Restaurant health inspection grades in Massachusetts
Coverage: 2 of 14 counties · Suffolk, Middlesex · more coming
GradeLocal lists 8,725 Massachusetts restaurants. Their average score is 89.3, a B. This guide explains who inspects them, what the results mean and how the grades break down.
Who inspects restaurants in Massachusetts
Boston Inspectional Services, with results such as Pass or Fail. Cambridge: the city's sanitary inspection open data, violation counts.
Coverage: Boston and Cambridge, 2 of 14 counties. All sources
What Massachusetts publishes
The agencies behind our Massachusetts listings publish pass or fail results and violation counts. None of them publish a score out of 100, so every Massachusetts score on GradeLocal is a GradeLocal score, worked out from the official result.
How GradeLocal grades Massachusetts restaurants
For pass or fail results, a pass is an A, a pass with conditions or a required reinspection is a C, and a fail or a closure is a D.
For violation counts, we count every violation in the latest inspection. None is an A, 1 or 2 is a B, 3 to 5 is a C, and 6 or more is a D. An emergency closure order is also a D.
Results with no score of their own get a set score for each letter: A is 95, B is 85, C is 72 and D is 50.
There are four letters, A to D, with no F. The same rule applies in every state, and the cutoffs are never adjusted for a state, county or city. We always use the latest inspection.
How grades work has the full rules.
| Official result | Letter | Listings |
|---|---|---|
| Pass | A | 6,081 |
| Filed | B | 867 |
| 0 violations | A | 396 |
| Fail | D | 275 |
| 1 violation | B | 201 |
| 2 violations | B | 139 |
| Fail with Extension | D | 121 |
| Filed | C | 115 |
How Massachusetts restaurants grade
The latest grade for each of the 8,725 listings.
Inspection dates in our Massachusetts data run from Nov 13, 2015 to Oct 30, 2026. 4,280 of the 8,725 listings (49.1%) were inspected in the 12 months before Oct 30, 2026, our latest record. A restaurant may have been inspected again since.
Top-rated places in Massachusetts
Every A-grade place in our Massachusetts data gets the same GradeLocal score (95), so this list shows the ten most recently inspected A-grade places, one per name.
- AAl's CaféBostonGradeLocal score 95, inspected Oct 30, 2026
- AAmericas Food BasketMattapanGradeLocal score 95, inspected Oct 30, 2026
- ABlank StreetBostonGradeLocal score 95, inspected Oct 30, 2026
- ABlessing of God African MarketHyde ParkGradeLocal score 95, inspected Oct 30, 2026
- ABroadsideBostonGradeLocal score 95, inspected Oct 30, 2026
- AButter "Ur" BiscuitBostonGradeLocal score 95, inspected Oct 30, 2026
- ACharlestown Coffee - Lower LevelCharlestownGradeLocal score 95, inspected Oct 30, 2026
- AChinatown CafeBostonGradeLocal score 95, inspected Oct 30, 2026
- AEspresso Love CafeBostonGradeLocal score 95, inspected Oct 30, 2026
- AFamily MarketJamaica PlainGradeLocal score 95, inspected Oct 30, 2026
A grade shows one inspection on one day. Check the official record linked on each page.
Counties in Massachusetts
Every county with at least one listing. Pick one to see its restaurants.
| County | Restaurants | Average |
|---|---|---|
| Middlesex County | 1,158 | 80.3 · B |
| Suffolk County | 7,567 | 90.7 · A |
Questions about Massachusetts grades
Who inspects restaurants in Massachusetts?
Boston Inspectional Services, with results such as Pass or Fail. Cambridge: the city's sanitary inspection open data, violation counts.
What does Massachusetts publish: a score, a letter or something else?
The agencies behind our Massachusetts listings publish pass or fail results and violation counts. None of them publish a score out of 100, so every Massachusetts score on GradeLocal is a GradeLocal score, worked out from the official result.
How does GradeLocal grade restaurants in Massachusetts?
For pass or fail results, a pass is an A, a pass with conditions or a required reinspection is a C, and a fail or a closure is a D. For violation counts, we count every violation in the latest inspection. None is an A, 1 or 2 is a B, 3 to 5 is a C, and 6 or more is a D. An emergency closure order is also a D. Results with no score of their own get a set score for each letter: A is 95, B is 85, C is 72 and D is 50. We always use the latest inspection.
How many Massachusetts restaurants are on GradeLocal?
8,725 restaurants in 2 counties. The average score is 89.3, a B. 74.6% have an A.
How current are the Massachusetts grades?
Inspection dates in our Massachusetts data run from Nov 13, 2015 to Oct 30, 2026. We update each state’s records regularly, but there is always a delay, and a restaurant may have been inspected again since. For the latest official report, follow the agency link on each restaurant’s page.