Food Business Unfiltered
The good, the bad, and the ugly of building restaurants, brands, and franchises.
David Polny shares real-world lessons from decades in food service, restaurant operations, franchising, partnerships, leases, funding, catering, and business development — without hype, shortcuts, or sugarcoating.
What This Site Covers
Food business looks simple from the outside: open the doors, serve good food, build a brand. But the real lessons often show up in the lease, the loan, the partnership agreement, the staffing schedule, the delivery app fees, and the decisions nobody warned you about.
Launching a Food Brand
Concepts, menus, recipes, pricing, startup costs, kitchen options, delivery platforms, and how to test a brand before committing to a storefront.
Leases, Loans & Risk
Commercial leases, personal guarantees, CSBFL loans, bank conversations, cash flow pressure, and what to understand before signing.
Partnerships & Operations
Partners, roles, equity, staffing, food costs, delivery platforms, catering, customer issues, and the realities of running the business every day.
Ready to Test Your Food Idea?
Food Business Unfiltered
David's Story
David Polny has spent decades in food service, restaurant operations, franchising, catering, leasing, business development, partnerships and brand building—and has helped open more than 150 restaurants across Canada. Today, he brings that experience to entrepreneurs developing new food concepts, helping them build, test and launch market-ready brands without assuming an expensive storefront must come first.
Food Business Unfiltered was created to share practical lessons for restaurant owners, aspiring entrepreneurs, franchise operators, food truck owners, ghost kitchen founders, and anyone considering a food business.
The goal is not hype. It is preparation. Because food service can be rewarding, but it punishes people who go in unprepared.
