Free Used Cooking Oil Pickup in San Diego County

Oil Guyz collects used fryer oil from restaurant kitchens across San Diego County, from Oceanside down to Chula Vista and La Mesa. You get a free locked bin and a digital manifest after every pickup, with no contract and no fees.

UCO pickup truck servicing restaurants along the San Diego coastal area

5.0 on Google
From real restaurant reviews
CDFA-licensed
Recycled into clean fuel
Free locked bin
Delivered and placed for you
Manifest every pickup
Inspection-ready, 7-year records

Free used cooking oil pickup

Restaurant Grease Pickup in San Diego County, Without the Runaround

Used cooking oil pickup in San Diego County usually breaks down the same way. The hauler stops answering the phone, the bin behind the kitchen fills past the lid, and when the inspector asks for your grease records, nobody can find them. We hear it from fish taco spots in Pacific Beach, brewery kitchens in North Park, taquerias in Chula Vista, and coastal kitchens in Oceanside. Oil Guyz is a small, locally owned company that fixes the unglamorous part of running a fryer: we answer the phone, we show up, we pump the oil, and we leave a record of it. Pickup is free for restaurants across San Diego County, with no contract, no monthly fee, and no per-pickup charge.

Here is how it works. We place a free locked bin sized to your volume, right where you store oil today, and on every pickup the driver pumps it out right where it sits. We never swap containers. Already using barrels or caddies? We pump those in place too. Every pickup runs under a CDFA Inedible Kitchen Grease transporter license, and the digital manifest you receive meets the CDFA recordkeeping rule (3 CCR 1180.24). The service is free because we are paid for the oil, not by you: a licensed renderer turns it into biodiesel feedstock and animal feed ingredients, so nothing goes to landfill. Past manifests live in the online portal whenever you need to pull one for an inspector.

The compliance layer is real in this county, and it is city by city. The City of San Diego's FEWD Program permits and monitors more than 5,000 food facilities under Municipal Code sections 64.0701 through 64.0711. Oceanside Water Utilities requires a Commercial Kitchen Grease Disposal Permit and allows only licensed cooking oil haulers to collect your used oil. Chula Vista's FOG Control Program expects grease maintenance logs kept for three years, and La Mesa's FOG permit conditions require a written log of waste oil manifests for the City inspector. On top of all of it sits CDFA, which licenses grease transporters statewide. A documented pickup from a registered transporter is the piece of that stack we take off your plate.

Get Free Pickup in San Diego

Free locked bin · No contract · No minimum. Service across San Diego starts this week.

5.0 on GoogleCDFA-Licensed

Prefer to talk? Call (619) 633-2488

Why Oil Guyz

The typical hauler vs Oil Guyz

Same pickup. A very different experience for your San Diego kitchen.

Typical hauler

Oil Guyz

Cost to you

Pickup fees, or your oil for nothing

Free pickup, free container

Contract

Long-term lock-in

No contract, cancel anytime

Missed pickup

Voicemail and excuses

A real person makes it right

Compliance paperwork

You chase the manifest

Emailed after every pickup, 7-yr records kept

Who answers

A call center, or no one

A real person who knows your kitchen

Why now

A health or CDFA check can ask for your manifest any day, and switching costs you nothing. There is no contract to break and no gap in service. Get set up before your bin overflows or an inspector asks.

Get Free Pickup in San Diego

Everything included

Everything your San Diego kitchen gets, free

One plan that takes used cooking oil off your plate for good. Most haulers charge for pickup or lock you into a contract. Yours does neither.

Costs you nothing

Free pickup, free bin, free paperwork. We are paid for the oil, not by you.

Reliable, on your schedule

Scheduled pickups on the cadence you set. A real person owns your route.

Inspection-proof

A CDFA-compliant manifest after every pickup. 7-year records kept.

Recurring scheduled pickupsWeekly, bi-weekly, or monthly. You set the cadence.Free
A commercial collection containerDelivered and placed where it works for your kitchen.$150 to buyFree
Compliant digital manifest after every pickupCDFA Title 3 §1180-compliant, emailed the moment your container is serviced.Free
7 years of records, kept for youProducing history for an inspection takes seconds.Free
A real person who answersNo phone-tag, no no-show black hole.Free
No contract, month to monthCancel anytime. No penalty, no removal fee.Free

Total cost to you

No contract. Cancel anytime.

Typically $150+ to set up elsewhere, plus monthly fees

It's free because we are paid for the oil, not by you. We recycle it into clean fuel, so pickup and the bin cost you nothing.

Claim My Free Bin + Pickup

Free sizing tool

Right-size your free bin in seconds

Tell us how much oil your kitchen goes through and we will show you the bin and pickup schedule that fits, no overflowing bins, no wasted trips.

Free bin, sized right

What size bin does your kitchen need?

We aim to fill it 75 to 90% in a month, so one monthly pickup keeps it from overflowing.

1. Pick the closest match

2. Used oil you make per week

gal / week

3. Where will it sit?

Monthly pickup

130-gallon outdoor bin

~83% full each month

A 130-gallon outdoor bin lands around 83% full over a month, so one pickup a month keeps it from ever overflowing.

Get my free bin (619) 633-2488

This is an estimate to get you close. We confirm the right bin when we place it, and if your volume changes we swap you to a better size at no charge.

Local compliance

San Diego County FOG and Grease Rules for Restaurants

Verified 2026-07-04

There is no single county FOG agency here. The City of San Diego, Oceanside, Chula Vista, and La Mesa each run their own sewer and grease programs, and the State of California adds a layer through CDFA, which regulates everyone who hauls used cooking oil. In practice a kitchen has three jobs: hold your city's grease or wastewater permit, keep your grease device serviced with records to prove it, and store used fryer oil in a proper container that a licensed hauler collects.

Who regulates grease from your kitchen

City of San Diego Public Utilities Department, Food Establishment Wastewater Discharge (FEWD) Program

Permits and inspects food service establishments discharging to the City of San Diego sewer system

Official program page

City of Oceanside Water Utilities Department

Runs Oceanside's food service environmental compliance program and issues the Commercial Kitchen Grease Disposal Permit

Official program page

City of Chula Vista Wastewater Engineering, FOG Control Program

Regulates grease pretreatment, maintenance, and logs for Chula Vista food establishments

Official program page

City of La Mesa FOG Control Program (Public Works Department)

Administers La Mesa's FOG Discharge Permit and mandatory kitchen best management practices

Official program page

California Department of Food and Agriculture, Rendering / Inedible Kitchen Grease Program

State agency that registers grease transporters, licenses renderers, and enforces the manifest tracking system

Official program page

What inspectors expect from a San Diego restaurant

Hold a Food Establishment Wastewater Discharge permit in the City of San DiegoSan Diego Municipal Code §64.0701
If your kitchen prepares food for the public and drains to a City of San Diego sewer, you must obtain a Food Establishment Wastewater Discharge permit from the City before discharging wastewater. The FEWD Program handles the permitting and compliance monitoring for thousands of food facilities citywide. Source: San Diego Municipal Code, Ch. 6 Art. 4 Div. 7 (PDF)
Install and maintain a grease pretreatment device in San DiegoSan Diego Municipal Code §64.0708
San Diego permittees must install an approved grease pretreatment device on waste lines from food prep areas and keep it working by periodically removing accumulated grease. Once grease is pumped out, it may never go back into drainage piping or the public sewer. Source: San Diego Municipal Code, Ch. 6 Art. 4 Div. 7 (PDF)
Keep a dedicated used cooking oil container in San DiegoSan Diego Municipal Code §64.0708
The same San Diego code section requires each permittee to provide a collection drum or container that physically segregates oils, greases, and greasy solids from the sewer. In plain terms: your fryer oil needs its own bin, and it stays out of the drain. Source: San Diego Municipal Code, Ch. 6 Art. 4 Div. 7 (PDF)
Keep grease maintenance records and give San Diego inspectors accessSan Diego Municipal Code §64.0709
The City requires permittees to keep records of grease device cleaning, maintenance, and grease removal, report that maintenance to the permit administration, and allow the City ready access to the premises at all reasonable times for sampling and inspections. Missing paperwork is what turns a routine visit into a violation. Source: San Diego Municipal Code, Ch. 6 Art. 4 Div. 7 (PDF)
Get a Commercial Kitchen Grease Disposal Permit in OceansideOceanside Ordinance 07-OR0021; City Code Ch. 29 Art. IX
Oceanside's municipal code requires commercial kitchens to obtain a Commercial Kitchen Grease Disposal Permit from the City's Water Utilities Department before beginning food service operations and serving customers. If you are opening or taking over a kitchen in Oceanside, this permit comes first. Source: City of Oceanside Commercial Kitchen Requirements
Service your grease device at least every three months in Oceanside, and log itOceanside Ordinance 07-OR0021
Oceanside requires a grease control device to be installed and serviced at least every three months, or more often if needed, with every service documented on the pump-out log sheet. Keep that log current; it is the first thing compliance staff will ask to see. Source: City of Oceanside Commercial Kitchen Requirements
Store used oil in locked bins and use only licensed haulers in OceansideOceanside Ordinance 07-OR0021
Oceanside requires waste cooking oil to be collected and stored in proper grease or tallow bins for recycling. Outdoor bins must have a locking lid and secondary containment to prevent spills, and only licensed cooking oil and grease haulers may collect the oil. Source: City of Oceanside Commercial Kitchen Requirements
Keep three years of grease logs in Chula Vista, and a manifest log in La MesaChula Vista Municipal Code 13.10.150-13.10.160; La Mesa FOG Control Program, Kitchen BMPs (Attachment F, revised 1/2026)
Chula Vista requires grease equipment maintenance logs kept on premises at least three years or uploaded to the City's SwiftComply system. La Mesa's kitchen BMPs require used oil stored in covered containers with secondary containment, collected by a licensed hauler, with a written log of manifests and invoices for the City inspector. Source: Chula Vista FOG Control Program; La Mesa FOG Control Permit Application (PDF)

Your used cooking oil options, honestly

Free pickup from a CDFA-registered transporter

Best option

The fully compliant path in all four cities. State law regulates everyone who transports inedible kitchen grease from restaurants, and the transporter must leave you manifest documentation of each load. Because the oil has commodity value as biodiesel feedstock, a registered hauler like Oil Guyz can do this at no charge to the restaurant.

Get free pickup

Hauling it to a drop-off site yourself

Allowed, but

The City of San Diego's Miramar Recycling Center accepts used cooking oil free of charge, but the City's own page limits it to residential oil with a 30-quart maximum. That is a fine answer for a home fryer, not a commercial kitchen, and self-hauling commercial oil raises its own CDFA transporter registration problems.

Paying a hauler for grease service

Allowed, but

Some kitchens pay for oil collection, often bundled with grease trap pumping. That can be compliant, but the same rules apply: Oceanside and La Mesa both require licensed haulers, and you should still receive manifests. Before paying anyone, confirm they appear on CDFA's public list of registered inedible kitchen grease transporters.

The drain: never an option

Never

San Diego's code states collected grease may never be introduced into drainage piping or the public sewer, and a violating discharge is a declared public nuisance and a misdemeanor (SDMC 64.0708, 64.0710). The City can also revoke your permit and terminate sewer service. Oceanside, Chula Vista, and La Mesa impose the same prohibition through their own FOG ordinances.

Which agency covers your city

San Diego: The City of San Diego Public Utilities FEWD Program permits and inspects food establishments on the city sewer system.
Oceanside: Oceanside Water Utilities runs the city's own FOG program and issues the Commercial Kitchen Grease Disposal Permit.
Chula Vista: Chula Vista Wastewater Engineering runs the FOG Control Program under CVMC 13.10.150 and 13.10.160.
La Mesa: La Mesa Public Works administers the city's own FOG Discharge Permit program under Ordinance 2009-2794.

Primary sources (last verified 2026-07-04)

Rules change. We re-check these pages on a regular cycle, but your permit, your lease, and your inspector always win. When in doubt, call the agency listed for your city, or call us and we will point you to the right office.

What San Diego kitchens say about Oil Guyz

Verbatim Google reviews from the restaurants we serve. On time, genuinely free, and the compliance paperwork is always handled.

5.0on Google

“These dudes really bailed me out of a tough situation. My previous oil collection service had been really screwing me over. Spent 4 weeks of unanswered phone calls, texts, and empty promises with a company we've been using for two years just to get a used oil recepticle, all to no avail. We were sitting on 6 fryers with of oil I that I had nowhere to put. Called Joey and The Oil Guyz and he got me set up just a few hours later. Used oil container, service agreement, answered all of my questions. We're running a very odd program where our schedule is all over the place, so having a "regular" pick up schedule is out of the question. We worked out a way for quick/easy retrieval in about 5 minutes. Can't recommend these guys enough.”

Myk Espinoza

Oakland Ballers · Oakland, CA · Google review

“Joey took care of our needs quickly, efficiently and professionally. I highly reccoemnd his service to anyone!”

Kengo Kido

Google review

“Prompt response from Joey. Great service with problem solving. Highly recommended!”

Brenda Wu

Google review

“Fast and great to work with!”

Camille Bamford

Google review

“Fast efficient service”

John Kim

Google review

“These dudes really bailed me out of a tough situation. My previous oil collection service had been really screwing me over. Spent 4 weeks of unanswered phone calls, texts, and empty promises with a company we've been using for two years just to get a used oil recepticle, all to no avail. We were sitting on 6 fryers with of oil I that I had nowhere to put. Called Joey and The Oil Guyz and he got me set up just a few hours later. Used oil container, service agreement, answered all of my questions. We're running a very odd program where our schedule is all over the place, so having a "regular" pick up schedule is out of the question. We worked out a way for quick/easy retrieval in about 5 minutes. Can't recommend these guys enough.”

Myk Espinoza

Oakland Ballers · Oakland, CA · Google review

“Joey took care of our needs quickly, efficiently and professionally. I highly reccoemnd his service to anyone!”

Kengo Kido

Google review

“Prompt response from Joey. Great service with problem solving. Highly recommended!”

Brenda Wu

Google review

“Fast and great to work with!”

Camille Bamford

Google review

“Fast efficient service”

John Kim

Google review

Coverage

Cities we serve in San Diego

One San Diego route, 18 cities. The same free pickup, free locked bin, and compliance manifest everywhere on the route.

Chula Vista La Mesa Oceanside San DiegoCarlsbadEl CajonEncinitasEscondidoSan MarcosVista

More San Diego communities on the route

Coronado:: Pickup routes cover Orange Avenue Village, Hotel del Coronado Area and Ferry Landing.
Del Mar:: Pickup routes cover Del Mar Village, Camino Del Mar Corridor and Del Mar Plaza.
Imperial Beach:: Pickup routes cover Palm Avenue Corridor, Pier Plaza and Seacoast Drive.
Lemon Grove:: Pickup routes cover Broadway Corridor, Main Street District and Lemon Grove Avenue.
National City:: Pickup routes cover Plaza Boulevard Corridor, National City Boulevard and Highland Avenue District.
Poway:: Pickup routes cover Poway Road Corridor, Community Road Area and Garden Road Corridor.
Santee:: Pickup routes cover Mission Gorge Road Corridor, Santee Town Center and Town Center Parkway Area.
Solana Beach:: Pickup routes cover Cedros Avenue Design District, Highway 101 Corridor and Lomas Santa Fe Corridor.

San Diego local line:

(619) 633-2488

Oil Guyz Service Area in San Diego County

We provide free used cooking oil pickup and recycling to restaurants throughout San Diego County and surrounding areas.

Open in Google Maps

Restaurant Outside San Diego?

Oil Guyz is expanding fast. Drop your state and city and we will email you the moment we light up your area.

No used cooking oil pickup in your area yet?

Tell us your city. We’ll text you the day free pickups reach you.

Answers

Used cooking oil pickup in San Diego, FAQ

Yes. We are paid for the oil, not by you. Used fryer oil has real commodity value: a licensed renderer processes it into biodiesel feedstock and animal feed ingredients, and that value covers the cost of collection. You get the pickup, the free locked bin, and the digital manifest at no charge, with no contract. Kitchens producing roughly 250 or more gallons a month can ask about a rebate when they sign up. For most restaurants the honest value is simpler than a rebate: the oil leaves on schedule, and the paperwork exists when the City of San Diego, Oceanside, Chula Vista, or La Mesa inspector asks for it.

Most kitchens get their first pickup within a week of signing up. If a bin is overflowing right now, call us and we often make it out the same day. Phones are answered around the clock, and a team member picks up, not a phone tree. Signing up takes one call or the form on this page: tell us where the oil sits, roughly how much you fry, and where the driver can find the container. From there, pickups repeat on a cadence matched to how fast your kitchen actually fills the bin, whether that is a taqueria in Chula Vista or a beach kitchen in Oceanside.

You get a free locked bin sized to your volume, placed where you store oil today. The driver pumps it out right where it sits. We never swap containers. Already using barrels or caddies? We pump those in place too. The locked lid matters in this county: Oceanside requires outdoor waste oil bins to have a locking lid with secondary containment, and La Mesa's kitchen BMPs require covered containers with secondary containment for yellow grease. San Diego's own code requires each permitted food establishment to keep a dedicated drum or container that physically segregates oils and greases from the sewer. A proper bin is not a nice-to-have here; it is written into the rules.

It goes to a licensed renderer and becomes biodiesel feedstock and animal feed ingredients. Nothing goes to landfill. Every load is documented under California's inedible kitchen grease manifest system: state law defines used cooking oil as inedible kitchen grease and regulates everyone who transports it from restaurants under Food and Agricultural Code sections 19310 through 19317. The transporter completes a manifest for every load, must give you your portion within 45 calendar days of pickup, and manifests are kept for two years, available on demand to CDFA and law enforcement. That cradle-to-grave paper trail is what separates real recycling from the gray market.

In these cities, yes, and it comes from your city, not the county. In the City of San Diego, any facility preparing food for the public that discharges to the public sewer must hold a Food Establishment Wastewater Discharge permit under Municipal Code section 64.0701. Oceanside requires a Commercial Kitchen Grease Disposal Permit from Water Utilities before you begin food service. La Mesa issues a FOG Discharge Permit through Public Works; the application fee is $423 and the permit runs five years, subject to renewal. Chula Vista regulates grease pretreatment and maintenance for all food establishments under its municipal code. Check with your city before opening or taking over a kitchen.

Expect to show grease device service records and proof your used oil left with a licensed hauler. The City of San Diego requires records of grease device cleaning, maintenance, and grease removal, reported to the City, with inspector access to the premises at all reasonable times. Chula Vista wants maintenance logs kept on premises at least three years or uploaded to SwiftComply. La Mesa permittees must keep two logs, an employee training log and a waste oil collection log, with written training records kept on site at least two years and training held at least twice a year. Oceanside adds a quarterly pump-out log and a dated employee training log. The manifest we email after every pickup is the waste oil side of that file.

No to the drain, and the trash is not a real answer at commercial volume. San Diego's code says collected grease may never be introduced into any drainage piping or public sewer, and a discharge that violates the ordinance is a declared public nuisance and a misdemeanor; the City can also revoke your permit and terminate sewer service. La Mesa's permit conditions make your restaurant financially liable for the City's costs of responding to a sewer overflow that blockages in your private line caused or contributed to. Cool-and-trash advice is aimed at households and trace amounts; Oceanside and La Mesa both require proper bins and a licensed hauler for liquid waste oil.

Only transporters registered with the California Department of Food and Agriculture. State law treats used cooking oil as inedible kitchen grease and regulates its transport from restaurants and food facilities, and CDFA keeps a public, searchable registry of commercial transporters, which is where a legitimate hauler shows up. The manifest system exists partly because grease theft is real: CDFA's rulemaking record estimated statewide theft incidents likely exceeded 5,400 in 2010 alone, and CDFA has partnered with law enforcement to stop and check grease transport vehicles for compliance. If someone offers to take your oil with no registration and no manifest, that is exactly the traffic the system was built to stop. Every Oil Guyz pickup runs under a CDFA Inedible Kitchen Grease transporter license.

Get Free Used Cooking Oil Pickup. First Stop in 3 to 5 Days.

Picture the bin that never overflows and the compliant digital manifest already in your inbox. Used cooking oil pickup is free because we are paid for the oil, not by you. Every week you wait is another overflowing bin and another gap in your records. Free locked bin, confirmed in 24 hours and dropped this week, first pickup in 3 to 5 business days, no contract, cancel anytime. New routes are scheduled in the order they come in, so get on the list today.

Get My Free Pickup (714) 880-4788

Or call (714) 880-4788 and talk to a real person today.