restaurantRestaurant Stakeout · Season 3, Episode 11 · Aired June 12, 2013
The Venetian Grille
Somerville, New Jersey
Yes. This one is still open.
What happened after
Italian/Continental restaurant opened by the Verdicchio family (previously ran an icon Main Street business for 30+ years); active Facebook page and current Restaurant.com listing (4.2/5, 248 reviews).
What happened on the show
The Venetian Grille stakeout set Degel on a mystery, why an Italian restaurant's once steady customers had simply disappeared from the dining room. His hidden cameras captured the Somerville room in its natural state, and as aired the footage gave him a documented look at the service and operation that might explain the empty tables. Degel's confrontation used that evidence to press the owners on what was driving people away, while his fixes brought the familiar reset of systems and standards. The episode fit the format's central promise, using surveillance to turn a vague and frightening problem, a vanished customer base, into a specific, documented account of what the room was doing wrong once no one behind the counter thought the boss was watching.
After the cameras left
The Venetian Grille is open. The Italian restaurant, opened by the Verdicchio family after a long run at an earlier Main Street business, carries an active Facebook page and a current Restaurant.com listing with a solid rating across hundreds of reviews at the West Main Street address in Somerville. The signals came largely through directory and social listings, so we hold it at moderate confidence, but they point clearly to an operating restaurant.
Sources
Confidence: medium. Last checked 2026-07-19.
What is there now
Street imagery via Google Maps. Location approximate.