S3 Restaurant

What S3 Restaurant does

S3 Restaurant (dba S3, Sun Surf Sand, S3 — Sun, Surf & Sand) is a privately-held, upscale oceanfront table-service restaurant located at 505 N Fort Lauderdale Beach Blvd on Fort Lauderdale Beach along A1A, inside the Beach House Fort Lauderdale, a Hilton Resort. Founded in May 2013, the restaurant operates seven days per week and serves lunch, dinner, and weekend brunch alongside a Monday–Friday happy hour program. The core offering is a coastal New American and Asian-inspired menu spanning steak, seafood, sushi, craft cocktails, wine, and dessert, with the sushi program anchored by fish flown overnight from Tokyo's Toyosu Fish Market.

Revenue is generated across three streams. The primary stream is dine-in food and beverage sales across meal periods, with upsell paths through premium sushi omakase boxes, wagyu steaks, and champagne. The second stream is private events and catering, sold on food and beverage minimums tied to date and room size across six distinct event spaces — including the Private Dining Room (50 seats), Lounge (30), Ocean View Terrace (30/50 reception), Side Patio (25), Fire Pit (40), and full venue buyouts up to 300 guests — with a 50% deposit, 20% service charge, and 7% Florida sales tax. The third stream is weekday happy hour, operating 4–7 PM at the bar and fire pit with discounted small plates ($8–$14) and cocktails ($15–$17), plus a Saturday–Sunday bottomless brunch package ($26 per person for 2-hour unlimited mimosas, bellinis, or Bloody Marys).

The go-to-market motion is direct-to-consumer via walk-ins, OpenTable reservations, and a dedicated private events booking line, with brand demand generated through a Blog, Facebook, Instagram, email newsletter sign-up, and earned media coverage (Forbes, Miami New Times, Edible South Florida). Customer segments span leisure diners and tourists, wedding and rehearsal-dinner hosts, corporate event clients, and special-occasion celebrants. S3 has no proprietary technology platform; operations, reservations, and digital marketing run on standard hospitality tooling. The restaurant is led by Executive Chef Carlos Rodriguez and Sushi Chef Ped Phommavong, the latter recognized as Best Chef by Fort Lauderdale Magazine's 2025 Best Of awards. S3 holds multiple consecutive Best Beachfront Restaurant accolades (2024, 2025, 2026) and operates as part of The Restaurant People hospitality group, as indicated by its external career page.

Name

S3 Restaurant

Legal name

S3 Restaurant

Website

https://s3restaurant.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2013

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

S3 Restaurant (Sun, Surf & Sand) is a privately-held upscale oceanfront restaurant on Fort Lauderdale Beach inside the Beach Fort Lauderdale, a Hilton Resort. Since May 2013 it has served coastal New American and Asian-inspired cuisine — steak, seafood, sushi with Tokyo-sourced fish, craft cocktails, and weekend brunch — to tourists, locals, and private event hosts.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Oceanfront Restaurant Dining

NAICS

Restaurants and Other Eating Places (72251)

SIC

Retail-Eating Places (5812), Retail-Eating & Drinking Places (5810)

akta.pro primary industry

Steakhouses & Seafood Restaurants (THAFACAE)

Keywords

• Oceanfront dining
• Coastal cuisine
• Sushi restaurant
• Private events catering
• Weekend brunch

Headquarters

HQ city

Fort Lauderdale

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Supply Chain, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Dine-in Food & Beverage Sales: The primary revenue stream is table-service dining covering lunch, dinner, and weekend brunch. The menu features steak, seafood, sushi, cocktails, wine, and dessert. Revenue is generated on a per-transaction basis with per-person spend varying by meal period. Upsell opportunities include premium sushi omakase boxes, wagyu steaks, and champagne.
2. Private Events & Catering: S3 generates revenue from hosting private events including rehearsal dinners, wedding welcome dinners, birthday parties, corporate events, graduation celebrations, and holiday parties. Revenue is derived from food and beverage minimums, menu packages, and beverage packages with service charges. Full venue buyouts accommodate up to 300 guests.
3. Happy Hour: Happy hour generates incremental revenue Monday–Friday 4–7pm through discounted small plates and cocktails at the bar and fire pit areas. Menu items are priced lower than dinner menu, driving foot traffic during off-peak hours.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

S3 (Sun, Surf & Sand) is a table-service oceanfront restaurant on Fort Lauderdale Beach offering New American and Asian-inspired coastal cuisine, including fresh seafood, premium steaks, and a signature sushi program using fish flown overnight from Tokyo's Toyosu Fish Market. The restaurant serves lunch, dinner, and weekend brunch seven days a week and hosts private events (rehearsal dinners, weddings, birthdays, corporate events, holiday parties, graduations) in multiple indoor/outdoor spaces accommodating up to 300 guests for full venue buyouts.

Product overview

S3 (Sun, Surf & Sand) is an oceanfront restaurant on Fort Lauderdale Beach offering a unified dining experience centered on coastal New American and Asian-inspired cuisine. The core offering includes lunch, dinner, and weekend brunch services featuring fresh seafood, premium steaks, and signature sushi with fish sourced from Tokyo's Toyosu Fish Market. Supporting offerings include a craft cocktail program, curated wine selection, happy hour program, and comprehensive private event hosting capabilities with multiple indoor and outdoor spaces accommodating groups from intimate gatherings to events of up to 300 guests.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• S3 Restaurant Oceanfront Dining Experience Core oceanfront table-service restaurant experience on Fort Lauderdale Beach featuring New American and Asian-inspired coastal cuisine, including fresh seafood, premium steaks, and signature sushi. Open seven days a week for lunch, dinner, and Sunday brunch.
• Lunch Service Beachfront lunch menu served Monday through Friday from 11:30 AM to 4 PM, featuring fresh coastal-inspired dishes, sushi, sandwiches, and seasonal offerings with ocean views.
• Dinner Service Dinner menu featuring expertly prepared seafood, sushi, and steaks, served oceanfront with hours varying by day and extending until midnight on weekends.
• Weekend Brunch Saturday and Sunday brunch served from 10 AM to 4 PM, featuring coastal-inspired dishes and bottomless mimosas, bellinis, and bloody marys package options.
• Happy Hour Program Happy hour available Monday through Friday from 4 PM to 7 PM at the bar and fire pit areas, featuring discounted small plates ($8–$14), classic sushi rolls ($10), specialty cocktails ($15–$17), beer ($4–$9), and wine by the glass (from $13).
• Sushi Program Signature sushi bar featuring fish flown overnight from Tokyo's Toyosu Fish Market, including sashimi, nigiri, classic rolls, chef-curated signature rolls, and omakase boxes. Led by Sushi Chef Ped Phommavong.
• Craft Cocktails Handcrafted cocktail menu featuring sparkling sake refreshers, specialty cocktails, and non-alcoholic options designed to complement oceanfront dining.
• Wine Program Curated wine selection featuring sparkling, rosé, white, and red wines, including sake options selected to pair with sushi, seafood, and steak.
• Dessert Menu Dessert offerings including chocolate chip blondie ($11), yuzu cheesecake ($12), double chocolate cake ($16), three-layer coconut cake ($15), and bag of donuts ($14).
• Private Events Oceanfront private event hosting with multiple event spaces — Private Dining Room (50 seated / 50 reception), Lounge (30 seated), Ocean View Terrace (30 seated / 50 reception), Side Patio (25 seated), Fire Pit (40 reception), and full venue buyouts up to 300 guests. Used for rehearsal dinners, wedding welcome dinners, birthdays, corporate events, holiday parties, and graduation celebrations.

Quantifiable outcome

• Recognized as Best Beachfront Restaurant by Fort Lauderdale Magazine for three consecutive years (2024, 2025, 2026)
• +1 more outcomes

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Ocean Prime: National upscale steak-and-seafood chain. Comparable to S3 on premium seafood/steak menu positioning and event-driven revenue, though it operates broadly across many markets and lacks S3's beachfront/hotel-anchor differentiation.
• Mastro's Steakhouse: Multi-location upscale steakhouse chain known for premium cuts, seafood, and live music. Comparable to S3 on upscale steakhouse positioning and event/lounge programming, but a chain rather than a single beachfront destination.
• The Capital Grille: National upscale steakhouse chain with dry-aged steaks, fresh seafood, and a deep wine program. Comparable to S3 on premium steak/seafood positioning and private dining capacity, but lacks the beachfront/hotel-anchor and Asian-fusion differentiation.

Direct peers

• Casa Sensei: Asian-inspired waterfront restaurant in Fort Lauderdale. Direct peer to S3 on cuisine positioning (Asian-influenced coastal), waterfront location, and premium dine-in/boat-side experience, though it is not beachfront-oceanfront.
• Boatyard: Upscale casual waterfront restaurant in Fort Lauderdale with a seafood-forward menu and event spaces. Direct peer to S3 in geography, price point, and emphasis on scenic waterfront dining and group bookings.
• Shooters Waterfront: Long-standing Fort Lauderdale waterfront restaurant. Comparable to S3 as a destination waterfront dining venue with similar lunch/dinner/brunch service and group/private-event hosting, though more casual than S3.
• 3030 Ocean: Oceanfront restaurant inside the Fort Lauderdale Harbor Beach Marriott. Direct peer to S3: same hotel-anchor distribution model, beachfront dining on A1A, seafood-focused premium menu, and similar private-event business mix.
• Kaluz Restaurant: Waterfront upscale restaurant on the Intracoastal in Fort Lauderdale. Direct peer to S3 on waterfront dining, premium positioning, and full-service menu spanning steak, seafood, and cocktails.
• Steak 954: Upscale oceanfront steakhouse inside the W Fort Lauderdale hotel. Closest direct peer to S3: hotel-anchor location on Fort Lauderdale Beach, premium steak and seafood menu, similar full-service upscale positioning, and comparable event-hosting capability.
• YOLO (You Only Live Once): Fort Lauderdale restaurant in the Las Olas corridor. Comparable to S3 as a high-traffic, premium casual dining venue targeting locals and tourists with a broad menu, cocktails, and private events.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/S3SunSurfSand
• Instagraminstagram.com/s3sunsurfsand
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/s3-restaurant

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about S3 Restaurant