Restaurant and Food Safety Complaints in San Diego

Restaurants, markets and other food businesses in San Diego are regulated by the County, not the City. The County of San Diego Department of Environmental Health and Quality (DEHQ), Food and Housing Division (FHD), says anyone operating a retail food facility, including vending vehicles and catering businesses, must get a public health permit, and that its Environmental Health Specialists conduct more than 32,000 inspections of these facilities each year. The County lists more than 13,800 permanent retail food facilities in the county, including over 8,100 restaurants.

As of November 1, 2026, the City's guide to Get It Done reports lists no report type for restaurants or food safety. The City does handle sidewalk vending permits, covered below. For other City problems, see our guide to reporting a problem to the City of San Diego. For problems with a building itself, such as construction you believe has no permit, see our code enforcement guide.

As of November 1, 2026, the County's Food Complaints page says to report sanitation problems, fires, water outages and sewage backups at restaurants and other food facilities in San Diego County to the FHD Complaint Desk:

• Online: the FHD online complaint form.
• Phone: 858-505-6903.
• Email: fhdcomplaints@sdcounty.ca.gov.
• No anonymous complaints. The County says it no longer accepts anonymous complaints and must have a name and a phone number or email address. It says your name and contact information will be kept confidential.
• General questions. For general inquiries about a food facility, the FHD Duty Specialist is at 858-505-6900 or fhdutyeh@sdcounty.ca.gov.

When you report, it helps to have:

• The name and address of the business, or the cross streets.
• The date and time you saw the problem.
• A plain description of what you saw (for example, no hot water at the handwashing sink, food left out, sewage on the floor), plus any photos you took as a customer.

• Report it to the County. Report rodents, cockroaches or other pests seen inside a restaurant, market or other food business to the FHD Complaint Desk, which takes sanitation complaints about food facilities: 858-505-6903, fhdcomplaints@sdcounty.ca.gov or the online form.
• An infestation can close a business. The County's SD Food Info page lists an active vermin infestation among the conditions that require a food facility to close until the County authorizes it to reopen.
• Pests outside or at home. For rats, mosquitoes, flies and other pests in your neighborhood or home rather than in a food business, see our mosquitoes, rats and pests guide.

The County's Foodborne Illnesses page says its Epidemiology Liaison works with medical professionals, hospitals, the restaurant industry and other agencies to find the sources of foodborne illness in retail food facilities. As of November 1, 2026, to report a suspected foodborne illness linked to a restaurant, market or other retail food facility in San Diego County:

• Phone the FHD Epidemiology Liaison: 858-505-6814.
• Or fill out the Food Illness Report Form and email it to fhdepi@sdcounty.ca.gov.

The County's reporting guidelines and form ask for:

• Who got sick. Names, addresses and phone numbers of the people affected, your own contact details, and the doctor or hospital if anyone got emergency treatment. The form also asks how many people in your party ate and how many got sick.
• Where and what you ate. The business name and address, the date and time you ate, and any food everyone who got sick had in common. The form also asks about other shared meals or events in the 3 days (72 hours) before anyone became ill.
• The illness. When symptoms started, which symptoms (such as vomiting, diarrhea, fever or cramps), and whether medical care was sought. It also asks about water recreation, animal contact and travel outside the county in the past 3 weeks.
• Report soon, and tell the business too. The County asks you to report as soon as possible and to also report the problem directly to the restaurant or market.

The County's SD Food Info page says San Diego County's approximately 14,000 retail food establishments are inspected routinely, in unannounced inspections by a Registered Environmental Health Specialist, and that San Diego County is among a handful of California counties that use a grading system. As of November 1, 2026, it works like this:

• Points off 100. Each violation on the inspection report carries points: 4 for a Major Risk Factor, 2 for a Minor Risk Factor and 1 for a Good Retail Practice. The points are added up and subtracted from 100 to give the score.
• A: a score of 90 to 100, in satisfactory compliance with state law. B: 80 to 89, needs improvement. C: 79 or less, a failing grade.
• Posted at the door. The grade card must be displayed near the public entrance during hours of operation.
• Look it up. Search SD Food Info for the most recent routine inspection information for any retail food facility in San Diego County. Under state law, each food facility must also keep a copy of its most recent inspection report on site and make it available to anyone who asks.

The County says its inspections are risk-based: handwashing, food temperatures and dishwashing count for more than a missing light bulb or a broken tile.

As of November 1, 2026, the County's Food Program page describes its enforcement steps:

• Notice of Violation. When an inspector finds a facility out of compliance, it gets an Official Notice of Violation listing the violations and a deadline to correct each one. The deadline depends on the type of violation.
• Closure. If an inspector finds an imminent health hazard, the facility is closed in the affected areas and the grade card is replaced with a CLOSED sign that lists the reason. The County lists sewage backup, no hot or cold drinkable water under pressure, an extended power outage that prevents safe food temperatures, an active vermin infestation, and disease transmission among the conditions that require closure.
• Reopening. A closed facility must stay closed until the County gives written authorization to reopen. All major violations must be corrected, or a suitable alternative put in place, first. The CLOSED sign is then replaced with a grade card.
• Repeat problems. For repeated major violations, the County says actions range from administrative hearings with a supervising specialist to develop an improvement plan, to closure on the spot if an imminent health hazard exists, suspension or revocation of the health permit, and criminal or civil penalties.

Food vendors answer to two agencies. The County regulates food safety and health permits; the City of San Diego regulates where and when vendors may sell on public sidewalks.

• County health permits. The County's Mobile Food Facility FAQ says the Food and Housing Division permits and inspects all retail food facilities in the county, including food carts and food trucks. It says mobile food units must operate with an approved commissary, return to it daily, and may not be parked at a private residence.
• City sidewalk vending permits. The City's Sidewalk Vending page says a Sidewalk Vending Permit, valid for one year, is required to sell food, art, clothing and other goods from a pushcart or other nonmotorized conveyance on public property. Its FAQ says food vendors must first get a County Mobile Food Facility permit and a food handler card, with an exemption from the Mobile Food Facility permit for compact operations of 25 square feet or less of display area selling only prepacked, non-refrigerated food or whole uncooked produce.
• What the Municipal Code requires. San Diego Municipal Code Chapter 3, Article 6, Division 1 says vendors must visibly display their City vending permit and City photo ID, and food or beverage vendors must display a valid County Environmental Health Permit and keep hand sanitizer where customers can use it. Vending is allowed from 7 a.m. to sunset on residential blocks, and from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. (or the hours set for other businesses on the block, whichever is less restrictive) on non-residential blocks. Vendors may not leave less than 48 inches of sidewalk width clear, except briefly for a roaming vendor making a sale.
• Fines. The Code sets administrative fines of $250, $500 and $1,000 for a first, second and third violation within a year for vending without a City permit, and $100, $200 and $500 for violations by a permitted vendor. The City may impound equipment for, among other reasons, vending food without a valid, displayed County Environmental Health Permit.
• Where to report. The City's sidewalk vending FAQ says to report food safety concerns or health permit problems to the County Food and Housing Division at 858-505-6903 or fhdcomplaints@sdcounty.ca.gov, and violations of the City ordinance to AskParks@sandiego.gov. The City's application page and Guide to Sidewalk Vending explain the full rules, including prohibited locations.

If the problem is with a packaged product rather than a food business, the County's Food Complaints and Foodborne Illnesses pages point to these agencies:

• Products without meat or poultry sold across state lines, such as cereal and bottled drinks: the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, 1-888-463-6332 (888-INFO-FDA) or 949-608-3530 in Southern California, or Report a Problem to the FDA. For foodborne illness or product tampering, the County lists FDA's 24-hour emergency number, 301-443-1240.
• Meat, poultry and processed egg products, including frozen foods, stews and pizzas that contain meat or poultry: the USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service, 800-535-4555 or mphotline.fsis@usda.gov, or the USDA Meat and Poultry Hotline.
• Wholesale food processors and distributors handling food other than meat and poultry: the California Department of Public Health, Food and Drug Branch, 800-495-3232.