Of 351 open, permitted food places in Lee County with a grade on file, 342 hold an A as their latest state health grade, eight a B and one a C.

Last checked Oct. 16, 2026. Grades come from the Mississippi State Department of Health’s food facility inspection search and its Lee County facility list. The grade definitions are from the department’s guide to inspection grades.

The Mississippi State Department of Health inspects restaurants, school cafeterias, food trucks, stores with delis, nursing home kitchens and other food facilities in Tupelo and the rest of Lee County. Each inspection gets a letter grade, A, B or C, and nearly every open place in the county holds an A.

Who to call

  • Lee County Health Department: 532 S. Church St., Tupelo; 662-841-9096; open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday
  • Look up a grade: MSDH food facility search
  • File a complaint: through the same site’s complaint search and form, or call the county health department
  • Lee County facility list: all permitted food places

What the grades mean

Grade What the inspector found
A No critical violations
B Critical violations found, and corrected during the inspection under the inspector’s supervision; no further action needed
C Critical violations not corrected, or critical violations repeated from the last inspection even if corrected. The place is reinspected

Critical violations are those more likely to lead to food contamination, illness or another health risk, the department says. If a violation is an immediate public health hazard, the inspector can close the facility on the spot.

Grades in Lee County

We checked the latest grade on file for every facility on the state’s Lee County list whose permit was valid on Oct. 16, 2026. That is 368 facilities, all listed as open; 351 had a letter grade on file.

Bar chart of the latest health inspection grades for 351 open Lee County food facilities: 342 grade A, 8 grade B, 1 grade C

  • 342 (97%) had an A as their most recent grade.
  • 8 (2%) had a B.
  • 1 had a C.

Inside Tupelo itself, 258 facilities had a grade on file: 251 A’s, six B’s and one C. The county’s other places with grades are mostly in Saltillo (27), Nettleton (12), Mooreville (11), Guntown (10), Belden (nine) and Shannon (eight).

Most of those latest inspections were in 2026 (327) or 2025 (20). A grade is a snapshot of one visit. A B means the problem was fixed while the inspector was there; a C means a follow-up visit is required.

How to check a restaurant

  1. Go to the state’s food facility search.
  2. Search by name, part of a name, street or city, or pick Lee County.
  3. Open the facility record to see every inspection with its date and grade, plus any complaints and enforcement.

The state’s full list for Lee County runs to more than 600 entries because it also keeps expired permits and closed businesses. Check the permit’s expiration date on the record.

Method notes

  • The grades are the state’s, not ours. We do not grade restaurants, and we do not single out individual businesses on this page.
  • Our count uses the most recent graded inspection on each facility record, for facilities with a permit valid on the day we checked. Seventeen facilities with valid permits had no letter grade on file and are left out.
  • The count includes school cafeterias, hospitals, nursing homes, hotels that serve breakfast and convenience stores with food service, not only restaurants.
  • The state says some older records are incomplete because its data come from two systems.
  • If a grade looks wrong, call the Lee County Health Department, 662-841-9096.

What this means for you

  • Look for the letter grade posted at the business.
  • A B means problems were corrected while the inspector was there.
  • Check a caterer’s or venue’s inspection history before a big event.
  • Report a food safety concern to the county health department.

Related: things to do this month and new businesses in Tupelo.

Frequently asked questions

Who inspects restaurants in Tupelo?

The Mississippi State Department of Health inspects restaurants and other food facilities in Tupelo and across Lee County, and posts each inspection’s letter grade online.

What does an A, B or C restaurant grade mean in Mississippi?

A means no critical violations were found. B means critical violations were found and corrected during the inspection. C means critical violations were not all corrected, or were repeated from the last inspection, and the place is reinspected.

How do I look up a Tupelo restaurant’s health grade?

Use the state health department’s food facility search at apps.msdh.ms.gov/food. Search by name or street, or choose Lee County, and open the record to see each inspection’s date and grade.

How many Lee County restaurants have an A grade?

342 of the 351 open food facilities with a current permit and a grade on file had an A as their most recent grade on Oct. 16, 2026, by our count of state records. Eight had a B and one a C.