Motek is officially opening its first oceanfront restaurant, and it is doing it in Fort Lauderdale: Motek By The Sea, an approximately 12,000-square-foot, 315-seat restaurant at W Fort Lauderdale, will open to the public this Thursday, November 5, as the first Motek set directly on the ocean, for a brand that started as a single neighborhood restaurant in Downtown Miami in 2020. It is also the first time the team behind Motek, Yalla Motek, and Sesame Kitchen has opened anything in Broward County, and it will not be alone for long, because shortly after, Sesame Kitchen, the group's Mediterranean-inspired all-day concept, will open an open-air outpost of roughly 40 seats right next door, built around a custom serving truck.
Happy Corner Hospitality, the restaurant group behind all three brands, is bringing the full Motek format to the hotel: an all-day menu that runs from brunch through dinner, kosher-style and 100% Seed Oil Free Certified. The name is Hebrew for "sweetheart," and the cooking draws on Eastern Mediterranean traditions.
Every concept in the group has cooked without industrial seed oils since June 2025, using olive oil, avocado oil, and real butter instead, and the group was among the first in the United States to receive the Seed Oil Free Certified seal from the Seed Oil Free Alliance. Motek By The Sea will join eight Florida locations already open in Aventura, Boca Raton, Brickell, Coral Gables, Downtown Miami, Miami Beach, Midtown Miami and South Pointe.
The menu opens on the signature hummus selections and moves through hot and cold mezzes, labneh-based dips, salads, kebabs, wraps, and burgers, with laffa and pita baked fresh. The dish to know is the Arayes Burger, a pita stuffed with spiced beef and grilled until crisp, which won the People's Choice Award at the South Beach Wine & Food Festival's Burger Bash in consecutive years. The Whole Mediterranean Branzino and the Crispy Chicken Schnitzel Sandwich with harissa aioli round out the standouts. The kitchen has already been running for takeout and delivery ahead of the November 5 dine-in launch, and there will be a $5 happy hour.
"Sitting down for a great meal while feeling the ocean breeze is priceless, an experience you simply can't replicate," said Charlie Levy, the group's founder. "That connection to the water is deeply personal to me, rooted in where I come from and reflected in the spirit of Motek."
Sesame Kitchen will follow next door as the second location for the concept, after the original at SoLé Mia in North Miami. The roughly 40 seats will be framed by tropical landscaping and layered shade, with warm wood structures, striped textiles, light furnishings, greenery, and ambient lighting for the evening, all in a pastel-hued palette. The menu follows the day from morning coffee and pastries through breakfast, brunch, lunch, and afternoon, with house-made croissants, bourekas, and sufganiyot, specialty lattes, coffee, and teas.
Motek went from one Downtown Miami restaurant in 2020 to nine Florida locations in six years, and the expansion has already crossed into New York, where Motek recently debuted on 57th Street and will open in Williamsburg in 2026. Yalla Motek will debut in NoMad this December, with more Manhattan locations in development, and Sesame Kitchen will make its next debut in Battery Park.