TV Restaurants

Where Is Barzola Now? Restaurant Stakeout Update (Jackson Heights, NY)

Restaurant Stakeout, Season 3 Jackson Heights, New York

Current status

Relocated

As of October 2026, gothamist.com indicates Barzola relocated to 92-12 37th Ave, Jackson Heights, NY; reviewed by our team, not yet independently confirmed.

What the source shows: A Gothamist feature published March 27, 2025 profiles Julio and Rene Barzola still running the restaurant at its Jackson Heights and Astoria locations; the Flushing address from the 2013 episode is not among the current locations. How we decide a status →

About this show's format: Described as staged/scripted by Wikipedia's article, citing a 2012 realityblurred.com report. Surface this note on every record.

What happened after Restaurant Stakeout?

In 'What Are You Servin' Here?,' Willie Degel installed hidden cameras inside Barzola, the Ecuadorian family restaurant that co-owner Rene Barzola had inherited from his parents, at its Flushing, Queens location. His surveillance turned up a staff with little grasp of the menu, poor attitudes toward customers, and inventory shortages severe enough to threaten service. At the staff meeting, Willie confronted the crew with what the cameras had recorded and pushed Rene and the family to retrain staff on the menu, reset customer-facing attitudes, and put real inventory controls in place so dishes did not run out mid-shift.

He returned later to check whether the fixes had held. In the years since, according to a Gothamist feature published in March 2025, the Barzola family, patriarch Julio and son Rene, consolidated the business into two Queens locations rather than keeping the Flushing storefront: a Jackson Heights restaurant opened in 2005 and an Astoria location followed in 2020, while an earlier Brooklyn location closed. The same feature profiles Julio and Rene still running the Jackson Heights restaurant, packed for Ecuadorian national-team soccer matches and still serving the same coastal Ecuadorian dishes. Wikipedia's article on the series notes that it has been described as scripted, citing a 2012 realityblurred.com report that questioned the show's authenticity.

The episode Restaurant Stakeout, Season 3

Episode 13
Aired
Title: What Are You Servin' Here? · What was featured: Ecuadorian family restaurant; weak menu knowledge, low inventory

Also in Season 3 Restaurant Stakeout

Season 3: 4 of 13 still open · 2 renamed, moved or under new owners

All 13 Season 3 episodes →

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Before you go: Businesses change fast. Always confirm directly with the restaurant — call ahead, or check its own current website or social media — before making plans around anything on this page.

Sources we checked 3 references

  1. Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Restaurant_Stakeout
  2. tvguide.com https://www.tvguide.com/tvshows/restaurant-stakeout/episodes-season-3/1000468382/
  3. gothamist.com https://gothamist.com/arts-entertainment/meet-the-family-behind-a-beloved-ecuadorian-american-restaurant-in-queens
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Record rs-032 · checked by Cal Marchetti.