All 20 Stevenage food hygiene ratings dated September are a 5, from nurseries to a market stall. Two late August ratings on the register are a 0 and a 1.
Every food hygiene rating published for a Stevenage inspection in September is a 5, the top score. There are 20 of them on the national register so far. They range from a primary school kitchen in Martins Wood to a sandwich stall in the Indoor Market.
A 5 means hygiene standards are “very good”. Not one September visit scored lower.
The picture for August is less clean. Seven ratings for August visits have appeared on the register since our last roundup on 1 September. Five are a 5. The other two are a 0 and a 1.
The figures are from the Food Standards Agency’s register for the Stevenage Borough Council area, which we retrieved on 6 October.
Every September rating
| Date | Business | Where |
|---|---|---|
| 30 Sep | Trotts Hill Primary School | Wisden Road |
| 29 Sep | Firepit Sandwich Co | Stall 20, Stevenage Indoor Market |
| 29 Sep | Panku Streetfood | Asda, Monkswood Way |
| 28 Sep | Oaks Cafe | 110 Oaks Cross |
| 28 Sep | Nourish Contract Catering | Martins Wood Primary School, Mildmay Road |
| 28 Sep | Cygnet Hospital | Graveley Road |
| 23 Sep | 360 Play | Stevenage Leisure Park, Kings Way |
| 23 Sep | Reggie & Blossom’s Bakery | SG2, no street address published |
| 21 Sep | A takeaway at Argyle House | Argyle Way |
| 16 Sep | Ottimo | 17 Middle Row, Old Town |
| 15 Sep | Gao Express | 1B Market Place |
| 14 Sep | Triangle Pre School | Peartree Pavilion |
| 10 Sep | City Tree | Bus interchange, Danesgate |
| 9 Sep | Stevenage FC Sports Hub Cafe | Shephalbury Sports Centre, Broadhall Way |
| 9 Sep | Maddy’s Bakery | 15 The Glebe |
| 9 Sep | Lenny’s Fresh Fish and Fine Foods | 1A Market Place |
| 9 Sep | Co-op | 14 The Hyde |
| 8 Sep | Mulligans | Stevenage Leisure Park, Kings Way |
| 4 Sep | Scrumptious Bakes | SG2, no street address published |
| 1 Sep | Phoenix Nursery | Fry Road |
Market Place did well. Lenny’s fish counter and Gao Express, a few doors apart, both scored 5 within a week of each other, and so did the Firepit stall in the Indoor Market.
The list will grow. Ratings reach the register some time after the visit, partly because a business has 21 days to appeal. That is why August ratings were still arriving in late September.
Two low scores from August
Two August ratings published since our last roundup are at the bottom of the scale:
- Ehi Afro Caribbean Foods, 20 Market Place, rated 0 on 5 August. The FSA describes a 0 as “urgent improvement necessary”.
- Taco Bout Flavours, a takeaway with an SG1 postcode and no street address published, rated 1 on 1 August. A 1 means “major improvement necessary”.
Neither entry carries a published right to reply, and neither shows a new rating pending. A business with a low score can appeal, publish a reply on the register, or pay for a re-inspection once it has made the improvements. A rating is a snapshot of the day of the visit, not a verdict on the business today.
The other August ratings that arrived late were:
- 5: Chickaros Chicken and Grill, 59 High Street; Everyone Active Fairlands Valley Splash Park, Six Hills Way; Frequency Coffee, town centre; Abbington House, 23 Hitchin Road
- 3: Daisy’s Kitchen, 1 The Oval, rated “generally satisfactory” on 19 August
The whole register
Of the 509 Stevenage premises that hold a score, 457 are rated 5. That is 89.8%, up from 88% when we last checked on 1 September. In North Hertfordshire next door, 801 of 1,012 rated premises hold a 5, or 79.2%.
Seven premises in the borough now hold a 2 or below, down from nine.
The weak spot has not moved. 160 of the borough’s 686 food businesses are still awaiting their first inspection, 23.3% of the register. On 1 September it was 156, or 22.5%. No rating has been published for any of them.
What it means for you
- Check before you order. Every business on this page has its own entry on the FSA register, linked from the table. The search covers every takeaway and cafe in the borough.
- A missing rating is not a good rating. Nearly a quarter of Stevenage food businesses have none yet. If a place you use is “awaiting inspection”, that tells you nothing either way.
- Ask to see the sticker. Businesses in England do not have to display their rating, so a missing sticker in the window is worth a quick look on the register.
- Seen something worrying? Report it to Stevenage Borough Council’s food safety team, which carries out the inspections.
Our September roundup explains the backlog of unrated businesses in more detail.
Sources
- Food Standards Agency, food hygiene rating data API, Stevenage Borough Council area (local authority 24) and North Hertfordshire (local authority 22), retrieved 6 October 2026, for every rating, date, score and count on this page.
- Food Standards Agency, food hygiene ratings, for each business’s register entry and the meaning of each score.
- Food Standards Agency, appeals, right to reply and re-inspection, for a business’s options after a rating.
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