The café in Crowborough that pledged to make improvements after being given a one-star food hygiene rating earlier in the summer – has been rated one star again.
Wealden District Council’s Environmental Health service has issued Will’s Café and Grill in the Broadway with a Food Hygiene Improvement Notice – “for poor standard of cleaning in the kitchen” and “lack of training and food hygiene awareness”.
Crowborough News first reported that the café and grill had been given a one-star food hygiene rating, the second lowest, following an inspection by environmental health officers on June 4, 2025.
At the time the owners of the family-run business told us they only took over the café in February and had been working hard to improve it – investing in new equipment, new bins, and repairing areas highlighted by the inspection.
They were confident the café was much improved and would get a four star rating when it was reinspected. Instead, the follow-up inspection on 10 September has resulted in the same outcome – one star with “major improvement necessary”.
According to the Wealden District Council website the district has almost 1,500 outlets that are subject to food hygiene inspections. At April 2025 only two had the one-star rating. There were no zero star ratings, and most, 970, have the top five-star “very good” assessment.
A hygiene improvement notice is a formal legal document issued by an enforcement authority to a food business that is failing to comply with hygiene regulations. It requires the business to take specific steps to fix the identified problems within a set timeframe, and failure to comply is a criminal offence.
The second inspection result will come as a surprise to the seven reviewers on Trip Advisor who all rated the café either “excellent” or “good”. This gives the café an average Trip Advisor score of 4.6. Some of the positive comments included: “Delicious, nicely presented. Lovely friendly staff – felt very welcome” and “I cannot speak more highly of this fantastic café restaurant. Visited, for the first time, with family after various word of mouth recommendations and we were not disappointed.”
The inspection was carried out by food safety officers at Wealden District Council and the results are published by the Food Standards Agency.
Wealden’s Environmental Health Enforcement Policy says it has a duty to protect public health. In deciding what action to take against a business, one of the considerations will be a business’ past performance. The council has a range of enforcement options from cautions, fines, or even closure.
For details of the FSA inspection visit: https://ratings.food.gov.uk/business/1738919/wills-cafe-and-grill-crowborough