Willie Degel

Willie Degel is a restaurateur, TV personality, author and perennial entrepreneur. Degel opened his first restaurant, Hollywood and Main at Flushing, Queens, in the summer of 1990 and hasn’t looked back since. Six years later he opened the first (of three) famed Uncle Jack’s Steakhouses in New York City where he refined his unique method of growing a business. Based on his signature direct approach and instinctual team building abilities, Degel successfully translated his business sense into a TV show on the Food Network called "Restaurant Stakeout." In each episode Degel goes into troubled eateries and proceeds to reinvigorate the business by showing owners “what really happens when their employees think nobody is watching.” At the heart of Degel’s philosophy is the belief that “Customer is King!”

The youngest of four boys, Degel learned to develop his entrepreneurial spirit at an early age where he had three paper routes while selling lemonade in between. Of this aspect Degel expresses: “I was always hungry and eager and never scared of failure.” This is a motto that’s served Degel well into his subsequent endeavors. It’s the same drive to learn and succeed that sees Willie try his hand at every station in his restaurants so he’s always informed on every detail. He is a businessman who knows his business.

Currently Degel has been overseeing his latest concept come to life. Jack’s Shack: Naturally the Best is the new restaurant in Glen Head, Long Island, that is built entirely from recycled materials and a menu that is all natural – no hormones, no steroids, no antibiotics, no preservatives and no nitrates in any of their food.

Much like his personality, Willie’s speaking engagements are equally direct, compelling and informative. Covering a wide spectrum of business techniques and philosophies Degel shares his experiences and knowledge in the food industry, customer service and the ever-burning entrepreneurial spirit that drives him to never accept failure while breeding success time and time again.