Photo: Brandon (owner) with the Hoodini truckThe problem we built this around
Walk into the back of almost any restaurant in the Valley and you'll find the same setup: a grease trap company that comes when it comes, a hood cleaner who shows up twice a year and leaves a mess, a cooking oil outfit nobody has a phone number for, and an ice machine that gets cleaned when the health inspector mentions it.
Four vendors. Four invoices. Four schedules the manager has to keep in their head. And when the fire marshal asks for the hood report, it's in an email from eight months ago that nobody can find.
None of those jobs is complicated. The problem is that nobody does all of them, so the restaurant ends up being the general contractor for its own back-of-house. That's the gap Hoodini fills.
How we got here
Hoodini is a Phoenix business, started in Phoenix, by someone who has spent years running small companies and knows what it's like when a vendor doesn't show. Before the first truck was wrapped, we spent months reading Maricopa County's liquid waste rules, the NFPA 96 hood standard, and the city pretreatment codes that decide how often a trap has to be pumped. Not because that's fun, but because getting the paperwork right is half of what you're paying for.
We built the business around one idea: if a crew is already at your back door for the grease trap, it should handle the oil, the ice machine, and the hood too. Fewer trucks in your lot, fewer phone numbers on your wall, one report in your inbox.
The name? Houdini made things disappear. We make grease disappear. It was either that or something with the word "Enviro" in it, and the Valley has enough of those.
What you can count on
Routes are scheduled, reminders go out, and you get a text when we're on the way. If something slips, you hear it from us before you notice.
Full pump-outs, not skims. Ducts and fans, not just the hood you can see. The parts nobody looks at are the parts that cause fires and backups.
Floors hosed, lids seated, plastic sheeting down and picked up. Your kitchen opens on time, same as always.
Dated report, before-and-after photos, disposal records. Same day, every visit. Inspection day should be boring.
Who this is for
Independent restaurants, small groups with a few locations, bars with a fryer, cafes with an ice machine and a trap under the sink. If you run one kitchen or six, and you'd rather think about food than grease, we're a fit.
If you're a 40-location chain with a national facilities contract, we're probably not. No hard feelings.
Credentials
Permitted liquid waste hauler in Maricopa County, NFPA 96 trained for kitchen exhaust cleaning, fully insured. Certificate numbers and a sample service report are on the compliance page, and we'll send a certificate of insurance to your landlord the same day you ask.
Photo: Hoodini grease trap trailer rig
Photo: Hoodini hood cleaning trailer rig