KC’s Health Department finds the city’s cleanest kitchens

• Flickr: peapod labs
• Never underestimate the value of a clean sink.

A restaurant is a keeper if after touring the kitchen, you still want to eat there. Absent a chef’s table, the next best thing to seeing a kitchen is the Kansas City Health Department’s annual list of Grade A Food Excellence Awards for 2013 (which recognizes restaurants, convenience stores, schools, airport vendors, and stadium food-service operations for outstanding cleanliness in 2012).

The rankings are based on the results of Health Department inspections. The establishments that make the list are up-to-date on permits, they didn’t give anybody a food-borne illness and they were below the minimum threshold of violations. The Health Department only gives out A’s, so Fat City thought we would wade through the results to tell you where to dine if cleanliness is next to tastiness in your book.