4

The Shaken Cow food hygiene rating

Restaurant/Cafe/Canteen · St Albans City

The Shaken Cow holds a 4, meaning hygiene standards at the restaurant are good. It is a solid result, the inspector found nothing serious, though a 5 was just out of reach.

The rating: 4 - Good

The rating dates from 2 February 2026, 5 months ago. Councils typically re-inspect higher-risk businesses every six months to two years, with well-run, low-risk places visited least often, so this is a normal gap.

Address: 17 High Street, St Albans, Hertfordshire, AL3 4EH

How it compares in St Albans City

In St Albans City, 77% of rated places manage a 5, so The Shaken Cow sits behind roughly 818 nearby businesses. 15% of the borough shares its 4.

Every rated food business in St Albans City
5 out of 5 818 77%
4 out of 5 157 15% ← The Shaken Cow
3 out of 5 63 6%
2 out of 5 10 1%
1 out of 5 10 1%
0 out of 5 0 0%

A further 105 businesses in the area are awaiting inspection or exempt, so are not counted above.

What the inspector found

An inspection scores three things: how food is handled, the physical condition of the premises, and how much the inspector trusts management to keep standards up. At The Shaken Cow none of the three raised a concern, the overall rating is only ever as strong as its weakest area, so a clean sweep is what produces a high score.

Food hygiene ratings nearby

The closest food businesses to The Shaken Cow, nearest first, so you can see how it compares to its neighbours.

Business Distance Rating Inspected
Aloha Poke Restaurant/Cafe/Canteen 10 yards away 5 - Very good 12 December 2024
Darlish Ice Cream Takeaway/sandwich shop 93 yards away 5 - Very good 24 April 2024
Baruccio Restaurant/Cafe/Canteen 96 yards away 5 - Very good 15 October 2025
Al Farid Restaurant/Cafe/Canteen 101 yards away 5 - Very good 10 January 2026
Bellaccinos Restaurant/Cafe/Canteen 103 yards away 5 - Very good 17 January 2026
Artist Locanda Bagutta Restaurant/Cafe/Canteen 107 yards away 5 - Very good 18 October 2025
Caffe Nero Restaurant/Cafe/Canteen 113 yards away 5 - Very good 12 June 2025
Books on the Hill Restaurant/Cafe/Canteen 115 yards away 5 - Very good 14 December 2023

Questions about The Shaken Cow

What is The Shaken Cow's food hygiene rating?

The Shaken Cow has a food hygiene rating of 4 out of 5 (good), given by St Albans City Council on 2 February 2026.

Is The Shaken Cow safe to eat at?

The rating covers hygiene standards found at inspection, not the food itself. At 4 out of 5, the inspector found hygiene standards at this restaurant to be good, the top end of the scale.

When was The Shaken Cow last inspected?

The Shaken Cow was last inspected on 2 February 2026, 5 months ago. Food hygiene inspections are unannounced, and the rating is published by St Albans City Council rather than by the business.

What did the inspector find at The Shaken Cow?

The inspector scored three areas. Hygienic food handling was rated "good", the cleanliness and condition of the building "generally satisfactory", and confidence in the management of food safety "good". Lower concern in all three is what earns a high overall rating.

How does The Shaken Cow compare to other places in St Albans City?

77% of the 1,058 rated food businesses in St Albans City hold the top rating of 5, while The Shaken Cow holds a 4. 157 places in the area share that rating.

Who decides the rating?

St Albans City Council inspects The Shaken Cow and sets the rating; the Food Standards Agency publishes it. Neither the business nor this site can change a rating, a business that disagrees can appeal to its council, and can request a re-inspection once it has fixed the problems.

Tell me when this changes

The Food Standards Agency publishes only a business's rating today, not what it scored before, and not when it moves. We check every UK rating each night. Watch The Shaken Cow and we will email you the morning after its rating changes.

Free, for three businesses, forever. No password, we send you a link. How rating alerts work →

Understanding this rating

More food hygiene ratings near here

St Albans City inspects and rates 1,163 food businesses across its whole area. See every food hygiene rating in St Albans City

The official record is held by the council: http://www.stalbans.gov.uk/business/Health-and-safety/food-safety/foodHygieneRating.aspx

Rating from the Food Standards Agency under the Open Government Licence. Ratings reflect standards found at the time of inspection and can change. If you think a rating is wrong, the official record is held by the FSA and the local authority; corrections there flow through here. How ratings work →