# Virginia Food Establishments — U.S. location dataset

All 27,596 locations in the U.S., as one CSV: 36 fields per record, 1 states, file built September 15, 2026. $29 one-time, with up to 10 real rows free before you buy.

Canonical URL: https://locationlists.com/data/virginia-food-establishments-list

This is the licensed universe, not a directory of places that happen to be on a map: every food establishment the Virginia Department of Health has under permit, 27,596 in all. The starting point is VDH's statewide permit roster, obtained by public records request, and each week the file is brought up to date from VDH's public inspection portal, so new openings appear as they get their pre-opening inspection and permits VDH marks as no longer active drop out. It covers 9,495 full-service restaurants, 8,905 limited-service outlets (fast food, carry out, convenience-store kitchens), 3,198 mobile food units, 653 caterers and 172 commissaries, plus the institutional kitchens most restaurant lists miss: 2,153 school, 1,251 child-care, 1,049 hospital and nursing-home and 93 correctional food services. Each row carries the state permit number, permit type, VDH risk category, the date and purpose of the last inspection, and the owner of record: organization (76%), email (59%), phone (51%) and contact name (44%). ownerWebsite (28%) is the operator's site taken from a business email domain, so for a franchise it is often the franchisee's site rather than the restaurant's. 91% of rows have coordinates and 98% have a facility city. Two gaps, stated plainly: Fairfax County, the City of Fairfax and Falls Church run their own health department and are not in VDH's system, and permits VDH has not inspected on its portal since the roster carry the roster's details. Foodservice distributors, equipment and chemical suppliers, POS and payments sellers, pest control, grease and linen services use it for territory planning and prospecting, and it is the demand layer behind the Virginia drive-time analysis in the Distribution Whitespace Diagnostic (https://distribution-whitespace-diagnostic.netlify.app).

## The figures

- Records: 27,596 locations (27,588 US)
- States: 1
- Coverage: U.S.
- Fields: 36
- Price: $29 one-time, CSV download, commercial license (https://locationlists.com/license)
- File built on September 15, 2026. Not on an automatic refresh schedule.
- File last modified: 2026-09-15

The file has all 27,596 locations in one download. Building the same list by searching one area at a time tends to miss places, and a missed place looks like a gap in coverage that is not really there.

## Fields

- `name`: Permit name; where two permits share a name and address the permit number is appended so both stay in the file
- `establishmentName`: Establishment name as VDH records it
- `permitNumber`: VDH food establishment permit number (blank for permits first seen on the inspection portal)
- `permitType`: VDH permit type: Full Service Restaurant, Fast Food, Carry Out, Caterer, Mobile Food Unit, Educational Facility Food Service, Hospital Food Service and so on
- `segment`: Buyer-facing grouping of permitType: Commercial (full service, limited service, catering, commissary), Institutional (education, child care, healthcare, corrections, camp), Lodging, Mobile, Vending
- `riskCategory`: VDH risk category 1-4 (higher = more complex food handling, inspected more often)
- `address`: Facility street address
- `city`: Facility city
- `state`: VA
- `zip`: Facility ZIP code
- `county`: County or independent city
- `countyFips`: Five-digit county FIPS code
- `healthDistrict`: VDH health district
- `latitude`: Latitude from a geocode of the facility address
- `longitude`: Longitude from a geocode of the facility address
- `lastInspectionDate`: Date of the most recent VDH inspection
- `lastInspectionPurpose`: Purpose of that inspection: Routine, Follow-Up, Pre-Opening, Complaint and so on
- `inspectionStale`: "yes" when the last inspection is more than two years old
- `permitIssueDate`: Current permit issue date
- `permitExpirationDate`: Current permit expiration date
- `originalIssueDate`: Date the establishment was first permitted
- `ownerOrganization`: Owner of record (company, franchisee, school district, contract caterer)
- `ownerName`: Owner of record contact name
- `ownerTitle`: Owner contact's role as filed
- `ownerPhone`: Owner of record phone
- `ownerEmail`: Owner of record email
- `ownerWebsite`: The operator's website, from a business (non-freemail) owner email domain. It is the operator's site, e.g. a franchisee or contract caterer.
- `ownerMailingAddress`: Owner mailing address as filed
- `portalPermitId`: Permit ID on VDH's public inspection portal
- `portalUrl`: Link to the establishment's inspection history on VDH's portal
- `source`: VDH permit roster, or VDH inspection portal for permits opened since the roster was released
- `country`: US
- `geo_precision`
- `county_fips`
- `county_note`
- `address_quality`

## Ask this list a question with a link

No connector and no account; each link answers with the matching count, preview rows and the price for just that part.

- [Within 25 miles of Norfolk, VA, the busiest area](https://locationlists.com/find?dataset=virginia-food-establishments-list&near=Norfolk+VA&radius=25)
- [Within a 30-minute drive of Norfolk, VA](https://locationlists.com/find?dataset=virginia-food-establishments-list&near=Norfolk+VA&drive=30)
- [Only rows where countyFips is over 51540](https://locationlists.com/find?dataset=virginia-food-establishments-list&where=countyFips%3Agt%3A51540)
- [The whole list: add a city, state, ZIP code or distance](https://locationlists.com/find?dataset=virginia-food-establishments-list)

## The same dataset, for machines

- Record as JSON: https://locationlists.com/data/virginia-food-establishments-list/dataset.json
- Free sample, up to 10 real rows: https://locationlists.com/data/virginia-food-establishments-list/sample.csv or https://locationlists.com/data/virginia-food-establishments-list/sample.json
- Buy link (opens Stripe Checkout): https://locationlists.com/data/virginia-food-establishments-list/buy

## Questions

### How is this different from a restaurant list built from Google Maps?

A map-based list covers whatever has a business listing, usually 8,000 or so Virginia restaurants, with ratings and a website. This file is every establishment the state has under a food permit, 27,596, including school, hospital, nursing-home, child-care and correctional kitchens, food trucks and caterers that rarely have a map listing. Each row carries the state permit number, permit type, risk category and last inspection date, and the owner of record on the permit. It has no star ratings or review counts.

### Is the contact information for the restaurant or the owner?

The owner of record on the VDH permit: the company, franchisee, school district or contract caterer that holds it. That is usually the buyer for supplies and services. Email is on 59% of rows, phone on 51%, organization on 76%. ownerWebsite is the operator's site from a business email domain, so for a franchised location it is the franchisee's or brand's site.

### Why is Fairfax County missing?

Fairfax County, the City of Fairfax and Falls Church are inspected by the Fairfax County Health Department, which runs its own system and is not part of VDH's statewide database. Every other Virginia locality is included.

### How current is it?

File built on September 15, 2026. It is not on an automatic refresh schedule, so check the build date above before you buy.

### Can I get just restaurants, or just institutional kitchens?

Yes, with one filter. segment groups the 16 VDH permit types into Commercial (full service, limited service, catering, commissary), Institutional (education, child care, healthcare, corrections, camp), Lodging, Mobile and Vending. permitType keeps VDH's original label.