Motek By The Sea has opened inside the W Fort Lauderdale, taking over the former El Vez space at 401 N. Fort Lauderdale Beach Blvd. and giving the Miami-born Mediterranean chain its first foothold in Broward County. The 12,000-square-foot restaurant seats up to 315 diners and overlooks Fort Lauderdale Beach, marking the brand's first oceanfront outpost.
The opening was first detailed by the Miami New Times, and the new location's scale was also confirmed by the Miami Herald, which reported that the space sprawls across 12,000 square feet and seats up to 315 diners. The Herald also noted that the restaurant takes over the former spot of El Vez Mexican restaurant at the hotel on Fort Lauderdale beach. Motek began in downtown Miami in 2020 and describes its menu as kosher-style, built around an Eastern Mediterranean spread served from all-day brunch through dinner.
Counting Locations, and What's On the Menu
Exactly how many Motek locations now exist depends on who's counting. The Herald describes the Fort Lauderdale restaurant as the ninth Motek in the state, while Motek's own website describes the concept as its 10th location in South Florida and the first in Fort Lauderdale and Broward County. Either way, it's new territory: a report from oftmw.com described it as the first time the team behind Motek, Yalla Motek, and Sesame Kitchen has opened anything in Broward County.
The dining room's menu leans into hot and cold mezze, labneh-based dips, hummus, kebabs, and freshly baked laffa and pita, alongside the Arayes Burger — a pita stuffed with spiced beef and grilled until crisp, which won Burger Bash two years in a row at the South Beach Wine & Food Festival, according to the Herald. Diners can also find a whole Mediterranean branzino and a crispy chicken schnitzel sandwich with harissa aioli, with takeout, delivery, and dine-in all available, plus a $5 happy hour.
Sesame Kitchen Set to Follow Next Door
Happy Corner Hospitality, the Miami-based group behind Motek, Yalla Motek, and Sesame Kitchen, plans to open two restaurants at W Fort Lauderdale in total. Sesame Kitchen is set to follow Motek in the coming weeks as an approximately 40-seat outdoor café, serving food and drinks from a custom truck with shaded seating areas featuring striped textiles and wood furnishings, per the Herald's reporting. No exact opening date has been announced.
It will be Sesame Kitchen's second location, following its original spot at Solé Mia in North Miami. The Herald reported it as a daytime casual concept with seating for about 40 diners. The café's menu is expected to include house-made croissants, bourekas, and sufganiyot, alongside specialty lattes, coffee, and hot tea, according to a report from oftmw.com.
A Shift Toward Seed-Oil-Free Kitchens
Happy Corner Hospitality says its kitchens, including Motek By The Sea, have operated without industrial seed oils since June 2025, relying instead on olive oil, avocado oil, and real butter, per the group's own account relayed by oftmw.com. The move reflects a broader ingredient shift the hospitality group has applied across its concepts rather than something unique to the new Fort Lauderdale location.
The Fort Lauderdale debut also fits into a wider wave of South Florida restaurant expansion. The South Florida Business Journal grouped Motek's move into Fort Lauderdale alongside Paris Baguette's entry into Miami as part of a broader trend of brands pushing beyond their home turf, according to a report from bizjournals.com.
