Miami’s Burger Bash champion opens new Israeli-Mediterranean restaurant in Brickell
When it first opened in downtown Miami’s historic Seybold Building, Motek Israeli-Mediterranean restaurant faced significant hurdles. It opened during a global pandemic. Indoor dining was shut down. The restaurant didn’t even have decent signs to direct customers inside.
None of these obstacles proved permanently damaging. Now, three years later, owners Charlie and Tessa Levy have opened their fifth location of the restaurant, in Miami’s Brickell neighborhood.
The new Motek at Brickell City Centre, which replaces Est. 33 Thai Craft Brewery & Kitchen on the fourth floor, is 10,000 square feet, the brand’s largest restaurant to date and light years from the size of the small Seybold Building location that remains open.
If you’ve visited the brand’s other restaurants at the Aventura Mall or on Miracle Mile in Coral Gables, you’ll recognize the restaurant’s signature yellow accents and decorative flowers (there’s also a less atmospheric, fast-casual version of the restaurant called Yalla at the Aventura Mall’s Treats Food Hall).
“Our little cafe has grown up and evolved,” Tessa Levy told the Miami Herald earlier this year, when the Gables Motek opened.
The Brickell restaurant seats 255, with indoor and outdoor tables, and there’s also a 24-seat bar and a swanky new beverage program run by mixologist and beverage director Randy Perez. The cocktails aim to highlight the best of Israel, the Middle East and the eastern Mediterranean.
Foodwise, the menu will be familiar, with some of the items coming from Motek’s signature wood-fired oven. Expect shakshuka; hummus; other hot and cold mezzes; salads; kebabs; a killer chicken schnitzel sandwich and a variety of wraps. The Brickell restaurant is also the first Motek with its own in-house bakery, which is good news for pita fans.
Naturally, the famous Arayes burger, which has won the People’s Choice award at Burger Bash at the South Beach Wine & Food Festival the past two years, will be on the menu. Tessa Levy calls the burgers, which get their flavor from the variety of herbs in the meat, “an homage to Middle Eastern and Israeli cooking.”
The restaurant also offers vegetarian and gluten-free choices.
Owner Charlie Levy said in a statement that Motek will “elevate the area’s culinary offerings even further.”
“Sharing our concept with the dynamic community of Brickell is a significant milestone for both my wife Tessa and me,” he said. “With the community being so responsive to Motek, our team is honored to extend our presence across Miami.”
The brand is also planning to open a restaurant in Miami Beach as well as a new concept, Sesame Bakery, at the SoLé Mia development in North Miami in 2024.
Motek
Where: Brickell City Centre, 701 S. Miami Ave., Unit 412A
Hours: 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Monday-Thursday; 11 a.m.-11 p.m. Friday; 10 a.m.-11 p.m. Saturday; 10 a.m.-10 p.m. Sunday
More information: www.motekcafe.com or 786-744-5590
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