Is Beso Still Open? Restaurant Stakeout Update (Brooklyn, NY)
Restaurant Stakeout, Season 4 Brooklyn, New York
Current status
As of October 2026, Beso is open — confirmed via the restaurant's current website/social account, accessed September 2026.
What the source shows: The business's own website shows current hours, an active online-ordering system, and a live Labor Day 2026 promotion, indicating ongoing operation. How we decide a status →
- Episode Season 4, Episode 5
- Aired
- Address 370 Lewis Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11233
- Now called Brooklyn Beso Restaurant & Bar
- Website brooklynbeso.com
- Show map
© OpenStreetMap contributors © CARTO
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?
"Restaurant Stakeout" host Willie Degel used hidden cameras to watch daily service at Beso, a Latin American and Caribbean restaurant that had opened in 2011 in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn. Consistent with the show's format, the surveillance focused on how the front-of-house team treated guests, at a point when the restaurant's food was drawing customers but its customer-service reputation was suffering. After revealing himself to ownership, Degel is understood to have pushed the staff toward steadier, more attentive service and better communication between the kitchen and the floor.
Wikipedia's article on the show, citing a 2012 realityblurred.com report, describes Restaurant Stakeout's surveillance-and-intervention format as staged and scripted rather than a genuine unannounced investigation. Separately, Beso's owners, Edwin and Donna Drakes, have described 2013 as a turning point: a fire forced a six-week closure that began the day after this episode aired, and Donna Drakes has said the owners used that downtime to overhaul hiring and refocus on customer service, addressing the same complaints that had been the show's premise. The restaurant, now branded Brooklyn Beso Restaurant & Bar at the same Lewis Avenue address, has continued operating for more than a decade since, and its own website shows current hours, an active online-ordering system, and a live Labor Day 2026 promotion.
The episode
Also in Season 4
Season 4: 3 of 13 still open · 1 renamed, moved or under new owners
- Renamed
-
Ep 2Sugo Cafe
Closed - Closed
-
Ep 490 Park
Closed - Closed
- Closed
- Open
-
Ep 9A Plate of Soul
Closed
Nearest restaurants
-
Best Thing I Ever Ate
Closed -
Best Thing I Ever Ate
Open -
Peaches Shrimp & Crab (Peaches Grand)
Food Paradise
Renamed -
Best Thing I Ever Ate
Open -
Food Paradise
Closed -
Best Thing I Ever Ate
Open
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
- brooklynbeso.com https://brooklynbeso.com/
- caribbeanlife.com https://www.caribbeanlife.com/bedford-stuyvesant-bistro-bounces-back-from-newbie-woes/
- Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Restaurant_Stakeout
- realityblurred.com https://www.realityblurred.com/realitytv/2012/03/food-network-restaurant-stakeout-fake/
We work hard to keep every status accurate and dated, but restaurants change fast and our sources aren't perfect. If something here is wrong — a status, a name, an address, anything — tell us what you're seeing and where you saw it, and we'll check it.
Record rs-037 · checked by Cal Marchetti.