What We Found
1) Some neighbourhoods have more frequent food inspection violations than others.
2) Overall, these violations are followed by a dip in the reviews, but it generally goes back up again after a year or so.
3) The dip is more prominent in restaurants with more severe violations (indicated by heavier fines, >3K$), and they generally don't show much sign of improvement afterwards.
4) Some restaurants with less severe violations (fines <3K$) actually improve their ratings afterwards, and they tend to be concentrated in Plateau area.
Conclusions
When violations are severe, reviews go down probably because information can spread through reviewers who may learn about the violations through news outlet, but the effect is not long-lasting.
When it's less severe, it's less likely that the reviewers know about it, and it may actually improve reviews by prompting the owners of the restaurant to improve.
Making the inspection results visible (not just violations but also any improvements at follow-up) would give incentives for business owners to improve, and help customers avoid making bad choices.
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