Every Sutton food rating dated September is a 3 or better, and 44 of 49 are 5s. Late August added a new 1 in Cheam, and a Carshalton shop stayed on a 1.
Sutton’s food businesses had their best month of the year in September. The council’s inspectors published 49 ratings dated September, and 44 of them were the top score of 5.
None was below a 3, the score the Food Standards Agency calls “generally satisfactory”. Three scored a 4 and two scored a 3. (Food Standards Agency register, read 5 October 2026)
That is 89.8% at a 5, the highest share of any month in 2026.
Month by month
| Month inspected | Ratings | Rated 5 | Share rated 5 | Below 3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 55 | 41 | 74.5% | 1 |
| February | 80 | 61 | 76.3% | 3 |
| March | 76 | 55 | 72.4% | 1 |
| April | 54 | 38 | 70.4% | 3 |
| May | 58 | 37 | 63.8% | 6 |
| June | 49 | 41 | 83.7% | 1 |
| July | 46 | 30 | 65.2% | 4 |
| August | 39 | 16 | 41.0% | 7 |
| September | 49 | 44 | 89.8% | 0 |
One caution on these figures. The register only shows each business’s current rating. A business inspected in March and again in August appears only under August, so the earlier months slightly undercount.
Who got a 5 in September
The September list runs from pubs to school kitchens. Among the 44 were:
- four pubs: The Harrow on Cheam High Street, The Railway Tavern and The Racehorse in Carshalton, and Inn On The Park (The Grumpy Mole) on Ewell Road, Cheam
- takeaways including Hackbridge Fish Bar, Olives Peri Peri on London Road, Hackbridge, and Sam’s Kebab in Worcester Park
- The Ceylon Dining, 6 St Dunstans Hill, Cheam, whose licence application we reported in September
- school caterers at Cheam High, Oaks Park High, Green Lane Primary and Wallington County Grammar
- Meals On Wheels at the Sutton Inclusion Centre, Northspur Road
Fat Phill’s, the Dutch burger restaurant at 96-98 High Street that we reported was coming in September, received its first rating on 4 September: a 4.
August’s late results
August looks very different, and that is partly timing. Results reach the register some days after the inspection.
When we read the register on 2 September, it held 21 ratings dated August, and one was below a 3. It now holds 39, and seven are below a 3. Two of those are a 1:
| Rating | Business | Address | Rated |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Joe Sushi | 8 Station Way, Cheam SM3 8SW | 27 August 2026 |
| 1 | Best One | 213 Carshalton Road, Carshalton SM5 3PZ | 26 August 2026 |
| 2 | Florian Avenue Post Office | 61 Florian Avenue, Sutton SM1 3QH | 26 August 2026 |
| 2 | Pyara Jas Food And Wine | 521 London Road, North Cheam SM3 8JR | 26 August 2026 |
| 2 | Hills Food And Wine | 62 Stafford Road, Wallington SM6 9AY | 15 August 2026 |
| 2 | Powers Convenience Store | 18-22 Gander Green Lane, Sutton SM1 2EJ | 15 August 2026 |
| 2 | Brazil Premium | 14 St Dunstans Hill, Cheam SM1 2UE | 4 August 2026 |
Six of the seven are shops, which fits the pattern we found last month: in Sutton, the low scores are mostly convenience stores and off-licences, not restaurants.
The Best One on Carshalton Road was one of the nine long-standing low ratings we listed in September. It had held a 1 since 10 March 2025. It has now been re-inspected, and the result is a 1 again.
Joe Sushi in Cheam was scored 15 for hygienic food handling, 10 for the condition of the building and 20 for confidence in management. In this scheme a higher score is a worse result, and 20 is the top of the management scale.
What has not changed
- The two zeros are still zeros. Best One, 352 Middleton Road, Carshalton (21 July 2026), and Favour Chicken Burger And Ribs, 50 Stafford Road, Wallington (25 February 2026), have not been re-rated.
- The oldest low rating is older. St Peter’s News, 145 Epsom Road, has held a 1 since 12 September 2023. That is 1,119 days.
- Nine below-3 ratings are more than a year old, the same number as last month.
Across the borough, 43 premises are now below a 3: two on a 0, 18 on a 1 and 23 on a 2. That is up from 39 on 2 September, and the rise comes from the late August results.
The register covers 1,326 premises. Of the 1,178 with a numeric rating, 882 hold a 5, or 74.9%. Another 42 are registered but awaiting a first inspection, down from 54 a month ago.
What it means for you
- Check the date as well as the number. A September 5 tells you far more than a 2023 score.
- Check shops too. Six of August’s seven low scores went to shops, not restaurants.
- A rating is one inspection. The FSA says a business can appeal within 21 days if it thinks a rating is wrong or unfair.
- Businesses can ask for a re-visit once they have made improvements, and can publish a right to reply alongside their rating at any time. (FSA safeguards for businesses)
Every figure here comes from the Food Standards Agency’s published register for the London Borough of Sutton, downloaded in full on 5 October 2026. Ratings record one inspection on one date and may have changed since. Any business named may appeal, request a re-visit or publish a right to reply, and we will update this page if a rating listed here changes.
Last month’s analysis: Sutton food hygiene, September 2026. More local information: our business directory and planning applications.
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