Walk down the quiet stretch of Third Avenue in Gowanus, and you’ll spot a splash of neon, a swirl of color, and the kind of energy that has the tendency to stop you in your tracks. Who is this beacon of neon? Café Mars. A restaurant that doesn’t just break the rules of Italian dining, it writes its own playbook.

“Fun – that’s the goal,” says Paul, co-founder and creative force behind Café Mars. “If people like the food and drinks, that’s a bonus. We want guests and our team to feel better when they leave than when they walked in.” It sounds simple, but the layers of intention and innovation, behind this Gowanus destination run deep.

From Izakaya Dreams to Italian Reimagined

Café Mars didn’t start out as Café Mars. In fact, the concept was born from Paul’s obsession with Japanese izakayas. “For two years, I looked for a space to open an Italian-ish version of a Japanese tavern,” he says. “I’ve always loved Japanese food and its philosophy, but during COVID, I stumbled on this spot and it changed everything.”

The location felt serendipitous. It’s just across the street from where Paul’s great-grandfather lived after immigrating from Italy in 1901. “That connection made me rethink the concept,” he explains. “I didn’t want to lose the Japanese influence we’d developed, but I wanted it to be undeniably Italian—just not the Italian everyone expects.”

The result? A menu that embraces the totality of Italian food while blending influences from all over the globe: Brooklyn, Japan, Ethiopia, New Orleans, and beyond. “Italian culture has had avant-garde movements in art, architecture, and design for decades,” Paul says. “But in food? Not so much. We wanted to explore that side of Italian cuisine—progressive, playful, deeply rooted but forward-thinking.”

Interior Photographed by Nick Glimenakis

A Menu That Asks, “Why Not?”

So what does that look like on a plate? “Take our parmesan-cured crudo,” Paul says. “It’s the heart of Café Mars.” The dish was born from a chart of naturally occurring glutamates, the compounds that create umami, duh. “Parmesan ranked higher than beef, miso, even seaweed,” Paul recalls. “Curing fish in miso is traditional in Japan, so we thought, why not Parmesan? It breaks the taboo of no cheese with seafood—and it’s delicious.”

From there, the team layered in a sauce typically used for cooking fish and paired it with an inversion of acqua pazza, a rustic Italian fisherman’s broth. “We used dashi instead of seawater for a more oceanaic taste,” he says. “It’s this intersection of Italian tradition, Japanese technique, and modern creativity—all in one bite.”

This curiosity-driven approach has produced over 200 unique dishes in just two years. The menu changes constantly, sometimes to highlight fleeting seasonal ingredients like baby corn that lasts only two weeks, other times to rebalance the overall flow. “But the rule is always the same: delicious first,” Paul says. “A lot of kitchens chase novelty. We chase flavor. We want guests to look at a dish and think, ‘That’s way less weird than I expected.’”

Drinks That Speak the Same Language

The beverage program mirrors the menu’s ethos: seasonal, surprising, and rooted in storytelling. “Summer is for long, fizzy drinks and fresh herbs. Winter is for deeper, moodier flavors,” Paul explains. The wine list focuses on Italian producers, New York State vineyards, and Italian grapes grown elsewhere. Cocktails lean creative, with eight original signatures and a handful of underappreciated classics. Expect to see expertly made Midori Sours alongside a perfect Manhattan or The Shop team’s personal favorite – the Giardiniera Martini.

“Jake Reilly, our beverage manager, takes the same approach as the kitchen,” Paul says. “House-made ingredients, thoughtful pairings, and drinks that make sense because they’re delicious, not because they’re trendy.”

Design: Italian, But Make It Mars

The Café Mars aesthetic is impossible to ignore. At first glance, guests are treated to a colorful and futuristic, that is actually unmistakably Italian (even if your reference point for Italian design is an Olive Garden – no shade here, just context). “The mood board was a little wild,” Paul laughs. “Art Nouveau, Amalfi Coast, Memphis Milano, Futurism. We knew there was a common thread, but we weren’t sure how it would work—until our design team pulled it together.”

The result is a space that feels both playful and refined: neon accents, sculptural light fixtures, custom-built tables with hidden silverware drawers (their curves trace the letters in the Mars logo), and an original painting by Paul’s wife’s company, Leroy’s Place. Even the back dining room hides design gems: mushroom mycelium light fixtures that have actually been grown, not built, special for the space.

And then there’s the welcome splash: a signature gesture designed to shake guests out of their day and into the moment. “It’s a little drink, a hello, a way of saying, ‘Relax, you’re here now,’” Paul says. “Hospitality should feel generous. It should feel fun.” Good luck getting the cutest glass when they come to your table for it though (hint – it is the blue one).

Artichoke Raviolo Photographed by Patrick Dolande

Why Gowanus? Community Over Competition

For Paul, Gowanus wasn’t just a practical choice, it was personal. “This neighborhood has always been special to me,” he says. “It’s historically Italian, it’s creative, and it’s one of the last parts of Brooklyn where the hospitality community feels like a community. If your ice machine breaks, three neighbors will offer to help. That doesn’t necessarily happen in the East Village.”

That camaraderie matters in a destination neighborhood like Gowanus, where regulars are everything. “You can’t rely on endless foot traffic or tourists here,” Paul explains. “You have to earn loyalty. That means being the kind of place people want to come back to, over and over.”

And sometimes, that loyalty runs deeper than he ever imagined. “Two gentlemen in their late 70s, early 80s come in all the time,” Paul says. “They grew up on this block, worked at Mary’s Deli—this very space—when it was a grocery store. Now they’re sitting in a neon booth, eating our Jellolives, and loving it. That blows my mind.”

What’s Next for Café Mars?

If the past two years are any indication, expect the unexpected: more seasonal creations, more inventive cocktails, and more moments that remind guests why dining should feel like play. “This is a huge creative outlet for us,” Paul says. “But it’s also a business. To survive, you have to make people happy. For us, that means fun, flavor, and hospitality that feels personal.”

When asked to sum up Café Mars in one sentence, Paul doesn’t hesitate: “Italian, but different—and a whole lot of fun.”