Jacksonville's Restaurant Scene, By the Numbers

By Florida Home Vibes

Jacksonville's dining scene spans thousands of restaurants across Duval County — and the grades vary more than you'd think.

Jacksonville has one of the biggest restaurant scenes in Northeast Florida, and it also has one of the most transparent — thanks to Florida DBPR's public inspection records. InspectFL tracks every one of Duval County's licensed restaurants and turns each inspection into a letter grade, and the current numbers paint a pretty clear picture of where the city's dining scene stands on food safety.

Figures reflect InspectFL data as of September 23, 2026. Restaurant counts and grades change as DBPR records new inspections.

How the Grades Break Down

Of Jacksonville's 3,056 active restaurants, InspectFL has assigned a letter grade to 2,803 based on inspection records currently in the system. The remaining 253 don't have an inspection on file yet — that's a gap in DBPR's rolling import window, not a sign of a clean record, so treat those as "not yet graded" rather than "passing." Of the 2,803 graded restaurants, 961 (34.3%) hold an A, 950 (33.9%) hold a B, 640 (22.8%) hold a C, and 252 (9.0%) sit at an F. That A-grade rate is slightly below the Florida statewide average, which tells you Duval County's dining scene is solid but not exceptional on paper — plenty of good options, but it pays to actually check a spot's grade before you go rather than assume.

Where the Good Grades Cluster

Not every neighborhood scores the same. The Beaches communities — Atlantic Beach, Neptune Beach, and Jacksonville Beach — generally outperform the city's urban core, with higher A-grade rates and fewer repeat critical violations. If you're weighing a night out between downtown and the beaches purely on food-safety odds, the data leans toward the beaches.

What's Actually Behind a Grade

Across those 5,653 recorded inspections, DBPR inspectors have logged 26,752 documented violations — everything from minor paperwork issues to critical violations like improper food temperatures or pest activity. A single F grade isn't necessarily a red flag about a restaurant's food quality, but it is a direct signal about how that kitchen was handling safety basics on inspection day, and repeat critical violations are the pattern worth paying attention to.

Check Before You Go

Every Jacksonville restaurant's full inspection history, current grade, and violation breakdown is public and searchable. InspectFL keeps a dedicated, regularly updated page for the city with the live grade distribution and individual restaurant lookups — worth a bookmark if you eat out in Duval County regularly.

Sources & Further Reading

• InspectFL — Jacksonville Restaurant Inspections, Recent Activity & Grade Data
• Florida DBPR — Official public inspection records portal