Tampa & Hillsborough County: Which Restaurants Are Actually Clean?

Behind the Kitchen Door — a data-driven series from InspectFL

Tampa’s food scene is booming — from South Tampa brunch spots to international eats along Hillsborough Ave. But behind the Instagram-worthy plates, what are health inspectors actually finding?

We analyzed state inspection data for 3,980 restaurants across Hillsborough County — and the results tell a complicated story.

Hillsborough County at a Glance

About half of Hillsborough County restaurants earn an A grade, while 4.2% have failing grades. A third of restaurants land in the B range — passing, but with some violations worth noting.

City-by-City Comparison

Temple Terrace is the clear winner here — nearly 72% of its restaurants earned an A, with just a single F-graded establishment. Brandon and Tampa are closely matched around 52–56% A grades, while Plant City has the highest failure rate in the county at 4.6%.

🏆 Hillsborough County’s A-Grade Restaurants

With 50.2% of Hillsborough County restaurants earning an A grade, about half the county is in good shape. But here’s the thing — many of these restaurants have only had a single inspection on record after recent data cleaning. One clean inspection is a good start, not a proven track record.

The restaurants worth watching are the ones that consistently pass inspections over time. As Tampa’s dynamic dining scene continues to evolve and more inspection data accumulates, we’ll update this section with restaurants that have earned their reputation through repeated clean visits — not just a single passing grade.

Want to check any restaurant’s full history? Search for it on InspectFL — every inspection, every violation, all public record.

😬 Restaurants That Need Improvement

These spots received F grades, meaning inspectors found a high weighted violation score:

An F grade doesn’t mean a restaurant is dangerous right now. Many violations get corrected quickly after inspection. But it does mean inspectors found significant issues at some point.

What Can You Do?

1. Look up any restaurant before you go — search by name or address at inspectfl.org/search
2. Check the grade — A means a low weighted score (improving!), F means a high score (needs work)
3. Read the violations — not all are equal. A dirty floor is different from improper food temperatures
4. Check recent dates — a restaurant with old violations may have cleaned up since

Browse All Hillsborough County Restaurants

Want the full list? Check out the Hillsborough County page for all 3,980 restaurants with grades, violation counts, and inspection histories.

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👉 Browse all Hillsborough County restaurants →

👉 See all F-graded restaurants in Florida →

Related: Tampa Bay brunch inspection guide · St. Pete & Pinellas inspections · Land O’ Lakes & Pasco inspections · Tampa city page

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Data based on Florida DBPR inspection records. Grades use a weighted time-decay system — recent violations count more than older ones. See inspectfl.org/how-to-read for details. Current as of March 2026.