Jack's Shack closes in Glen Head

Willie Degel, host of Food Network’s “Restaurant Stakeout,” has shut his Glen Head restaurant, Jack’s Shack in Glen Head. The sustainable-style casual eatery opened in 2011, a year before Degel launched the show.

The counter-serve restaurant touted its locally grown and organic produce. When he opened Jack’s Shack, Degel said it was a prototype for a future franchise. Earlier this month, the restaurant posted on its Facebook page that it was closing “due to high rent and labor costs.”

Degel also owns two Uncle Jack’s Steakhouses (in Manhattan and Bayside, Queens) and one Uncle Jack’s Meat House (in Astoria).

On “Restaurant Stakeout,” which stopped production in 2014 after 58 episodes, Degel would install hidden cameras at struggling restaurants in order to reveal to the owners was what really going on. Among the Long Island restaurants featured were Willy Parkers  in Williston Park, Serata in Oyster Bay, Ariana and BlonDee’s Bistro in Huntington, Haven Grill in Port Washington, The Bayou in North Bellmore, Sugo Cafe in Long Beach (all since closed) and Villa Monaco in West Islip (still going strong after 48 years).