Mar’s
“We also couldn't pass up the happy hour oysters, plump blue points, expertly shucked, served with a great horseradish.”
“Finally the lemon burger tasted fresh and subtle on flavors (good) but lacked my meaty necessity for burgers.”
“We also had a kale salad and the steak and eggs which were very both good.”
Mar’s
Takes Reservations: Yes
Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
Bike Parking: Yes
Wheelchair Accessible: Yes
Good for Groups: Yes
Happy Hour: Yes
Outdoor Seating: Yes
Waiter Service: Yes
Price range.
$$$ Price range $31-60
8 reviews
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Probably the most romantic place for a meal in Astoria. If you're into that. Ew.
OK, perhaps it vies for most romantic with the Astor room, but with way better food. The oysters are not the cheapest (and if you want your dollar oyster fix, you may want to look up on 30th ave), and tend to stick to East Coast varieties only, but they are extremely plump, large, briny, and flavorful.
The cod croquettes are well crisped, slightly runny, and full of flavor. Excellent start.
Octopus was similarly well-cooked – tender, toothsome, and well paired with some acid and olives.
The moules frites could have had slightly plumper mussels, but that's kind of a crap-shoot either way. The frites were crispy and small like good moules accompaniments should be, and there was the right amount of fennel tones from the Pernod, and an appropriately dippy creme fraiche. It's one of those "framed" dishes that restaurants use because it's a high overhead moneymaker, but one of the rare framed dishes that's actually better than average.
The only skip/avoid I've hit on in the menu is the lobster roll, which uses a WAY too large roll to surround a WAY too small amount of lobster. This is a $22 lobster roll, max. The toppings (apple, watercress) are completely unnecessary and at odds with what a lobster roll should be, and serve only to hide the lack of lobster. A $31 lobster roll that is worth the money can be found at Pearl or Mary's Fish Camp, where you will get a tiny roll OVERFLOWING with lobster, and a pile of fries the size of your head.
But the 5 star bit is really not for the food, as good as it is. It's for the well-made, well-priced cocktails and beer (especially the cider), which you will sip at the bar or at a small table, making bedroom eyes at your date. Go, have a cocktail, have a dozen or three dozen oysters, have a cider, have another cocktail, and then go home together to make strange grunting noises that will annoy the heck out of your neighbor. Which is me. I'm your neighbor. Quiet it down there, lovebirds.
My fiance and I came here for drinks one night. My fiance had the blood moon and I believe I had the charred oak. Both were amazing. Definitely one of the best spots for cocktails in Astoria. From what I hear, the food is excellent. Great spot for a date as well. We'll be back for sure. Highly recommend!
Yea I'm a fan but I won't order octopus from here, not because the portion is small but it is quite tough. I had octopus in Italy and at the best Greek restaurant in Astoria (I bet everyone knows the name but I won't mention) and I claimed…"that's the best octopus" right there. We ordered a dozen oysters, octopus, asparagus salad, mussels and home fries. The oysters are ok, not the best but still good. I loved the homemade sauces they serve with the oysters. Octopus was a bit tough; the taste was all right. Asparagus salad was up to par. The mussels was adequate. Flavorful sauce by the way. The home fries that we thought would be different than other fries did come out different and tasteful. It's like "I'm glad to be a fries-eater" for a day. Remember that I am not a fries-eater, I don't care for it nor I want to order it, but hubby wanted to try so I let him order that and we had no regret. You should try some. The place has a decoration of an old-fashioned 1930s kind of restaurant. We enjoyed our dinner. Next time will try ordering something different. Our server of the day gave me good recommendations, we liked most of what he mentioned from the menu. All right nations, start going to Mars, don't just sit here on earth. Explore other planets. Next mission, we're going to the moon! *:)
I had this bookmarked for over a year and finally tried this place with my sister and cousin to celebrate their birthdays. First I will say the outdoor area was nice and comfortable and service was great.
Food, while great on paper, was not as amazing as I hoped. The lobster roll for $27 (as told by my sister who ordered) was sparse and average. I told her reviews for this place said it was amazing and she looked at me incredulously. For the price it better taste amazing or be oozing with lobster meat, none of which this roll had.
We also ordered cod croquettes (salty), almost 3 dozen Rocky points (good), steamed clams (super tiny portion but good flavor with chorizo), fried oysters (favorite item of the night), fish and chips (batter was weak and fell off the fish- my cousin wasn't impressed) and chocolate ganache (good).
All in all, I thought it was a decent meal but not overall memorable. Everything sounded and looked better than tasted. May come back just for oysters and wine but don't know if I would order a full dinner again.
Nice selection of oysters ($2 on Sundays and $1.50 during happy hour every other day). Great cocktails, I had the Charred Oak and my girlfriend had the French Western.
The Charred Oak was an excellent scotch cocktail that smelled like a single malt but tasted much more palatable. Would have been a better winter time drink but I enjoyed it a lot.
The French Western was a more fun summer-y fruity bourbon cocktail.
The waiter was helpful and assisted us in choosing a variety of different oysters.
We didn't stay for entrees because it's a bit pricey but this was a wonderful place to chat while sitting outside with a cocktail and enjoying a few oysters. The bar/interior is also beautiful.
It can be easily overlooked from the outside.
The inside is very charming and cozy, but we chose to sit outside.
Came here last Saturday for brunch. It was a beautiful day and ordered the lobster benedict. The presentation was nice. They should serve it with more potatoes tho.
There was a good amount of lobster in it, which I loved.
The service was good and definitely not in your face. We were not rushed at all.
Coffee was good too. Refills were offered for the drip coffee, so that was appreciated.
Glad I stopped by.
Will try coming back to check out their happy hour.
I should've known that when a place serves oysters called "Cupcakes" as their happy hour special, it's not good news. We ordered two dozen and it was a bad idea. I love oysters but this time I was just struggling to finish. It was just so briny and left a weird aftertaste in my mouth that I'm just trying to forget about.
My drink wasn't impressive either. They had interesting choices, but the quality itself was questionable. I had the "Water Lilly" which had gin, lemon juice, creme de violette and something else I can't remember. I thought I was tasting lemon flavored cough syrup.
Despite the fails at the oysters and drinks, our waitress was super amicable. And the decor is very New Orleans rustic, which I loved. But crash courses in mixology are needed.
Pretty good place for brunch in Astoria. The restaurant itself is a little small, but they do offer plenty of outdoor seating when the weather is nice. They also have a bar with seating as well.
I had the polenta and eggs but asked for the eggs to be over easy. Yolks were overcooked, but other than that.. no complaints. The polenta was a delicious, crispy triangle. And the brussel sprouts with the parmesan cream sauce really made the dish. I ended up not eating the eggs and getting a side of bacon with it.
The bacon side was a good amount for $7. We ordered two sides because we weren't sure of the size, but one was more than enough for two of us.
Coffee was strong and the service was good. Will have to come in and try the oysters because they are known for their oyster happy hour.