Restaurant Stakeout Host Focuses on Steakhouses

“Customer is King.”

Many in the restaurant industry talk the talk and espouse this view of restaurant management. Willie Degel walks the walk and takes it more than a few steps farther by including the mantra as part of his restaurant décor, setting the tone and greeting each guest as they enter.

“We are an elegant high-end classic New York steakhouse restaurant,” the founder and CEO of Uncle Jack’s Steakhouse, Meat House, Steak Sandwich Shop and Jack’s Shack, tells Modern Restaurant Management magazine. “It’s not complicated or trendy. It’s very simple and I’m old school. I believe in top-quality service and top-quality food.”

Best known for hosting Restaurant Stakeout on the Food Network, Degel, who started out as a bartender, boasts more than 30 years in the restaurant business. He is a self-taught chef, foodie and motivational expert. On television, he used this accumulation of acumen to help restaurants make a turn around by determining their strengths…