Los Angeles restaurant Wok on Fire’s health inspection grades have bounced between “C” and “B” this year, and the place was once ordered closed.

Despite that inspection record reading like a troubled student’s report card, the Chinese food and sushi restaurant does not lack patrons.

“Some of the customers, they saw the grade and they don’t like,” manager Joe Kuang says of the restaurant’s current “B” grade. “Only for us there’s no difference. They still come.”

Like all large-menu eateries in Los Angeles, this bamboo-adorned, 3,000-square-foot restaurant on La Cienega Boulevard is subject to three random health inspections per year under the California Health and Safety Code.

“We’re paying particular attention to food handling processes, food storage processes and those types of scenarios,” says Hector Dela Cruz, chief of the county Health Department section that inspects restaurants. “We’re looking for instances that would contribute most to food-borne illness.”

During these routine check ups, a Los Angeles County inspector investigates any potential threats to public health and safety and assigns a letter grade of “A,” “B” or “C.”

At the beginning of an inspection, every restaurant has a perfect score of 100 points. The inspector then subtracts points for violations. Infractions are tiered, based on the risk of food-borne illness as outlined by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, so some violations have greater deductions than others. Failure to reheat food to the required temperature, for example, is a demerit of six points, while the absence of employee hair restraints is only a one-point deduction.

“Just like school, 90 to 100 is an ‘A,’ 80 to 89 is a ‘B,’ 70 to 79 is a ‘C,’” says Dela Cruz. “But unlike school, anything below a 70 doesn’t receive a grade. The inspector writes the raw score on a card and posts that up.”

By law, grade placards must be displayed for customers to view, up to 5 feet from the entrance.

In January Wok On Fire earned a “C” but received a “B” one week later when the inspector returned to check if the food preparation area was cleaner. The busy restaurant maintained its “B” grade after an inspection in March.

But on May 30, an inspector, responding to a customer complaint, showed up and found reasons to shut the eatery that day.

“We’ll close places if they pose immediate risk to public health and safety whether they’re an ‘A,’ ‘B’ or ‘C,’” says Dela Cruz. “The inspector observed an active cockroach infestation and a good number of fresh rodent droppings. There was also a temperature issue.”

Wok On Fire’s food was in the “temperature danger zone.” The cold food was above the mandated 41 degrees Fahrenheit and the hot food was below 135 degrees Fahrenheit. The temperature violation coupled with the presence of vermin put customers at high risk for food-borne illness.

“The combination was enough to close them down right away,” Dela Cruz says.

Wok On Fire was re-inspected after being closed for 48 hours and allowed to re-open.

Kuang concedes that his restaurant needed temporary closure. He now actively complies with the laws. “You have to keep the temperature,” he says. “Very important. You have to keep cold food and hot food separate.”

He also acknowledges that Wok On Fire’s hygiene standards have risen due to the grading process. “Restaurant is cleaner now than before rating system,” says Kuang, a mischievous grin creeping up on his face.

The restaurant rating program has been in place since 1998. It was implemented in response to a hidden-camera investigation by KCBS-TV that exposed unhygienic practices in the kitchens of Los Angeles eateries.

“Typically in our business you would hear people talking about old inspections being walls, floors and ceilings,” says Dela Cruz. “But that’s not the case these days.”

The county spends more than $10 million annually on restaurant inspections to keep this process working, according to Dr. Jonathan Fielding, the county’s director of public health. Currently 76 of 85 cities in the county use the grading system.

A study published in the Journal of Environmental Health in 2005 found a more than 13 percent decrease in the number of hospitalizations in the county due to food-borne illness within the first three years of the program.

In 2006, 84 percent of the nearly 37,000 retail food facilities in Los Angeles had “A” ratings – an increase of almost 7 percent from four years earlier. The number of restaurants rated “B” or lower has also steadily declined since 2002.

“A ‘B’ is as low as I’ll go,” says frequent Wok On Fire customer Maurice Cousin. “I have skepticisms about the ‘B,’ but some restaurants aren’t deserving of their ‘A’ if you think about it.”

Cousin is undeterred by Wok On Fire’s closure.

“These people here have been pretty consistent with their stuff, and the food is still good,” he says. “My daughter likes it, my wife likes it and I like it.”

His continued patronage, regardless of Wok On Fire’s less-than-perfect grades, does not surprise Dela Cruz.

“This isn’t about grabbing somebody’s hand and saying, ‘Eat here’ or ‘Don’t eat here,’” Dela Cruz says. “It’s about saying, ‘Here are the facts. You can go ahead and decide where to eat. We don’t in any way want to step in front of your path, but we definitely want to shed light on the path.’”