# Santa Clara County Restaurant Inspections Scraper — San Jose (`groundplanes/santa-clara-county-restaurant-inspections`) Actor

Scrape Santa Clara County, CA restaurant inspections (San Jose, Sunnyvale, Santa Clara, Palo Alto, Mountain View) via the official county open-data API: Green/Yellow/Red placard, compliance score, every violation with inspector comments, business and address. Export CSV, Excel, JSON.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/groundplanes/santa-clara-county-restaurant-inspections.md
- **Developed by:** [John](https://apify.com/groundplanes) (community)
- **Categories:** Lead generation, Business, Travel
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $2.10 / 1,000 inspections

This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events.
Since this Actor supports Apify Store discounts, the price gets lower the higher subscription plan you have.

Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/actors/running/actors-in-store.md#pay-per-event

## What's an Apify Actor?

An Actor is a serverless cloud program that runs on the Apify platform. It has two run modes.
In Batch mode, an Actor accepts a well-defined JSON input, performs an action which can take anything from a few seconds to a few hours,
and optionally produces a well-defined JSON output, datasets with results, or files in key-value store.
In Standby mode, an Actor provides a web server which can be used as a website, API, or an MCP server.

Apify vocabulary and the platform model are defined once, in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md.

## How to integrate an Actor?

If asked about integration, you help developers integrate Actors into their projects.
You adapt to their stack and deliver integrations that are safe, well-documented, and production-ready.

Do not guess an integration path. Every one of them is in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md: the Apify MCP server, Agent Skills with the Apify CLI, the JavaScript and Python clients, the REST API, and the account-free path for an agent with no human to sign in. It also carries the rule on stating cost before the first paid run.

For examples already wired to this Actor's own input schema, see the [API](#api) section below.

Each client library has reference documentation the quickstart does not restate: [JavaScript/TypeScript](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md) (`npm install apify-client`) and [Python](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md) (`pip install apify-client`).

# README

The **Santa Clara County restaurant inspections scraper** gives you one row per food facility inspection (all its violations included) for **San Jose & Santa Clara County, California**, straight from the **County of Santa Clara Department of Environmental Health** via the official data.sccgov.org open-data API. No login or coding needed: run it in your browser, on a schedule, or through the Apify API, and export results as **JSON, CSV or Excel**.

Get **Santa Clara County, California** restaurant and food facility inspections (San Jose, Santa Clara, Sunnyvale, Mountain View, Milpitas, Palo Alto, Cupertino, Gilroy, Campbell, Los Gatos ...) as a clean list: Green / Yellow / Red placard, compliance score, inspection type, **every violation with the inspector's comment**, facility name, address and coordinates, and (opt-in) the published phone number. Data comes from the **County of Santa Clara Department of Environmental Health (DEH)** through the official open-data API (three linked datasets on [data.sccgov.org](https://data.sccgov.org): inspections [2u2d-8jej](https://data.sccgov.org/d/2u2d-8jej), violations [wkaa-4ccv](https://data.sccgov.org/d/wkaa-4ccv) and businesses [vuw7-jmjk](https://data.sccgov.org/d/vuw7-jmjk)), joined for you in one row.

### What you get

Each row is **one food facility inspection as published by the County of Santa Clara** (`inspectionId` is unique; ~23,400 inspections from 2024-10-14 to 2026-10-10 at build time, about two years). The facility details are joined from the business dataset and all violations of that inspection are in the `violations` list (`code`, `description`, `critical`, `comment`), with `violationCount` and `criticalViolationCount`. Rows are sorted **newest inspection first** with a stable `:id` tiebreak, so large runs never skip or repeat rows.

#### Sample output (real run)

```json
{
  "inspectionId": "DAH5Y0HTL",
  "inspectionDate": "2026-10-07",
  "inspectionType": "ROUTINE INSPECTION",
  "placard": "Green",
  "placardCode": "G",
  "score": 86,
  "businessId": "PR0302241",
  "businessName": "FRANKIE",
  "address": "542 LAKESIDE DR # 3",
  "city": "SUNNYVALE",
  "state": "CA",
  "zip": "94085",
  "latitude": 37.385453,
  "longitude": -121.992758,
  "inspectionComment": null,
  "violationCount": 4,
  "criticalViolationCount": 1,
  "violations": [
    {
      "code": "K07",
      "description": "Proper hot and cold holding temperatures",
      "critical": true,
      "comment": "Cooked noodles measured at 51F in prep insert near cookline. Per PIC, noodles placed into prep insert less than 2 hours prior. [CA] PHFs shall be held at 41°F or below. [COS] Noodles move to 2 door under counter."
    },
    {
      "code": "K30",
      "description": "Food storage: food storage containers identified",
      "critical": false,
      "comment": "Bulk spice bin had no lid. [CA] Store open bulk foods in approved NSF containers with tight fitting lids."
    },
    {
      "code": "K40",
      "description": "Wiping cloths: properly used, stored",
      "critical": false,
      "comment": "Wiping cloths stored on prep surfaces throughout facility. [CA] Wiping towels shall be stored in sanitizing solution of an approved concentration when not in use (100 ppm - chlorine, 200 ppm - quaternary ammonium)."
    },
    {
      "code": "K44",
      "description": "Premises clean, in good repair; Personal/chemical storage; Adequate vermin-proofing",
      "critical": false,
      "comment": "Doors to facility propped open. [CA] Keep doors closed to prevent the harborage of vermin."
    }
  ],
  "dataSource": "County of Santa Clara Department of Environmental Health via data.sccgov.org"
}
```

### Use cases

- **Food-safety consultants, pest control, cleaning and equipment vendors:** Yellow/Red placards or low scores, e.g. `placards: ["Yellow", "Red"]` or `maxScore: 80`.
- **Restaurant suppliers, POS and insurance sales:** Silicon Valley food facilities by city or ZIP, with `includePhone` for the published facility phone.
- **Diners, journalists and researchers:** inspection history and closures across San Jose and the South Bay.

### How to scrape Santa Clara County restaurant inspections

1. Click **Try for free** (or **Start**) on this page. A free Apify account is enough.
2. Leave the prefilled input to get a quick sample, or set the filters described below.
3. Set **maxItems** to cap how many rows (and how much) a run returns.
4. Click **Start** and wait a few seconds to a minute.
5. Download the results as JSON, CSV or Excel, or connect them to Google Sheets, Zapier, Make or a webhook.

### Input

| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| inspectedSince | Optional real date, YYYY-MM-DD. Invalid dates fail fast with a clear message. Empty = all, newest first |
| cities | e.g. `San Jose`, `Sunnyvale`, `Palo Alto` (exact, case-insensitive) |
| zipCodes | e.g. `95112` |
| nameContains | Facility name (partial) |
| placards | `Green`, `Yellow`, `Red` (or `G`, `Y`, `R`) |
| inspectionTypes | `Routine`, `Follow-up`, `Risk factor` (partial; hyphens and spaces ignored) |
| maxScore | Optional 0-100; keeps scores at or below it (inspections with no score are dropped) |
| includePhone | Default false. Adds `phone` (E.164) as published by the county |
| maxItems | Default 200 |

### Placards and scores

Per the county's placarding program, the placard is based on **major violations** (critical risk factors): **Green** = pass, **Yellow** = conditional pass (major violations found), **Red** = closure. The **compliance score** (0-100, 100 = perfect) is separate and reflects all major and minor violations. `critical: true` on a violation is the source's flag. About 19% of inspections (mostly follow-ups) have no score, and ~90 follow-ups have no placard.

### Phone numbers and calling rules

`phone` is only added when you set `includePhone: true`. It is the facility number the county publishes (E.164; malformed numbers become `null`). If you call or text these numbers for marketing, you are responsible for complying with the TCPA, the National Do Not Call Registry and California law; many numbers may be mobile phones.

### Pricing (pay per event)

$3 per 1,000 inspections ($0.003 each) plus Apify's minimal $0.00005 start fee. **Example:** 200 inspections = 200 × $0.003 + $0.00005 ≈ **$0.60**; a typical month (~800–1,350 inspections, about 1,000) ≈ **$3**. Violations are included in each inspection row at no extra cost. If a run hits your max charge limit, it stops cleanly and reports how many rows it delivered.

### Data caveats

Data is provided **as published by the County of Santa Clara**. The portal does not state an update schedule; at build time the datasets were last refreshed on 2026-10-12 with the newest inspection on 2026-10-10, so expect a lag of several days versus the county's SCCDineOut site. The window is rolling (about two years), so older inspections drop out. City names are as published (3 businesses are listed under the typo `MOUNTIAN VIEW`, which is output and matched as `MOUNTAIN VIEW`; `city` is output in upper case, so the one `Milpitas` row reads `MILPITAS`; the `cities` filter is case-insensitive); coordinates outside the county are `null`. The source field is spelled `inpsection_id`; it is output as `inspectionId`. A violation is an inspection finding; check follow-up inspections for corrections.

### License and disclaimer

Source: County of Santa Clara Open Data Portal (data.sccgov.org), public records published by the Department of Environmental Health; the dataset pages list no separate license; use is subject to the County's [terms of use](https://home.sccgov.org/terms-of-use). The data is provided **as is, with no warranty** of accuracy or completeness. This actor uses only the official public open-data API and is **not affiliated with or endorsed by** the County of Santa Clara.

### FAQ

#### How much does it cost to scrape Santa Clara County restaurant inspections?

You pay $0.003 per result ($3 per 1,000) plus a $0.00005 start fee, and nothing else. That is the free-plan price: on paid Apify plans you pay less per result (Bronze 10%, Silver 20%, Gold and above 30% off). Apify's free plan includes $5 of monthly credit, which covers about 1,600 results. See **Pricing** above for a worked example.

#### Is it legal to scrape Santa Clara County restaurant inspections?

This Actor reads public records from the **County of Santa Clara Department of Environmental Health** via the official data.sccgov.org open-data API, using only public endpoints (no login, no CAPTCHA bypass, no private accounts). See the source/license section above for the dataset's terms. You are responsible for how you use the data; this is not legal advice. If you plan to call or text businesses, read **Phone numbers and calling rules** above first.

#### How fresh is the data?

Each run reads the source live, so you get whatever the agency has published at that moment. How often the agency updates, and any known lag, is described in the data caveats/notes section above.

#### Can I use it via API, on a schedule, or with Google Sheets?

Yes. Every Apify Actor has a REST API and client libraries for Python and JavaScript. You can schedule daily or weekly runs, and send results to Google Sheets, Slack, Zapier, Make, n8n, webhooks, or an AI agent via the Apify MCP server.

#### I need another city, county or field. Can you add it?

Open an issue on the **Issues** tab with the city or data source you need. We build new public-records scrapers regularly.

### More public-records scrapers by Groundplanes

Same clean output, pay-per-result pricing and official public data sources:

#### Restaurant & food inspections

- [Maricopa County (Phoenix) Restaurant Inspections Scraper](https://apify.com/groundplanes/maricopa-restaurant-inspections)
- [Las Vegas Restaurant Inspections & Grades Scraper (SNHD)](https://apify.com/groundplanes/las-vegas-restaurant-inspections)
- [Pittsburgh Restaurant Inspections Scraper (Allegheny County)](https://apify.com/groundplanes/allegheny-restaurant-inspections)
- [Delaware Restaurant Inspections Scraper — Statewide Violations](https://apify.com/groundplanes/delaware-restaurant-inspections)
- [Boulder CO Restaurant Inspections Scraper — 2013–2026 Snapshot](https://apify.com/groundplanes/boulder-county-restaurant-inspections)
- [Montgomery County MD Restaurant & Food Inspections Scraper](https://apify.com/groundplanes/montgomery-md-food-inspections)
- [NY State Restaurant Inspections Scraper — NYSDOH, Non-NYC](https://apify.com/groundplanes/ny-state-food-service-inspections)
- [Boston Restaurant Inspections Scraper — Health Violations](https://apify.com/groundplanes/boston-food-establishment-inspections)

#### Code violations & distressed property leads

- [Pittsburgh Code Violations Scraper — Distressed Property Leads](https://apify.com/groundplanes/pittsburgh-code-violations)
- [Orlando FL Code Enforcement Scraper — Code Violation Leads](https://apify.com/groundplanes/orlando-code-enforcement-cases)
- [New Orleans Code Violations Scraper — Code Enforcement Leads](https://apify.com/groundplanes/nola-code-enforcement-violations)

#### Business licenses & new business leads

- [Delaware Business Licenses Scraper — New Business Leads](https://apify.com/groundplanes/delaware-business-licenses)
- [Norfolk VA Business Licenses Scraper — New Business Leads](https://apify.com/groundplanes/norfolk-va-business-licenses)
- [Berkeley CA Business Licenses Scraper — Local B2B Leads](https://apify.com/groundplanes/berkeley-ca-business-licenses)
- [New Orleans Business Licenses Scraper — New Business Leads](https://apify.com/groundplanes/nola-occupational-business-licenses)

# Actor input Schema

## `inspectedSince` (type: `string`):

Optional real date, YYYY-MM-DD. Keeps inspections on or after this date. Empty = all ~23,400 inspections in the county's rolling window (about two years), newest first (a typical month holds ~800-1,000 inspections).

## `cities` (type: `array`):

City as published, e.g. San Jose, Santa Clara, Sunnyvale, Mountain View, Milpitas, Palo Alto, Cupertino, Gilroy, Campbell. Case-insensitive, exact. Empty = all. San Jose is about 44% of businesses.

## `zipCodes` (type: `array`):

5-digit ZIP codes, e.g. 95112, 94085. Empty = all.

## `nameContains` (type: `string`):

Case-insensitive text matched against the facility name, e.g. Pho, Starbucks, Taqueria.

## `placards` (type: `array`):

Green, Yellow or Red (or G, Y, R). Empty = all. About 90% Green, 6% Yellow, 4% Red; ~90 follow-up inspections have no placard and are dropped when this is set.

## `inspectionTypes` (type: `array`):

Routine, Follow-up, Risk factor (partial, case-insensitive; hyphens and spaces are ignored, so followup = Follow-up). Empty = all. About 87% routine, 13% follow-up, under 1% risk factor.

## `maxScore` (type: `integer`):

Optional. Keeps inspections with a compliance score at or below this (0-100, 100 = perfect), e.g. 80. About 19% of inspections (mostly follow-ups) have no score and are dropped when this is set.

## `includePhone` (type: `boolean`):

Adds the facility phone number published by the county (~83% of businesses), as `phone` in E.164 format (US numbers only; malformed numbers become null). Read the calling rules in the README first.

## `maxItems` (type: `integer`):

Maximum inspections to return (newest first).

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "includePhone": false,
  "maxItems": 200
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `results` (type: `string`):

No description

# API

You can run this Actor programmatically using our API. Below are code examples in JavaScript, Python, and CLI, as well as the OpenAPI specification and MCP server setup.

## JavaScript example

```javascript
import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

// Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
// Replace the '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token
const client = new ApifyClient({
    token: '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>',
});

// Prepare Actor input
const input = {
    "maxItems": 200
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("groundplanes/santa-clara-county-restaurant-inspections").call(input);

// Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if any)
console.log('Results from dataset');
console.log(`💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/${run.defaultDatasetId}`);
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
items.forEach((item) => {
    console.dir(item);
});

// 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs

```

## Python example

```python
from apify_client import ApifyClient

# Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
# Replace '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token.
client = ApifyClient("<YOUR_API_TOKEN>")

# Prepare the Actor input
run_input = { "maxItems": 200 }

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("groundplanes/santa-clara-county-restaurant-inspections").call(run_input=run_input)

# Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any)
print(f"💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/{run.default_dataset_id}")
for item in client.dataset(run.default_dataset_id).iterate_items():
    print(item)

# 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start

```

## CLI example

```bash
echo '{
  "maxItems": 200
}' |
apify call groundplanes/santa-clara-county-restaurant-inspections --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,groundplanes/santa-clara-county-restaurant-inspections"
        }
    }
}
```

The hosted server signs you in with OAuth on first connect, so no API token belongs in this config. Clients without OAuth support can send an `Authorization: Bearer <APIFY_API_TOKEN>` header instead, using a token from API & Integrations in Apify Console (https://console.apify.com/settings/integrations).

## OpenAPI specification

Download the OpenAPI definition: https://api.apify.com/v2/actors/HFlBxoB6JadP6HYwK/builds/jDNtEHIeSkTwIyP8j/openapi.json