This is one of my favorite dive/hole in the wall bars. Friendly staff, good drinks, great atmosphere. Come alone, bring some friends I’ve never had a bad time here.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 4
Service: 5
Mariah MacFarlan
This place is the best! Bomb food / drinks and 10/10 atmosphere.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
A S
This used to be an amazing bar, but in the past few months there's been a major vibe shift. The bartenders are rude, there are posters in the bathroom telling people not to make a mess because they're not "the man" and providing addresses of govt buildings to deface instead... but if you manage to get a table, you'll be met with what looks like a menu, but is actually a rule card. They have a list of rules on the table. Rules that include not being at the bar for more than two hours. Also, they'll send security to talk to you for any reason and give you attitude if you don't get alcohol (even when you're in a large party who does!)This is a weird, gross, fascist situation. Hope it changes because before that this was a 5 star fave !
Atmosphere: 1
Service: 1
Rudy Sanchez
Love this place! Cool atmosphere, feels like we're in an underwater cove. The drinks are well made and delicious.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Tater Tots
Aja M.
We stopped by The Mermaid after dinner for a couple of drinks and had a pretty good time! It was super crowded but we were lucky to find a table to sit at. The place was pretty loud but the playlist was great and the atmosphere and crowd was friendly and a lot of fun.With a cute underwater/sea theme, their menu looks like it typically has a lot of rum based drinks but we had to get the special holiday drinks!Out of the specialty drinks we ordered the Sinterclaws, Seven Siren Swimming, Nauti or Nice, Carols of the Coral, A Merry Little "Coquito", and a Dementa Xmas "Shot." Almost all of the drinks were served in festive glassware like a snowman mug, so cute! My favorite drinks had to be Seven Sirens Swimming with the brown butter fat washed Chihuatan Indigo rum, and the "coquito" like a tiny coconutty eggnog.
Lorraine E.
Our favorite place. We always love going here. Great drinks and happy hour. Disappointed that happy hour ends at 6pm now instead of 8pm on Fridays. And we over heard this from a bartender. Really? The paper pamphlet says 8pm. We should be granted that price since it's on your printed out paper. If not updated it. Still will come back but this changed my 5 star review to a 4 Star.
Serena S.
This was a very cute, kind of dive-y bar, in a good way The interior design was creative and cozy. I was here for Halloween and there were some great costumes and none of the patrons seemed unfriendly or snobby. Would definitely come back!
Elise I.
The Mermaid is the kind of place where you may find yourself battling through the crowd to reach the bar for a drink, and securing a seat often requires a bit of waiting, depending on your luck. If you're comfortable with that dynamic, then this spot might be right up your alley. However, it's worth noting that there can be a certain level of aggressiveness in the crowd, which may not be everyone's cup of tea. Personally, I've only visited once, and it's uncertain whether I'll return.On a positive note, I appreciate the decor of the place; it aligns well with the bar's name. Locating the bar proved a bit challenging for me since half of the sign isn't well-lit, displaying "The Merm." As for the bathroom, I can't speak to its cleanliness as it was exceptionally dark in there, making it difficult to discern.
If I could give 0 stars I would. Today we came to the Mermaid Bar after stopping by the Arts District as we were showing our cousins from Mexico a good time in LA.We try to enter the bar and because they had Mexican ID’s it took a while to get inside the bar. Understandable, maybe they haven’t seen a different type of ID.As soon as we got inside the bartender (blonde in her 30s) come to get my order and when I was asking questions she left to attend idk what because the bar was empty.Our cousin comes inside and unfortunately as a confusión steps down to where the bar tender area was, she tells him to get out and understandably so let’s him know he’s not allowed down there. He doesn’t understand English so we let him know. She goes on to make snide comments to her bartender friends in our earshot.She then goes to security to tell him something. Security comes and tells him he needs to leave. As soon as my brother comes to translate to him, security tells him to leave because he’s not talking to him. After my brother let’s him know he doesn’t know English, security goes on to tell him we’re kicked out.This situation was unfortunate due to the fact that she clearly was profiling my cousins because they were Hispanic. Before i went ahead and made it a big deal we left because we had such a good time, this bad encounter was not going to ruin our night.I just want people to understand the kind of service this place gives to other pepper that don’t fit the persona this Employee was expecting.What a sad excuse for service.
Atmosphere: 1
Service: 1
Destiny C.
No top shelf liquor here. I had 4 drinks and I can bet it was 1 drinks worth of alcohol. 20% gratuity for less than mediocre, overly sweetened drinks.
Carlito Peralta Jr
Loved the food, the drinks were nice n strong, our server was so sweet and friendly. Definitely would come back next time we come to LA!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Tater Tots
Quick Whit
Super cute dive spot with an array of cocktails and tasty bar eats. Atmosphere is fun and ethereal.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Maruko X.
Ambiance: stylish mermaid and pirate decorations Service: bar tender was fast though the tables weren't cleaned adequately Drink: variety choices for drinks and bar food SMOKEY EYE - *** ilegal mezcal, pineapple, cinnamon, lime, habanero bitters, peychaud's bitters, bold smokey taste and overly bitter Price: standard downtown cocktail price, about $15 per drink
Drinks are great!!!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Promoting public vandalism is NOT cool
This is one of my favorite dive/hole in the wall bars. Friendly staff, good drinks, great atmosphere. Come alone, bring some friends I’ve never had a bad time here.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 4
Service: 5
This place is the best! Bomb food / drinks and 10/10 atmosphere.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
This used to be an amazing bar, but in the past few months there's been a major vibe shift. The bartenders are rude, there are posters in the bathroom telling people not to make a mess because they're not "the man" and providing addresses of govt buildings to deface instead... but if you manage to get a table, you'll be met with what looks like a menu, but is actually a rule card. They have a list of rules on the table. Rules that include not being at the bar for more than two hours. Also, they'll send security to talk to you for any reason and give you attitude if you don't get alcohol (even when you're in a large party who does!)This is a weird, gross, fascist situation. Hope it changes because before that this was a 5 star fave !
Atmosphere: 1
Service: 1
Love this place! Cool atmosphere, feels like we're in an underwater cove. The drinks are well made and delicious.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Tater Tots
We stopped by The Mermaid after dinner for a couple of drinks and had a pretty good time! It was super crowded but we were lucky to find a table to sit at. The place was pretty loud but the playlist was great and the atmosphere and crowd was friendly and a lot of fun.With a cute underwater/sea theme, their menu looks like it typically has a lot of rum based drinks but we had to get the special holiday drinks!Out of the specialty drinks we ordered the Sinterclaws, Seven Siren Swimming, Nauti or Nice, Carols of the Coral, A Merry Little "Coquito", and a Dementa Xmas "Shot." Almost all of the drinks were served in festive glassware like a snowman mug, so cute! My favorite drinks had to be Seven Sirens Swimming with the brown butter fat washed Chihuatan Indigo rum, and the "coquito" like a tiny coconutty eggnog.
Our favorite place. We always love going here. Great drinks and happy hour. Disappointed that happy hour ends at 6pm now instead of 8pm on Fridays. And we over heard this from a bartender. Really? The paper pamphlet says 8pm. We should be granted that price since it's on your printed out paper. If not updated it. Still will come back but this changed my 5 star review to a 4 Star.
This was a very cute, kind of dive-y bar, in a good way The interior design was creative and cozy. I was here for Halloween and there were some great costumes and none of the patrons seemed unfriendly or snobby. Would definitely come back!
The Mermaid is the kind of place where you may find yourself battling through the crowd to reach the bar for a drink, and securing a seat often requires a bit of waiting, depending on your luck. If you're comfortable with that dynamic, then this spot might be right up your alley. However, it's worth noting that there can be a certain level of aggressiveness in the crowd, which may not be everyone's cup of tea. Personally, I've only visited once, and it's uncertain whether I'll return.On a positive note, I appreciate the decor of the place; it aligns well with the bar's name. Locating the bar proved a bit challenging for me since half of the sign isn't well-lit, displaying "The Merm." As for the bathroom, I can't speak to its cleanliness as it was exceptionally dark in there, making it difficult to discern.
Restaurantji Recommends
If I could give 0 stars I would. Today we came to the Mermaid Bar after stopping by the Arts District as we were showing our cousins from Mexico a good time in LA.We try to enter the bar and because they had Mexican ID’s it took a while to get inside the bar. Understandable, maybe they haven’t seen a different type of ID.As soon as we got inside the bartender (blonde in her 30s) come to get my order and when I was asking questions she left to attend idk what because the bar was empty.Our cousin comes inside and unfortunately as a confusión steps down to where the bar tender area was, she tells him to get out and understandably so let’s him know he’s not allowed down there. He doesn’t understand English so we let him know. She goes on to make snide comments to her bartender friends in our earshot.She then goes to security to tell him something. Security comes and tells him he needs to leave. As soon as my brother comes to translate to him, security tells him to leave because he’s not talking to him. After my brother let’s him know he doesn’t know English, security goes on to tell him we’re kicked out.This situation was unfortunate due to the fact that she clearly was profiling my cousins because they were Hispanic. Before i went ahead and made it a big deal we left because we had such a good time, this bad encounter was not going to ruin our night.I just want people to understand the kind of service this place gives to other pepper that don’t fit the persona this Employee was expecting.What a sad excuse for service.
Atmosphere: 1
Service: 1
No top shelf liquor here. I had 4 drinks and I can bet it was 1 drinks worth of alcohol. 20% gratuity for less than mediocre, overly sweetened drinks.
Loved the food, the drinks were nice n strong, our server was so sweet and friendly. Definitely would come back next time we come to LA!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Tater Tots
Super cute dive spot with an array of cocktails and tasty bar eats. Atmosphere is fun and ethereal.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Ambiance: stylish mermaid and pirate decorations Service: bar tender was fast though the tables weren't cleaned adequately Drink: variety choices for drinks and bar food SMOKEY EYE - *** ilegal mezcal, pineapple, cinnamon, lime, habanero bitters, peychaud's bitters, bold smokey taste and overly bitter Price: standard downtown cocktail price, about $15 per drink