 This entry refers to a departed business that has closed or left town. All information here is for historical reference only. |
Image not provided by restaurant 
A painting hanging somewhere in the restaurant.
| Location |
| 2171 Cowell Blvd. #F, in Oakshade Town Center |
| Hours |
| OUT OF BUSINESS |
| Owner |
| Sam Chimera |
| Established |
| March 3, 2010 |
| Went Bankrupt and Closed |
| March 25, 2011 |
Mermaids Seafood & Grill was a seafood restaurant located where Fins Market & Grill used to be. They aimed to offer comfort seafood in a casual grill atmosphere. There was a bar with a lighted counter and nine televisions. There was also an outdoor patio. They used to have live music in the courtyard that they shared with Dos Coyotes.
Their food varied widely. Some of it was very tasty, but some of the dishes were quite lackluster. They listened to feedback from their customers here on the wiki, having replaced their iceberg salads with romaine after getting negative reviews about the original salads.
The atmosphere was nice, the service seemed to be quite friendly, and it had a bar that stayed open until 2. A couple of commenters have noted that the decor (near-naked mermaids on the walls) may be a little on the adult side for families with young children. For those without small children, though, the decor was great!
Want avoid trouble while eating and/or drinking here? Check out the Bar Taboos page before entering.
Photos
An image of the bar (image provided by restaurant) 
An image of one of their dishes (image provided by restaurant) 
An image of one of their dishes (image provided by restaurant) 
An image of the bartenders (their mermaid tails are below the bar) 
An image of one of their dishes (image provided by restaurant) 
An image of one of their dishes (image provided by restaurant) 
Sampler: Calamari,crab cake, calm strips,french fries(image provided by Elizabeth Barthel) 
Ciopinno:Shrimp,Mussels,clams, cod crab legs in a light broth(image provided by Elizabeth Barthel)
2010-03-06 16:37:51 Tried it Thursday night. Food was so-so. Had fried fish and the halibut. Halibut was good, fried fish "sampler" was greasy and one of the selections was just not the best cut of fish (catfish was good, though). French fries were very ordinary —and greasy. Would give it another try as they settle in, but not until they remedy the "strobe light" effect in the main dining room. Same issue I had at Fin's. They've got a large ceiling fan suspended below the recessed lighting in a very tall ceiling. The effect is a constant strobe that is annoying to the extreme. My family couldn't stand it when we encountered it at our only visit to Fin's, and I can't believe I'm the only one to complain about it. Other than that the service was good. Of course, we had to suffer one more waiter who asked "Is everything tasting okay?". My sensory organs were "tasting" just fine, and some of the food tasted fine, too, but it wasn't "tasting"!! Next time I hear that I'll have to remember to reply "I don't know, I didn't ask it!" —twotired
2010-03-06 17:02:46 I really like this place! We have gotten the clam chowder, which is delicious, as well as the blackened fish (I had mahi-mahi), which was also excellent. Today for brunch I had the eggs Benedict, which I thoroughly enjoyed. The staff is friendly and helpful, and very attentive. —JoePomidor
2010-03-08 00:32:14 This place is delicious! I've been there every day since they opened and I've liked everything I had. Food is awesome, servings are large and you can't find a more friendly staff anywhere. Most items are $10 or less. I would recommend this place to any of my friends. —kingjesse2
2010-03-08 01:26:02 This place is great. I highly recommend the blackened mahi-mahi sandwich and the clam chowder. The chowder is really thick and filling and has a bread bowl option. Most menu items are less than $10, and a pint of draft beer is $3. The plate size is pretty large and this is one of the few places in davis with good clam strips and calamari. They have a brunch with breakfast items on the weekends (the crab cake eggs benedict is amazing!). Best of all is the service, with the friendliest staff in town. —Meric
2010-03-10 11:26:06 I work at Mermaid's and can say the food is pretty awesome! Come check us out :) —michaelgrippi
2010-03-10 19:24:45 I have enjoyed my time spent here. The staff is friendly, the food is great, and the prices are reasonable. The crab was really good. Prepared just right. My only request is to have an offering of lobster for dinner. —Sherri
2010-03-11 09:24:02 I've been there several times in the past week and a half — the food has been excellent (especially the seafood sandwiches) and the prices are reasonable. The kitchen is open until really late so a good place to go for some good food when other businesses have long since closed! —cfb
2010-03-12 21:51:28 I agree with the first comment. I ordered the fried fish "sampler". It was greasy and ordinary. Three pieces of greasy fish fillet over a bed of greasy soft fries. I don't think I will eat there again. —MeaganSC
2010-03-12 22:01:35 I tried this place for the first time, and I am very disappointed, I order the ribeye and crab... The serving size was small. The food was not tasty. I spend 20 bucks! I could have gone to Bistro or Burger and Brew and had a better time. I wanted this place to be awesome but I was let down... —jackjack
2010-03-13 14:54:53 Update: I just had the Cajun Chicken Salad, and it was also delicious. It comes over mixed greens with lots of ranch sauce, so I think I'll try to get it over a Caesar next time, since that is my preferred salad. Nonetheless, one of the better salads I've had in a while, and the Cajun seasoning on the chicken, which was very much like blackening seasoning, was absolutely wonderful. —JoePomidor
2010-03-14 02:24:49 I love it! Wow, place has a great bar. Open late, very friendly staff and great atmosphere. They truly do appreciate their customers and it shows. I'll be going back. This is just what South Davis needed! —NathanielVigeant
2010-03-15 15:52:51 Kind of excited, a bar within walking distance from my house! Although that location is totally cursed for businesses... Hope this sticks around. =) —TrishAng
2010-03-17 01:57:43 Easily the best clam chowder in the area. —deanswift
- Also, practically the only clam chowder in the area. :) —TomGarberson
- I ordered clam chowder at Burgers and Brew once. I think a few other places in the area serve clam chowder as well. —hankim
- I think Sudwerk has it. —cp
- Since you said "area" rather than town, Denny's has it as well. I'd imagine on Friday, quite a few places have it. -jw
2010-03-17 12:00:42 I ate here on 3-15-10. I had the beer batter sampler ( 2 shrimp, 2 scallops, 1 medium pice of cod, cole slaw and criss cut fries. My wife had the blackened catfish sandwich (came with cole slaw, and fries or salad). Avoid the house salad, it is nothing special just your basic lettuce blend from a bag- a little wilted. Go for the fries, the criss cut fries are very good. The beer batter is quite tasty, I really enjoyed the shrimp (too bad I only got 2). Blackened catfish was good but I would have liked more spice. Service was very nice and attentive, our server was obviously getting used to their system because the place is so new. Overall I will go back here, nice selection of beers on tap. The decor here is very nice they have lots of mermaid paintings and nautical themed bathrooms. The bar is pretty cool the way it is lit from underneath. —DagonJones
2010-03-21 20:40:13 I came here for the first time this evening. The decor is interesting with various paintings on the walls ,but the atmosphere is very nice, they have indoor, bar, and outdoor seating. I started with the sampler $9.99 which was good, the crab cakes were on the smaller side and deep fried, but they were nice and plump and tasty. The hush puppies were good as was the calamari. I had the Ciopinnio for my entree $14.99. It was good, but I probably would not order it again since the broth is not a typical Ciopinno broth I like, but the flavor is unique. Please see photos above. This place has a nice atmosphere and the staff is very friendly and obviously cares about the customers. I was dining solo this evening so I interacted with the staff a lot. Sam(the owner) is very accommodating and listens to suggestions. He is a great manager. Bri was fun to talk and interact with. The only downside so far I saw was the service was a bit on the slow side and the staff was not as informed on the dishes as I would of liked, when I asked if they had tried a certain dish most said no and I asked about three or four staffers until finally Sam gave me an answer. Their grand opening is scheduled for April 10th so I look forward to attending and adding to my review. I will be excited to try dessert nex ttime:The Neptune King or Choc Decadence looked tasty. —ElizabethBarthel
2010-03-22 15:03:40 My family was there on a Saturday night, and the clientele seemed to be families and senior citizens. However, the atmosphere - entering through the bar, the bartender ringing the bell loudly (scaring kids and the elderly) when people come in - was at odds with the diners. I ordered a blended margarita, but alas they have no blender. My son had a kiddie meal, which comes in a paper boat decorated with skeletons. —NoelBruening
2010-03-26 20:27:31 I love this place, the fish and chips are delicious, they are the perfect blend of crispy greasy goodness and a good price too! I haven't tried the clam chowder yet, but I have heard it is amazing. —sajimison
2010-03-26 21:19:03 Just got back from dinner and was impressed with both the excellent wait staff and (for the most part) the food. Had the calamari appetizer (good amount of rings and tentacles—very important to me to have tentacles), the kids split a popcorn shrimp plate/boat (extra toy for the other child was a nice courtesy), and the parents had the beer batter platter and mixed steamer. I liked the platter since you could actually taste the beer in the beer batter. The mixed steamer was tasty, though we felt the offerings were a tad sparse given the price. The wait staff was very attentive and never let our drinks run dry for long (including the kids' juices, which often get neglected). —KevinChin
2010-03-28 20:36:41 Just got back from dinner here with the wife and a couple of friends. All in all, I'd say atmosphere and service were great, while the food was just so-so. All of the staff were extremely friendly and seemed genuinely happy. The decor is great—very mermaidy, very colorful, and all in all conducive to a very pleasant atmosphere. When we arrived there was a live band on the patio, which was quite entertaining, but way too loud for dinner conversation. We sat inside, though, so it wasn't a problem. The sound proofing is actually quite amazing. I could barely hear them enough to pick out the tune while the nearby door was closed, but whenever someone opened it we were pretty well blasted. A nice touch for them might be to pipe music from bands in to the inside speakers... but at a moderate volume.
The food itself was just OK. I had the blackened catfish sandwich and enjoyed it. At only $7.99 it's a pretty good deal for a decent sized, pretty tasty meal. A little more spice wouldn't have hurt, but the catfish was well cooked, not too greasy, and came with some lettuce, tomato, and onion. It also came with criss-cut seasoned fries which were really good.
My wife ordered the Combination Louie, if I recall the name correctly. I think it was a crab, shrimp, and scallop louie. The seafood itself was good and in good quantity, and the louie sauce was fine, but the salad it came on was horrible. It was literally iceberg lettuce from a bag. Its source was quite obvious, because it had those itty bitty shreds of red cabbage and bits of carrot that you find in the lowest quality bagged salads at the grocery store. Would it kill them to at least use a spring mix? It had a couple wedges of tomato which looked like they were probably as terrible as the tomato slice that came with my sandwich—not remotely ripe. It also had some slices of avocado, which was a nice touch.
All in all, we'll try it again sometime. It seems like a fun place. Neither of us will be ordering anything remotely salad-like there, though, unless they seriously fix it up. They need to do some serious shopping in a produce department, because I would expect better salad at a Denny's. —TomGarberson
2010-04-02 17:52:03 A pleasant surprise. I was not expecting much when I saw that there was a Sea Food Restaurant in Davis. So imagine my surprise when I went in for the first time and saw that it was this awesome set up, you could be seated restaurant style or be served lounge style, The food that I ordered was well above average in quality and the service was top notch. If there was a downside to the restaurant it was that the seafood portion of the menu was rather small for a place called Mermaids. Other than that I would highly recommend eating drinking and or socializing here. I will be a return customer for a long time. Thank you mermaids for bringing some decent seafood to the area. Just please add little more seafood to the menu. Oh and the Oysters are wicked good.
2010-04-06 22:07:56 Good experience, but the atmosphere was too adult for the children. Pricey but otherwise well presented food. —klent
2010-04-07 11:56:40 Hey All, Michael here from Mermaid's. Just an FYI we listened to your comments and changed our Salads. All our Salads are predominantly Romaine lettuce now, not iceberg :) Enjoy! —michaelgrippi
- That's great to hear, Michael! Thanks for listening. Just one of the many things I love about the wiki. We'll have to swing by and try out some of the new salads. —TomGarberson
2010-04-07 12:07:00 But isn't it "traditional" to put Louie salads on iceberg lettuce? —NoelBruening
- Actually, for what it's worth, Wikipedia suggests Romaine (or butter lettuce) is standard, whether or not it's traditional. —TomGarberson
2010-04-07 15:56:24 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Sam Chimera Mermaid’s Seafood & Grill 2171 Cowell Blvd, Suite F Davis, Ca 95616 Phone: 530-750-2150 http://www.mermaidsdavis.com [email protected] Grand Opening for Mermaid’s Seafood and Grill to be held on Saturday, April 10th from 12noon – 9:00 pm. Mermaid’s Seafood & Grill - 2171 Cowell Blvd Suite F Davis Ca 95616 announced today that they are celebrating their Grand Opening on Saturday, April 10th 2010 with live music entertainment and food / drink specials all day. Located in the Oakshade Town Center in South Davis, Mermaids offers comfort Seafood dining and a full service lounge experience. The menu features several affordable Seafood options and a selection of sandwiches, hamburgers and steaks. Brunch is also offered from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Sundays.
Owner Samuel Chimera has transformed a strip-mall location into a nautically influenced modern atmosphere from the ocean-themed back-lit bar to the dark blue walls filled with paintings from local Artists.
The Restaurant/bar also boasts a state of the art sound and visual system. They offer both indoor and outdoor dining.
Opened daily for lunch, happy hour and dinner they also transform into Mermaid’s Acoustic Lounge after 9pm featuring various local jazz, reggae and modern musicians and bands.
For information: http://www.mermaidsdavis.com or Contact: [email protected] Phone: 530-750-2150
2010-04-07 17:05:17 I went here Tuesday night. We ordered the clam chowder, mahi mahi sandwich and the halibut. My husband ordered the catfish. Our drinks tasted watered down and although the restaraunt itself had great decor... I felt that our food was beyond subpar- The clam chowder contained barely any clam meat and our fish was burnt. When I politely told the server about our drinks and food she brought out new dishes which tasted the same! What's worse is the restaraunt did not apologize or compensate for anything on our bill. When I came to the shopping center the next day to run to the bank, there was vomit on the ground that they failed to clean up and I saw a couple of cockroaches right near it. If you want pub food, vomit, germs and weak drinks then this is the place for you... —alice3232
2010-04-09 13:43:18 Went yesterday right when their dinner hour started. Ordered the Catfish sandwich, the seafood grill combo, and the seafood sampler appetizer. The catfish sandwich was pretty good, especially with the criss cut fries, and the sampler came in a large portion with a variety of seafood and dipping sauces, hush puppies, and cole slaw. The seafood combo with the scallop, salmon, and halibut was extremely... mediocre. For the price you pay relative to the other things, it was pretty pricey. It's essentially 3 pieces of seafood on a bed of storebought mashed potatoes with a balsamic vinegar sauce. Not that great for 16.99.
The service was amazing (maybe because we went at 5PM), and our waitress was friendly and insightful. —dchao
2010-04-10 17:46:00 food is ok. Their drinks seemed VERY watered down though, especially their mojitos. The bartender made it over again and it still tasted bad! Better off getting a mojito at Bistro. —lisame
2010-04-12 09:51:28 Food is pretty damned good. My kids had popcorn shrimp and chicken nuggets - and the shrimp was EXCELLENT. Grilled ahi was good, but could have been rarer for my taste. Prawn skewer is fantastic.
They need to control the smoking on the patio and surrounding areas though. What was an otherwise good meal (which included some terrific live music) was pretty much ruined by the noxious odor from the smoking. Staff tried to police it, but to no avail. Such a shame.
2010-04-12 23:34:42 I love this bar! I'll follow Navit and Courtney wherever they work and Sam made a great choice hiring them. I love sitting at the tropical bar, having a delicious cocktail, and trying new items on the menu. So far, my favorites are the shrimp louis salad and the jambalaya. My sister liked the clam chowder and the crab cakes, but there's still so much to try. —JoanneB
2010-04-21 11:12:41 Went there yesterday for lunch. Had the Mahi Mahi sandwhich. The fish was cooked perfectly, but kind of bland. Maybe more sauce. I actually added the coleslaw which I remembered from a great sandwhich I recently had in Arcata. That really made a difference. Service was great as always. A little surprised that there were only 4 other tables at 12:30 though. —LokiAbbi
2010-05-06 14:53:15 I wanted to go several times before writing a review. Still, my opinion is mixed. I will admit that I missed Fins and was very glad to see a new restaurant in here. Decor: I actually, think they've done a pretty good job with this. The tables in the bar are interesting and I do think that the lighting and mermaid theme is unique. There is a great outdoor patio. The lighting issue mentioned by some reviewers was not noticeable to me. I'm not a huge fan of the TVs everywhere but my husband is. :) Food: I don't care for fried food. There is a bit too much of that on the menu, but truthfully, there are other items to enjoy. I loved the blackened catfish sandwich when they first opened but I think they changed the bread and I've been disappointed the last couple of times. The steamers were tasty but too, TOO tiny. The ahi sandwich was very good. If you like mac and cheese—ORDER IT. Its not my style but its an amazing presentation and my family members loved it. All in all, I would give the food mixed reviews but am going to keep coming—it takes a while to open a restaurant and figure out what works. It is clear that the owner has put a lot of thought in this and I'm sure it will evolve. BAR: Herein lies my beef. I feel as though they are really trying to cultivate a bar or bar-like atmosphere. From many years of being in food service, I know that's profitable. However, I would really hate to see them become the "bad neighbors" that Dukes once was. South Davis doesn't need the drunks nor the mess that a bar can bring. (Dukes sure did!) We were in Mermaids on a Sunday afternoon and there was a VERY loud group on the patio. They kept ordering shots as they became more obnoxious. I would have loved to stay, sip my wine and relax but it was just not the right environment. People were coming in for dinner and were seated right by them. I mentioned to our server that one of the women was too drunk and shouldn't be served but she was served anyway (I believe by the bartender.) I just hope this place keeps the focus on the food and that they are GOOD neighbors! I do want to add that they have a good selection of beer and a full bar. This can be good—but let's just not let the place get full of drunks! :) SERVICE: The service has always been excellent. I'm VERY picky about this and haven't ever been disappointed. Ki (not sure of the spelling-pronounced key) is particularly personable.
All in all, I'm very glad they are there. The owner seems like a good guy and I sense that they will do well as long as they are good neighbors. Davisites are extremely loyal...but you have to be a good neighbor to have a successful neighborhood business here. —toriac
2010-05-08 17:18:03 I went there with 2 other people, and waited about 20 minutes without ever getting any water or a waiter coming to our table, so we left. There weren't that many tables filled, about 3 others. Instead of the staff serving us, we saw the waiters talking and laughing to each other by the kitchen, leaning on the bar. Unreal and never going back again. —Sephiroth
2010-05-22 14:22:36 VERY DISAPPOINTED AT THE SERVICE!!
Went here with my boyfriend, around 6pm on Friday. the problems started when we walked in. thought the place was pretty small as it was a narrow room with a bar along the length of it with just a handful of tall tables. Stood around the door wondering if we were supposed to seat ourselves or to wait for a host, but after about 8minutes of standing around awkwardly, a guy (found out he was the owner later) who was sitting at the bar with a woman told us we could just walk down to the end of the room and the host will seat us—apparently there was another room in the back, a bigger room, but still very small. The hostess said they were completely full and that we could sit at the tall tables in the bar area if we wanted. We didn't mind, so we picked a table and sat by the bar. the host gave us our menus and walked away. after about 10 minutes of looking at my menu, i had several questions and NO server or waitstaff was to be found. no one even asked us for our drink orders! two guys walked into the bar and they were greeted by the guy who was sitting at the bar and we figured he was the owner since he was telling them about the place and the decor. He then sat his buddies at the table next to us and he came over to our table and asked if we had been helped. and i let him know that i had a bunch of questions about the menu and nobody ever came around to check on us. they had a daily special for each day, but for fri-sun, it was 'ask the chef what the special is' so i asked the owner what the special was for the day. he looked at the menu as if it was the first time he's seen it. he then said he'll just personally ask the chef because he's the owner. and he walked back to the bar and apparently the chef was sitting next to the woman from the bar. he showed the chef a menu and was whispering to him. the chef (also looked like it was the first time he's seen the daily special menu) looked at it very briefly, put the menu aside and returned chatting it up with the woman at the bar, while the OWNER went back to chatting with his buddies. i waited for a few more minutes and picked up my menu and walked down to the room and asked the hostess to seat us in the dining area.
I WAS TOTALLY IGNORED: 1. by the waitstaff, nobody ever came around to take our orders or to even check up on us 2. by THE OWNER himself, as owner, he should've been over the top accommodating to his customers. but once we walked in, he let us stand around like idiots for a long while before he told us to walk down. not even a greeting. and then he preceded to flake on us when i asked about the menu. he never got back to me! 3. by the head chef! he COMPLETELY blew off my question! he just threw the menu aside and went back to the lady.
-as OWNER AND CHEF, they should NOT be sitting around a bar chatting with their friends and ignoring their customers. I'd give the service an F.
when we were seated in the dining area, i definitely let the hostess know how i felt. and she quickly threw a server our way and i asked AGAIN what the hell the FRiday special was and what another dish consisted of. he had to go ask around for the special before he came back to tell me that they had just started this daily special menu a couple days ago and that there weren't any specials yet. i was NOT satisfied. after about 15 minutes of sitting around waiting for service, i DID NOT like that answer. we finally ordered the cioppino, bucket o' junk, and the blackened catfish sandwich. the orders came in about 10 minutes and i was actually very good.
overall: DECOR: very nice. there were many mermaid paintings and the atmosphere was very nice. FOOD: VERY good. the bucket o' junk was just a bucket of fried things: fish, clams, fries, shrimp and it was a lot. the cioppino was just ok, but had a lot of seafood in it, which was good. and my blackened fish sandwich was good, nothing FANTASTIC, but the fish was cooked well, though it didn't have a lot of taste. but i'd order it again for the price. PRICE: very good for the amount and variety of the food. my fish sandwich came with coleslaw, criss-cut fries, and was only $8.99. SERVICE: TERRIBLE. the treatment—or lack there of—we got from the owner, chef, and the waitstaff in the first half of the dinner was UNACCEPTABLE. good thing my boyfriend paid the tip, because if it were up to me, my tip would've been a complaint, not money.
(refer to Sephiroth's review from 5/8 for another example of CRAP service) —elguupee
2010-05-22 15:25:50 We had better luck with service than several folks who've commented here, but I'll just note that when we went, there were several staff members who spent the bulk of their time hanging out at the bar chatting. Luckily, our waitress wasn't one of them, but I can't say I'm that shocked that people have had trouble with that. It sounds like they've improved their salads... next up is service! —TomGarberson
2010-06-10 11:10:43 Moderate prices for seafood. As a college student, I would say this is the only good and affordable seafood place in Davis! And, the food was actually really good, with large portions. The bartender, Navit, is awesome.... she makes a wicked strong drink (just the way I like it!). Lots of alcohol and beer selections. Love the decorated underwater themed bar! —MissAmyLu
2010-06-18 07:12:41 Tried this place for the first time last night. Definitely won't be going back. The bar was so packed and loud that not even the outdoor patio offered much refuge, the waiter was awkward about the fact that I wanted to exclude shrimp from my dish, the melted 'butter' tasted like margarine, and I got severe food poisoning from the scallops. Maybe it would be safe for deep-fried items, but I won't be chancing it. —calvin2
I think this is BS. Your food poisoning claim doesn't sound believable to me. -NickSchmalenberger
Totally not BS. Classic hard-core food poisoning with icky details I'll spare our readers. The person dining with me, who ate something different, was fine, but there was definitely something wrong with the scallops I ordered. This is the point of the wiki - to document locals' experiences with town life. I got food poisoning at Mermaids. The end.
How come are you bitching about it here instead of reporting it to the Yolo County Health Department? But yeah, how are you sure it's the scallops? Most of the time, food poisoning takes DAYS to show up. Identifying a specific dish as the cause of your ailments days after the fact would be quite a trick. It's only really possible when a few people who have had the same meal and who don't share any other meals get sick all at once. —WilliamLewis
2010-07-02 16:52:34 I had high hopes for this place
Unfortunately both times I have been there the owner (Sam?) has been so drunk it is embarrassing. One time he aggressively hit on a friend of mine who is half his age. We left.
The next time I tried to come with my family but regretted the decision.
It seems like a sleazy bum hangout for the owners greasy friends. He would be smart to spend less time drinking at the bar and more time training the staff or something. Maybe even staying at home.
As someone with a family I would not choose to bring them into this atmosphere.
- S.G.
2010-07-08 10:47:47 I've been to the bar a couple of times and thought the bartenders—Crystal, Meriam, and Amber—provided good service. The hours are inconsistent. Mermaids sometimes closes earlier than the posted hours. Best to call ahead if it's late at night to make sure they're still open. —nowhereman
2010-07-14 16:35:16 Ok, so this place looks really nice but is kinda loud at times which is ok, unless you plan on taking children in. On the other hand the waitresses are super nice, V was very nice and kept up good conversation w/ us, people say the workers hang out at the bar all night, but I mean I expect a bartender or waitress to chat it up w/ us and check in on our drinks to make sure we're good. All my frineds say its is meh, but HALIBUT SANDWICH & JAMBALAYA are delicious you can not go wrong, I am about to order one up here in a few. Place looks great, but it probably will not last it's not a great location and once your drinking you're stuck since there is no where to "bar hop" to, if this place can make it through the summer it's in... don't know where else to get such a good Halibut sandwich. One last thing the Blue Moon was lacking, they had no OJ and offered me what looked like Sunny D... stick w/ Sierra Nevada. —TheTruthHurts
2010-07-14 23:10:47 I finally made it over here one pleasant summer night. It was surprisingly uncrowded ("surprisingly," given other comments on the page) and sitting out on the shady patio was quite lovely. I ordered regular old fish n' chips, which you might think they would put some extra effort into, given that it has its own picture on the menu (and not all items are pictured). But if you thought that, you would be wrong. I am almost certain that the fish was not freshly fried, but rather reheated. For one, it was soggy, and I don't think a freshly fried fish would be soggy. Two, it came out way too quickly to have been freshly fried. Granted, I like fast service, but not if the food suffers. My partner was much happier with the mahi-mahi sandwich than I was with my dish. I'll probably give them another shot at some point, but I will be ordering something else. Luckily, the Davis Creamery is just a few stores away to salvage any evening's dining. —CovertProfessor
2010-09-26 11:22:18 I love coming here for their food and for Karaoke on Thursday nights. Rance the DJ is awesome and there is a great selection of songs and not much of a line so I can sing all night long. Come check Mermaids out on a Thursday night from 9:30pm-2pm and sing your heart out. —ElizabethBarthel
2010-10-20 11:47:43 I have been to this place twice before leaving on vacation. The first time we went for dinner and the food was good. I ordered the Ciopinno and while it did not compare to Ciopinno from SF, it cost about half the price and was real tastie. The next time I went in for happy hour to have some drinks and dinner. The bartender mix a good Manhattan. So good that what started into have a Manhattan and dinner, turned into that plus watch the MNF game, have a few more drinks, and then have a couple of friends show up and hangout. The staff seems pretty friendly, the food and drinks are good. —Eduardoavelar
2010-12-18 13:46:17 Had the fried clams appetizer, which consisted of approximately 5 pieces of clam and a boatload of french fries. What? Menu said nothing about french fries with the appetizer. I also tried the clam chowder, which had far too much cream in it. For my meal I had the seafood skewers, which were good. But the shrimp had tails on, and some of them still had skin on: some were still fully skinned, while others had bits stuck to them. Between 2 skewers, I had 4 shrimps and 2 scallops. The sauce that came with the skewers was quite good, although the genius who put their menu together called it a "white beurre blanc sauce with white wine." I'm not sure they know what "blanc" means. The food was pricey considering what we actually got on our plates. To top off the disappointing evening, our stomachs were completely wrecked after eating here. If I eat somewhere and it destroys my stomach, I refuse to eat there again. I've eaten here before, which means they have a 50% failure rate (or success rate, if you're kind about it).
The atmosphere was awful. We've been here before, but it was late at night. The bartender at our first visit didn't know how to pour a beer, but the bartender the second time around was much better. They were out of almost all of their beers, which was quite a disappointment. They had two separate stereo systems blasting playing two different stations. Nothing like listening to some mass produced singer-songwriter chick on top of TuPac. The people in the bar were the type of people I'd expect normally find themselves in G St on a nightly basis, have lost at least 4 pairs of shoes to the sticky floor there, and don't own a single piece of clothing that hasn't had beer spilled on it or been vomited on. —ElizabethAbinante
2011-01-16 20:51:12 Worst meal that I ever had. Tried the ribeye and found that the proportions were too small for $15 and nothing really spectacular. The service was horrible as well. The waitress never even asked me how i would like my steak cooked or what kind of side that I wanted. The place was empty when I came with my gf and for very good reason. For those of you who think that this is just a one time experience from a tough critic check out the 3/12/2010 comment down below. Exact same experience from the same meal which tells you that this quality of service is a trend of theirs. —Abdulareyes
2011-01-16 20:54:19 This place was very very disappointing. I ordered the beer batter fish combination which was okay but when the plate arrived there just wasn't much food for what I paid for. Also it was supposed to come with fries and hushpuppies but only got fries which tasted like they could have come from the freezer section at the grocery store. My boyfriend ordered a ribeye and didn't even get asked how he wanted it cooked when he ordered. The ribeye was depressingly thin and small and definitely not worth the money. Our waitress was inattentive which would have been understandable if it was busy but we were one of four other tables in the restaurant. When we were done with our entrees she immediately brought the check without asking if we were interested in desert. Overall the experience left us feeling like we had been overcharged and to top it off we were still hungry! —AmyJackson
2011-02-05 15:11:39 The karaoke DJ is awesome here! Unfortunately, the bartenders have been awful lately. A few weeks ago, they overcharged our drinks and didn't even make them properly. They were out of Crown and Seagrams 7. It's too bad because I love the karaoke here. Best in town. —yadayada
"2011-03-02" the owner sam is a complete scum bag, and the establishment doesn't pay their employees. you shouldn't go support the business because of those reasons, and the fact that you will get ripped off by sam and or john.
2011-03-30 11:16:00 Huh, gone already? Dang, there goes a chance for me to actually ever replace my terrible shot up there with a halfway decent one. —AlexanderHo
2011-04-19 17:33:30 I just saw a sign today that MERMAIDS will reopen soon !!! —ElizabethBarthel
- hmmm. I'd be surprized, but never say never. As long as they do away with the computer system that keeps the staff from helping customers, I say good luck! —Rocksanddirt
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