More restaurants cited by health dept.

hearing officer. “We haven’t had any of those,” Dr. Hacker said.

Some unsatisfied businesses have found other creative ways to act out.

In 2014, the owner of Chinatown Inn on Third Avenue, Downtown, was fined $800 by the health department for concealing a consumer alert decal in the front window with two strategically placed potted plants.

More recently, a $500 fine was levied in November against the Pittzarella pizza shop on the South Side for blocking a consumer alert decal with a menu on one side and a flyer on the other.

The department issues civil penalties based on the size of the facility, willfulness and other factors, the food safety division’s Ms. Scharding said. The department has been issuing more and larger fines since restructuring its penalty policy in 2015. Last year, civil penalties levied by the food safety unit totaled $21,347, up from $6,770 in 2014.

Last month, Frisch’s restaurant in Caste Village in Whitehall was fined $150 plus court costs after a district judge found it guilty of interfering with an inspection.

Owner Dennis Frisch said last week that he had repeatedly asked an inspector to come back another time, but the inspector refused.

“He was here on Halloween, a very busy day, and he was getting in the way,” Mr. Frisch said. “I wasn’t nice to him in the end. I don’t think he was being reasonable.”