Mediterranean Eatery Motek Takes Over Greenwich Village Figaro Space

Only three things in life are certain: death, taxes, and Mediterranean restaurant Motek opening yet another New York City outlet in 2025.

The popular Miami-based eatery — which emphasizes healthy ingredients, including the absence of seed oils — announced its fifth new outlet in the city this year and its fourth in Manhattan with the signing of a 15-year lease for 3,900 square feet at Greenwich Village’s 184 Bleecker Street, former home of Café Figaro. 

Carolina Aziz and Samuel Chera of KSR represented the tenant, Motek parent company Happy Corner Hospitality Group. The landlord, David Gleitman, founder and managing principal at Targo Capital Partners, represented himself. 

In a sign of just how quickly Motek is seeking to expand throughout New York City, Charlie Levy, founder of Happy Corner Hospitality Group, was presented with the option for the location just six days before signing the lease, according to a Motek spokesperson.

“This was my go-to spot when I was younger, and bringing Motek here feels like closing the circle,” Levy said in a statement. “It’s a privilege to revive a corner that has always embodied the city’s creative, communal spirit.”

The new Motek will open in January.

The asking rent was unavailable. Commercial Observer reported that a March 2025 lease for another new Greenwich Village eatery, Chubby Bowls, had an asking rent of $130 per square foot.

The New York Post was first to report the new Motek lease.

Just two weeks ago, as CO reported, Motek announced a lease signing for 6,700 square feet at 60 West 57th Street, former home of Rue 57. 

Happy Corner announced two other new Motek outlets in August — one on Manhattan’s Upper West Side, at the Arthouse Hotel at 2178 Broadway, and one in Brooklyn at 168-170 Wythe Avenue in Williamsburg, as CO reported.

And, all the way back in April 2025, CO reported Motek’s announcement of its first New York City outlet, at 928 Broadway in the Flatiron District. The chain has seven locations in South Florida.

Targo Capital Partners, as 186 Bleecker Property Owner, purchased the latest Motek location — a 9,344-square-foot, five-story building with eight residential units on the upper floors — from a partnership of five different LLCs for $14.5 million in 2022, according to public records. The building also uses the address 186 Bleecker Street.

Le Figaro Café, as it was originally known, opened in 1957, and became a well-known hangout for the beats and folkies who made the area legendary throughout the 1950s and 1960s, with regular patrons that included Jack Kerouac, Lenny Bruce, Allen Ginsberg, Bob Dylan, Lou Reed, Sam Shepard and Al Pacino, according to the cafe’s website.

The cafe closed in 2008, then reopened in a reimagined fashion as Café Figaro in 2022.

Its new incarnation would not be as distinguished as its first, however.

According to a legal decision filed in August 2025 and available for reading on the Justia website, relations between the owners of Café Figuro and Targo Capital Partners hit a number of roadblocks, leading to dueling lawsuits and Café Figuro’s eventual eviction from the property.

Representatives for KSR, Targo Capital Partners and Café Figaro did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Larry Getlen can be reached at lgetlen@commercialobserver.com.