Food
28 JANUARY 2018 I LIC COURIER I www.qns.com
BY ANGELA MATUA
AMATUA@QNS.COM
Astoria residents will now be able to
feast on quality steak with the opening
of Uncle Jack’s Meat House.
Queens native Willie Degel opened his
second Meat House Location on Dec. 4 at
36-18 Ditmars Blvd. Degel also owns and
operates three Uncle Jack’s Steakhouse
locations, including one in Bayside, which
made its debut in 1996; the West Side,
which opened in 2003 and a Midtown
location, which had its grand opening
in 2004.
The restaurants were named after De-gel’s
godfather, who owned a steakhouse
and speakeasy in Manhattan in the 1920s.
Diners can choose from options such as
steak burgers, U.S.D.A. steaks and cuts,
sandwiches, salads and offerings from
the charcuterie station.
Dessert options include the “Baking
Bad” scratch cookie plate, “O.M.G. It’s
Huge” coconut cream pie and the fudge
brownie soufflé.
Degel also had his own show on the
Food Network called “Restaurant Stake-out”
where he would travel to different
restaurants and install hidden cameras
to identify service issues. Degel would
then call staff meetings to address these
issues. The show lasted for four seasons
from 2012 through 2014.
Celebrities, sports stars and politicians,
including former Mayor Rudy Giuliani, have
visited his steakhouse locations and Degel
previously had a partnership with Madison
Square Garden to get naming rights to a
steak sandwich stand in the arena.
In addition to his steakhouse and meat
house chains, Degel operates Jack’s
Shack Organic Eatery on Long Island,
which serves all-natural burgers, salads,
tacos and fruit smoothies. His steak
sauces — Uncle Jack’s Steak Sauce,
BBQ Sauce, Sesame Teriyaki Sauce and
Lemon Grass Ginger Sauce — are avail-able
in 3,000 gourmet stores, according
to his website.
The Astoria location is open on Sun-days
through Wednesdays from 4 to 11
p.m. and Thursdays through Saturdays
from 4 p.m. to midnight.
Uncle Jack’s
Meat House
Photos courtesy of Uncle Jack’s Meat House
