Take a look at the latest Nashville Restaurant Scores to find out how your favorite local restaurant rates this week.

• High Scores:
  
• BURGER KING 454 MURFREESBORO ROAD Date Inspected: 11/26/2008 Score: 90
• KFC 2634 MURFREESBORO ROAD Date Inspected: 11/24/2008 Score: 90
• LAS PALMAS 15560 OLD HICKORY BLVD Date Inspected: 11/24/2008 Score: 91
• MARGO CAFE AND BAR 1011 WOODLAND STREET Date Inspected: 11/25/2008 Score: 93

• RAES GOURMET SHOPPE 501 UNION STREET Date Inspected: 11/26/2008 Score: 93
• SONIC 617 OLD HICKORY BLVD Date Inspected: 11/25/2008 Score: 90
• VINH LONG 1061 MURFREESBORO ROAD Date Inspected: 11/26/2008 Score: 90

Restaurant Inspection Guidelines
Explore Nashville's Restaurant Scores, who oversees them, how they are rated, what these scores actually mean to the consumer and where the consumer can easily find the scores in any food establishment located in Nashville.

• Who Conducts Restaurant Inspections
  One of the Metro Public Health Department's Food Division primary jobs is to provide protection from the threat of food borne illnesses. One of the ways Metro Public Health Department accomplishes this is by conducting food inspections.
• Who Gets Inspected
  The Metro Public Health Department conducts inspections at all of Nashville's food service establishments throughout the year. These inspections include inspecting: restaurants, snack bars, school cafeterias, and retail food stores (grocery stores).

• How Many Inspections
  The Metro Public Health Department conducts over 1,000 inspections during any given month and well over 12,000 annually. These food inspections are unannounced and are conducted bi-annually (at least twice each year) at the food establishments in Metro Nashville (Davidson County).

Restaurant Score Ratings

• Documentation & Forms
  The Metro Public Health Department's inspection program uses a FDA-approved standardized 44-point food service establishment inspection process. Inspection results for food service establishments are then recorded on standard departmental forms which summarize the requirements of the law and rules and regulations.
• Grading & Scales
  The scoring system they use includes a weighted point value for each requirement in which critical items are assigned values of either four (4) or five (5) points, with less critical items having assigned values of either one (1) or two (2) points. The rating score of the facilities shall be the total of the weighted point values for all violations subtracted from one hundred (100).
• Points & Scores
  The best food inspection score is 100 points. Any score of 69 and below is considered a failing score. Any establishment with a critical violation must be re-inspected within ten days. An establishment's food permit can be revoked if it has two consecutive scores below 70 points with the same critical violations on both of the inspections.
• Viewing Scores & Permits
  The Metro Health Department requires each establishment to post their permit "in a conspicuous manner." This means at a place designated by the inspector at the time of inspection and also a place where the general public can view the establishment's most recent health scores. Each permit will have the most recent health inspection scores written on/across it and no one except an authorized representative health department is allowed modify, remove, cover up, or otherwise make the permit less conspicuous in any way.