Career
He is best known as the host of Restaurant Stakeout, a reality television show on the Food Network. Growing up in Queens, New York, Degel is the youngest of four brothers born to industrious parents and he developed his entrepreneurial spirit at an early age. As a young man Degel was involved in legal trouble and spent time in prison for cr card fraud.He was sentenced to five years in prison but was released after serving only six months due to the fact that he cooperated with the government and testified against his codefendants to shorten his sentence.
Despite this, he has turned his life around.
In 2005, he was named one of Crain"s "40 under 40" entrepreneurs in New York City. Degel opened his first restaurant, Hollywood and Main, in June 1990 in Flushing, Queens.
Today, he owns three locations in New York City. As of March 12, 2012, Degel stars in his own show entitled Restaurant Stakeout.
Foreign the series, he goes behind the scenes of different restaurants across the country with hidden cameras to examine their service problems.
He is also the author of "Inside the Mind of a Serial Entrepreneur", published by HarperCollins in May 2012. Degel appeared in the 2nd episode of Breakthrough with Anthony Robbins. Restaurant Stakeout is now in its fourth season.