Mediterranean Hot Spot Motek to Replace Prime Fish in Miami Beach’s South-of-Fifth

Prime Fish, a popular restaurant in Miami Beach’s South-of-Fifth neighborhood, has closed to make way for Motek, a Miami-born Mediterranean restaurant, Commercial Observer has learned.

Restaurateur Myles Chefetz has owned the commercial space at 100 Collins Avenue since 2000, and opened Prime Fish in 2014. The upscale seafood restaurant near the southern tip of Miami Beach quickly became a local favorite.

Two months ago, the Miami Beach restaurateur quietly put out feelers to find a new operator. “We had a great 10-year run and I just felt it was time for a refreshing,” Chefetz told Commercial Observer. “I considered doing something myself — but then, of course, I stumbled upon Motek.”

While shopping at the Aventura Mall, Chefetz noticed Motek’s packed restaurant, tried it out, and in his own words, “kind of fell in love with the concept.”

Chefetz also wanted to bring a casual offering to the South Beach neighborhood after hearing complaints from residents. “This neighborhood has been flooded with high-check average restaurants in the over the $100 price point, and Motek affords an all-day eatery,” Chefetz said. 

In 2021, Major Food Group opened Carbone, which quickly became a celebrity hot spot and one of the hardest reservations to snag. In 2022, the hospitality group behind another celebrity haunt, Catch, inked a 22,000-square-foot lease in the neighborhood. Just two months ago, Gordon Ramsay’s Asian-inspired Lucky Cat restaurant opened next door to the Michelin-starred Stubborn Seed.

Motek, on the other hand, offers a $14 falafel sandwich, $18 shakshuka, and $29 beef kofta kebabs. 

Motek’s South-of-Fifth restaurant — which will include 5,000 square feet of indoor space and 2,000 square feet of outdoor space — is slated to open in September. The lease is 10 years long and includes a five-year option to extend. 

The location will mark Motek’s seventh since its founding in 2020. Owners, married couple Charlie and Tessa Levy, opened the first restaurant inside Seybold Building in Downtown Miami, where the Levys formerly ran a jewelry business. Motek’s expansion — which includes outposts at the Brickell City Center, along Coral Gables’ Miracle Mile and in Miami Beach’s Mid-Beach neighborhood — is not yet over. The couple is now scoping out space in West Palm Beach, said Charlie Levy.  

For those saddened by the closure of Prime Fish, Chefetz’s other restaurants, Prime 112, Prime Italian and Big Pink, all of which are in the South of Fifth, will remain open.

Julia Echikson can be reached at jechikson@commercialobserver.com.