A better mousetrap indeed!
My initial observation is that thing looks like it would be a bitch to clean. I don’t want to find fault with it, because what they did was ingenious! But if you fill a pit that big you’re going to get a lot of grease.
Now if those curves finished into a channel or they figured out a clean out system that was equally ingenious (and kept the health department happy), then these guys are well on their way.