“I got to see what hard work looked like and what it’s like to persevere even when times are tough… but I also saw the bad, right? You know, the industry has a lot of problems with it, which we all know,” shares Susan Tung, a seasoned restaurateur who grew up in the business.
Running a restaurant isn’t just about creating delicious food. It’s about navigating countless restaurant owner challenges: balancing tight profit margins, managing staff, creating systems that work, and somehow finding time for your family. In a candid conversation between Chef Way (Waymond Wesley II) and restaurateur Susan Tung, we get an honest look at the daily struggles affecting restaurant business longevity.
Let’s explore these restaurant owner challenges and how kitchen technology innovations like Frylow from Save Fry Oil can provide some much-needed relief.
Restaurant Profitability: Controlling Costs in a Tight-Margin Business
“At the end of the day, when you open restaurants and you’re in the food business, it’s a business first,” Susan explains. “The passion stuff, the culinary stuff like that all comes with it as well. But at the end of the day, the dollars and the numbers, like that’s the most important thing you got to pay your bills.”
This truth hits hard for many restaurant owners. Restaurant cost control is more challenging than ever with rising prices of ingredients, labor, and rent, making every penny saved matter. This is where innovations in commercial frying equipment become essential tools rather than just nice-to-have extras.
As Chef Way explains, Frylow “helps to reduce the oil absorption and increase the heat transfer of oil for restaurants to meet their bottom line by making sure that no oil goes to waste and that every piece of oil that’s used is used efficiently.”
When you’re operating on thin margins, effective cooking oil management and extending the frying oil lifespan through advanced oil filtration systems can make a significant difference to your monthly expenses. By making your oil last 2-3 times longer, Frylow helps restaurants manage one of their most volatile recurring costs. Every dollar saved on oil is a dollar that goes straight to your bottom line.
Want to hear more stories and advice from the restaurant world?
Don’t miss the full episode of “Restaurant Talk” – where we get real about what it takes to succeed in the food service industry!
Commercial Kitchen Efficiency & The Science of Better Frying
What makes Frylow different from other kitchen waste reduction methods?
Chef Way points out something fascinating: “What’s so interesting about Frylow is that it’s charging the oil with electrons. And I never thought about how efficient heat transfer could affect a lot. It would make your product less oily.” This advanced heat transfer technology creates significant oil absorption reduction in foods, meaning less oil waste and healthier, less greasy food for your customers.
This improved heat transfer means:
- Food cooks more evenly, ensuring food consistency across all orders
- Less oil gets absorbed into the food
- The quality stays consistent
- Your oil lasts longer
For restaurants, this means noticeable food quality improvement AND cost savings, a rare win-win in the industry. Customers experience crispier, less greasy fried items while owners enjoy lower operating costs. As commercial frying equipment goes, Frylow represents a significant advancement in kitchen technology innovation that addresses multiple pain points simultaneously.
Restaurant Staff Retention & Building a Team That Cares
While products like Frylow can help with your costs, another major challenge restaurants face is staffing.
“You could have the best systems in place. You could have dummy, dummy proof systems, but if the people don’t care and they don’t like, they don’t care, they’re not going to follow it,” Susan explains.
Finding and keeping good staff is often harder than managing food costs. Susan has a refreshing take on hiring:
“I will literally hire anyone with great character over someone with triple the years of experience like any day, any day.”
Her reasoning? You can teach skills, but you can’t teach character. When you hire people with the right attitude, they’re more likely to care about things like properly using oil filtration systems and other cost-saving measures that contribute to restaurant business longevity.
Kitchen Systems Documentation: Creating Processes That Last
Many restaurants operate on tribal knowledge, information that exists only in people’s heads. This creates huge risks when key staff leave.
“With my parents, you know, I never, not a single recipe. I’ve never even seen a single recipe on paper,” Susan shares about growing up in her family’s restaurant.
She continues, “Even my mom measuring things was so obscure. Like she would use random objects to measure quantities of things.”.
This approach may work for a small family business, but it’s not sustainable for growth. Proper kitchen systems documentation, from recipe standardization to proper use of commercial frying equipment like Frylow, ensures consistency and sustainability. Without documented systems, your restaurant becomes dependent on specific individuals rather than reliable processes.
Chef Way shares his own approach:
“I keep plate bills with me. And some of my butter’s molded, my bread’s sliced. For instance, in this dish, of course, all of the sauces are made. But I want to show the chef how I talk in my brain. And I want to make sure that they can understand it.”
This documentation ensures that your restaurant can maintain quality and efficiency even when you’re not there, a critical factor in addressing restaurant owner challenges.
Check out Susan’s Electric City Catering in Peterborough.
Restaurant Talk Podcast by Save Fry Oil
Listen in on stories and advice from the restaurant world!
Don’t miss the full episode of “Restaurant Talk” – where we get real about what it takes to succeed in the food service industry!
Restaurant Work-Life Balance: Managing the Personal Toll
Perhaps the most difficult aspect of restaurant ownership is the personal sacrifice it demands. Achieving restaurant work-life balance seems almost impossible when, as Susan explains, “With restaurants, it bleeds so physically into you, right? So physically demanding and it’s like emotionally draining. And then you add in the financial challenges.
“You see people lose their homes and their families and it’s wild.”
This is why every advantage matters. Kitchen technology innovations like Frylow don’t just save money; they save time and reduce stress. When your frying station runs more efficiently with less maintenance, it’s one less thing to worry about during a busy service. Implementing effective kitchen waste reduction strategies can free up mental space to tackle other challenges.
Kitchen Technology Innovation: Smart Investments for Your Restaurant
Smart restaurant owners know that sometimes you need to invest to save. Products like Frylow and modern oil filtration systems represent a small upfront investment that can deliver ongoing returns through:
- Reduced oil costs
- More consistent food quality
- Less time spent changing and filtering oil
- Kitchen waste reduction through extended oil life
- Lower environmental impact from oil disposal
As Susan shares her philosophy on restaurant ownership:
“I focused on creating a restaurant that didn’t need me to be there 24/7. And I also focused on creating something that was just, sustainable, that one day I could pass on to my kids or we can expand.” Her focus on restaurant sustainability directly connects to business longevity, building something that can withstand the test of time while remaining environmentally and financially responsible.
Her focus on sustainability directly connects to restaurant business longevity, building something that can withstand the test of time.
Restaurant Business Longevity & Building for the Future
The restaurant industry will always have its challenges, but successful owners systematically tackle pain points. Frylow helps you do just that by:
- Reducing oil absorption for crisper, less greasy dishes
- Extending oil life by up to 50% and cutting your oil‑change frequency in half
- Seamlessly integrating with your existing oil filtration system with no extra steps
- Freeing up time and mental energy so you can focus on staff, service, and growth
By addressing oil costs with Frylow, you reclaim budget and bandwidth to solve bigger challenges such as staff management, consistency, and true work‑life balance. Because at the end of the day, your restaurant should support your life, not become it.
Ready to cut oil costs and boost consistency?
Request your FREE Frylow cost savings estimate to see how much you can save and qualify with no-risk trial and experience Frylow in action.
FAQ
How does Frylow extend the life of my fryer oil?
Frylow’s UV‑reflective ceramic tiles recharge your oil at the molecular level, replacing lost electrons to slow oxidation. Thinner, less‑oxidized oil transfers heat more efficiently, stays lighter in color, and resists breakdown—so it lasts up to 50% longer. citeturn0search0turn0search2
How often should I change my fryer oil when I use Frylow?
Most kitchens cut oil usage (and thus change‑out frequency) by up to 50%. If you were changing oil twice a week, you can typically switch to once a week while still meeting health guidelines.
Is Frylow compatible with my existing fryer model?
Yes. Frylow installs directly in virtually any commercial deep fryer—no modifications or moving parts required. It simply sits in the fryer vat alongside your oil.
When will I start to see cost savings?
Operators report noticeable drops in oil spend within the first month, thanks to reduced oil absorption. Most users reach full return on investment in six months or less.
How do I maintain and clean Frylow?
Frylow has no moving parts and adds no extra steps. Just continue your regular nightly filter and cleaning cycle. The ceramic tiles require no replacement and are covered by a 5‑year warranty.
Can Frylow work with my existing oil filtration system?
Yes. Frylow can complement your current oil filtration system. Simply drop the ceramic tiles into your fryer vat and continue filtering as usual.
