Mermaid Entertainment & Event — Attraction in Mounds View

Very disappointed at rude customer service with Darviel. As a loyal customer who comes almost every day to support mermaid, I had one of the worst time ever at mermaid. To start off, I signed my kids and I Free summer bowling all summer. We come to support not just to do the free 2 game bowling BUT we would do All you can bowl after & purchase food for dinner. One night, Darviel would come a take our food & drinks away even if we're not done eating & bowling. We'd have the lady server to bring our food and drinks out again. Not just that, summer bowling was over, and I gave mermaid a call to see what time is the new hours for all you can bowl. I received a 9pm, 8pm and a 7pm. Came to the alley at 7pm and was told by Darviel that bowling starts at 9pm because there is a leagues. I had to talk to the manager Brandon that day why are they giving false hours. Brandon mentioned it’s 8pm for the all you can bowl and which we were able to bowl at 8pm otherwise we'd have to bowl at 9pm. Wasted a whole bunch of our time.

AFTER this incident, I came to bowl again with my family. I was told by Darviel that if we can wait for the league to be done, he can give us a league lane or else lane 28 or 30 is open. I told him, how long would it take for the leagues to be done. He said “within and hour”. I told him that I’d take one of the open lane which is 28. We paid 12.99 each person when we got to the lane we realized that lane 29 is done bowling and if we can, get it switch over to lane 30 because there was 5 people bowling on lane 27 which, we’d like out personal lane. I ask Darviel to switch our lane to 30, and if “possible” if he can give us two lane, 29 &30. He said there is still people at lane 29, and I said no there isn't anymore. The manager that day, Cheryl, went to check the lane and saw my family just standing by the lane of 28/29 (because we have a baby stroller that the area looks full like people were still there at that lane) she stated that people are still on that lane. I said no there isn't. That people standing there is just my family waiting for me to see if I can get the lane switch over from 28 to 30 and if possibly get two lane. Darviel wouldn't offer us two lane, which is fine, and understandable. He then goes with his side comments and says in order for us to get two lanes we need to tip him. As he stated if we want "special treatment" we need to tip, we cant get what we want because there is "Other" people who''ll come bowl and if we get tow lane to our self other people ain’t gonna get no lane, and tell me to look at the clock that this is the time ALOT of people come and bowl. Me, irritated because I know on a Tuesday, mermaid is not full, and Some days other front desk are nice to give us two lane. I told him, I'll see if I wanna tip him. And hell no I am not tipping for giving me rude comments & forcing to tip with no good services plus along with the past where he’d take our food/drinks away when not finished, nope It don’t work like that. He then said that we are manipulated him and all. As irritated as I am, he gave us lane 30. Our lane even end up getting pins stuck in the back and he didn't bother to fix it for a good 15min when we let him know about it, waited until we had to tell the lady server to fix it. I am sorry but I do support mermaid and all, but I do not want Darviel to serve me in the future. Everyone is nice such, as the lady server with the glasses, Ara, jim, and the lady who is front counter working with jim.

Had to say, Darviel ruined my good day that I was having with his rude services he was giving me and my family. Very...

We were there for a bowling tournament this past Saturday. The service is nonexistent. We finally went up to bar to see if we could order some drinks and food. Found out at that time, they had ONE waitress for the whole tournament AND the bar. Place our order with the waitress at the bar. We received our food about 30 minutes later - it was incorrect, but I didn't feel like standing in a long line just to tell the lady and then wait another 30 minutes to correct the problem, so we just dealt with it. Once the tournament was over, I had to go back up to the bar to pay my bill (she wouldn't allow me to pay when I placed my order) Stood in line for another 15 minutes. The waitress told me my total - which was $36 and some odd change - I gave her $40. She put the wrong amount in and told me she needed to go get her manager to correct the problem - but before she did that she served another person at the bar, while holding my $40. She was gone for about 5 minutes - the guy at the bar said he had been waiting over 20 minutes just to receive a beer. The waitress & manager returned - the manager looked annoyed with the waitress because she wasn't able to solve the problem on her own - which was actually simple. She accidentally put $440 in the system and she didn't know the right amount for change. All the manager did was took out his phone and subtracted the difference for my change. I understand the waitress was probably overwhelmed, but I think she needed more training. If you are agreeing to host a tournament, staff accordingly or don't agree to host the tournament. The service is absolutely horrible, which is sad to see because the bowling alley is huge and the...

Our small family gathering of five at The Mermaid quickly turned into a masterclass in how not to handle hospitality. Upon arrival, we seated ourselves at a table just outside the bar, only to be left entirely unattended. After a long wait, we had to flag someone down ourselves—only then were we informed, rather curtly, that service isn’t offered in that area.

Relocating to a large booth inside the bar should have solved the problem, but instead it highlighted a larger issue: a complete absence of service. Not a single staff member approached our table. With only one menu to pass around, one of us eventually took on the role of server, collecting orders and walking them up to the bar.

When the food finally arrived—everything dropped at once—it did nothing to redeem the experience. The cheese curds, a Midwestern staple, were delivered lukewarm. The burgers, requested medium-rare, were cooked into something closer to overdone leather. Flavor was lacking across the board, falling into the category of generic, uninspired bar food.

To make matters worse, no one ever checked back on us—not once. We fetched our own drinks from the bar, and later, our own check. Other tables nearby seemed to receive table service, which only underscored the inconsistency and lack of communication. If the expectation is bar-only service, it should be made abundantly clear from the outset.

In the end, the experience was so poor that our “tip” amounted to a token $1 per drink ordered at the bar. Unfortunately, The Mermaid delivered one of the worst service experiences I’ve had in recent memory—a place where expectations were low to begin with, and yet...