Mr. Michaels loves Italian food, Lattanzi is in walking distance from 30 Rockefeller Plaza, where the show tapes, and the back room is the right size for the group.

A lot of the top chefs I knew left their restaurants and opened up storefronts and did 45-euro prix-fixe, with one choice of food. But there’s always going to be an ebb and a flow.

John Roney, who has been a waiter for over 30 years, told "GMA" the secret is the restaurant's "consistency." "The ownership is the same as it was back in 1972. The burger is the same and it's a ...