This is why I don't list stars in the dining guide, a list of restaurants I've chosen for various reasons and which we keep as current as possible. Star ratings are temporal things. It's very difficult to keep up with shifts in restaurants' menus and hours. It's impossible, in my opinion, to keep a star rating accurate over the long term. Stars and headlines stick in readers' minds long after the review description has faded.
Sanitation ratings are snapshots, too.
Yes, without question, they are an indicator of cleanliness and worth. But restaurants are inspected every three or four months in Mecklenburg County. And if a place scores between a 70 and an 89.5, it can request a re-inspection that must be done within 15 days. Take a scenario from last year. On March 15, a restaurant scored an 80.5.