It’s still mildly ironic that diners in Silicon Valley, the IT creative center for the world, are only now being offered data about restaurant inspections.

But three months after an NBC investigative unit exposed flaws in the system, the department that oversees restaurant inspections reported some progress towards change.

Restaurants in Silicon Valley don’t have to post their inspection report, but do have to show it to you if you ask to see it. When we first went undercover in February — nine out of ten refused to show us. So the county sent out postcards reminding all restaurants of the law. Did it work? We went undercover again asking the same exact questions to find out.

Half of the Silicon Valley restaurants we went to wouldn’t show us the inspection report — and this was after the county sent reminders in response to our first undercover investigation. 

Even the general manager of a chain restaurant told us the report is private, but then said he would make an exception. We pointed out a sign to him that said inspection reports are available for review. “This is another kind of document,” he said. “That’s the only thing we can show to the customer, not this.”

But that’s not true.

Thursday, the Department of Environmental Health reported making progress with how it communicates inspection results online. Earlier this year, we found it to be essentially useless. Now, you’ll see details of violations cited, making it easier to understand. 

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