The 14 Carrot Gold award is presented each year to restaurants that demonstrate excellence in food safety.
To be eligible for consideration, potential nominees for the 14 Carrot Gold award should meet the following minimum criteria:
- No critical violations at the completion of all inspections for the past 24 months.
- No more than six non-critical violations in the past 12 months.
- Have a valid Fairfax County Food Establishment Permit and be in good standing with the Fairfax County Health Department.
Facilities with multiple permits must collectively meet all criteria above for each permitted section to be eligible for the award.
Nominate aN Establishment
Food service establishments can be nominated for the award by members of the food service industry, the public or by health inspectors. An awards team from the Health Department reviews the nominations and selects the recipients. Awardees receive a plaque and recognition on the Health Department’s website and in the Food for Thought newsletter. If you wish to nominate a food establishment for the 14 Carrot Gold award, please send an email with the restaurant name, address and reasons you think it should get the award to hdehd@fairfaxcounty.gov.
2017 Award Recipients
In December 2017 the county announced the winners of its third annual 14 Carrot Gold Food Safety Excellence Award for 2017. Ten local food service operations, including two catering companies, two fast-casual Mexican restaurants, a local high school, a Fortune 500 company café, a grocery store and a group home for girls, were recognized for maintaining outstanding food safety practices and employee education.
The 2017 recipients of the Health Department’s 14 Carrot Gold Food Safety Excellence Award are:
- Annandale High School, 4700 Medford Dr., Annandale.
- Atrium Catering & Event Design, 263 Sunset Park Dr., Herndon.
- Aurora House Girls Group Home, 420 South Maple Ave., Falls Church.
- Five Guys Burgers and Fries, 8971 Ox Road, Lorton.
- FLIK at Freddie Mac HQ4 Café, 1551 Park Run Dr., McLean.
- Moe’s Southwest Grill, 5005 Westone Plaza, Chantilly.
- Qdoba, 10338 Main St., Fairfax.
- Ruby Tuesday, 7692 Richmond Highway, Alexandria.
- Simply Elegant, 11600 Sunrise Valley Dr., Reston.
- Wegmans Food Markets, 11620 Monument Dr., Fairfax.
This year’s recipients were selected from more than 3,400 permitted establishments inspected each year by Health Department Environmental Health Specialists.
