Is Mario's Tutto Bene Still Open? Restaurant Stakeout Update (Union, NJ)
Restaurant Stakeout, Season 5 Union, New Jersey
Current status
As of October 2026, Mario's Tutto Bene is listed open on Yelp, reviewed by our team on September 7, 2026; not yet independently confirmed through direct contact.
What the source shows: Yelp's business page for Mario's Tutto Bene was updated in June 2026 with continuing reviews and photos, and the restaurant's own website is currently active. How we decide a status →
- Episode Season 5, Episode 8
- Aired
- Address 495 Chestnut St, Union, NJ 07083
- Website mariostuttobene.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" season 5's "Fuggedabout Mario" (episode 8, aired July 30, 2014) took Willie Degel to Mario's Tutto Bene, a family Italian restaurant in Union, New Jersey. Food Network's episode description says owner John had taken over the restaurant from his parents seven years before filming, inheriting a business that was then 32 years old, but that the staff had become unmanageable, and the episode frames Degel's task as repairing both the operation and the family relationships strained by it. Wikipedia's article on the show notes that a 2012 realityblurred.com report concluded the program's premise of candid hidden-camera surveillance is staged and scripted.
The series' standard format has Degel plant cameras to watch the floor and kitchen unobserved, then confront the owner with the footage and prescribe changes to staffing and service discipline. Current sources show the restaurant still operating at its longtime Chestnut Street address: its official website, mariostuttobene.com, describes it as an Italian restaurant run by the Garafalo family with a private party room and weekend karaoke, and a Yelp business page for Mario's Tutto Bene was updated in June 2026, showing continued reviews and photos. The restaurant also appears on OpenTable's current reservation platform.
The episode
Also in Season 5
Season 5: 7 of 13 still open
-
Ep 4Sonrisa Grill
Open - Open
-
Ep 6Gina's Bistro
Closed - Open
-
Ep 9Red Room
Closed - Closed
- Open
-
Ep 12Brookside Grill
Closed
Nearest restaurants
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Food Paradise
Open -
Food Paradise
Relocated -
Best Thing I Ever Ate
Open -
Best Thing I Ever Ate
Open -
Man v. Food
Closed -
Bay Way Diner (Johnny Prince's Bayway Diner)
Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives
Renamed
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
- foodnetwork.com https://www.foodnetwork.com/shows/restaurant-stakeout
- Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Restaurant_Stakeout
- mariostuttobene.com https://www.mariostuttobene.com
- Yelp https://www.yelp.com/biz/marios-tutto-bene-union-3
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-053 · checked by Cal Marchetti.