her home, a guy who worked in restaurants got her one with the Grade F, which was up in her kitchen. It was gross. Since she's moved, I'm hoping she keeps her new kitchen cleaner. At least one can hope.