LA Restaurants May Soon Have To Try Harder To Get A Rating

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) – Los Angeles County public health officials sent a report to county supervisors Tuesday, recommending the county change some guidelines when grading a restaurant, making it tougher to get the A rating.

Arash Sadighi, owner of Teru Sushi in Studio City, said it's already quite difficult to get an A.  He said if a bucket is left out, points get marked off. If there isn't hot water in the women's restroom, your A goes to B.

But Sadighi agrees with stricter regulations when it comes to "the temperature of the food, the cleanliness of your  chefs, the cleanliness of the kitchen," he said.

The current grading system is 17 years old. And the public health department said a restaurant could have one or even two critical health problems and still get an A.

They're suggesting the county change the point value deductions when there's a major health code violation or when restaurants are closed during graded inspections.

Public health officials are also looking to provide information online about why a restaurant was shut down.