From Biryani Icon to Food-Safety Scrutiny: Shadab Faces a Crucial Test
For generations of Hyderabadis and visitors to the Old City, Hotel Shadab has been more than just a restaurant. Its biryani, traditional meat dishes and bustling atmosphere have made the eatery near Madina a familiar name in the city’s food culture.
But the iconic establishment is now facing its most serious regulatory challenge after the Telangana Standards Authority for Food and Essential Drugs (TG SAFE) suspended the FSSAI licence of its Madina branch and directed the management to stop operations immediately.
The action followed a special food-safety drive in which nine enforcement teams comprising Food Safety Officers and police personnel inspected 19 cafés and snack establishments across Hyderabad’s Core Urban Region.
Hygiene and storage violations
According to TG SAFE, officials found multiple violations at Shadab relating to the maintenance of hygiene and sanitation and the storage practices of meat and other food articles. The wider inspection drive also identified problems such as expired food articles, improper food handling and storage, pest infestation, open dustbins, littering and inadequate documentation at various establishments.
The authority has also decided to issue a show-cause notice to Shadab Hotel. Further action, including penalties, will follow the regulatory process.
The suspension does not, at this stage, mean that the famous restaurant has been permanently shut down. The immediate order is to stop operations while the food-safety proceedings are underway.
What happens next?
The road back to reopening will depend on how the management responds to the violations.
Shadab will have to respond to the show-cause notice and demonstrate that the shortcomings identified by the authorities have been rectified. This would include bringing food storage and handling practices into compliance, improving sanitation and pest control, ensuring appropriate food-handler practices and maintaining the necessary health, training and pest-control records.
TG SAFE has stated that establishments facing compliance issues will be revisited and that further action will be based on reinspection. No specific date for Shadab’s reinspection has been publicly announced so far.
A restaurant deeply embedded in Hyderabad’s food culture
The regulatory action has attracted particular attention because of Shadab’s standing in Hyderabad’s culinary landscape.
The restaurant is particularly associated with Hyderabadi dum biryani, while its traditional meat preparations have also earned a loyal following. Its Old City location has long attracted residents, tourists and food enthusiasts.
Its popularity was evident even outside food circles. In November 2023, during the Telangana Assembly election campaign, then BRS working president K. T. Rama Rao made a surprise visit to Shadab in the Old City. He arrived without the usual protocol, ate biryani and interacted with customers. The unexpected visit drew crowds of people seeking selfies and conversations with him.
The episode underlined the restaurant’s status as one of the city's recognised food destinations.
A temporary setback or a turning point?
For Shadab, the immediate priority is no longer simply serving its famous biryani. It is to convince food-safety authorities that the problems identified during the inspection have been comprehensively addressed.
A successful corrective process and satisfactory reinspection could pave the way for the restaurant to resume operations. Failure to address the violations, however, could result in further regulatory action.
For an establishment that has built its reputation over decades, the present suspension is therefore more than a temporary interruption to business. It is a test of whether one of Hyderabad’s most recognisable food institutions can bring its operational standards in line with the expectations of modern food-safety regulation while preserving the culinary identity that made Shadab famous in the first place.