Mermaid Bar & Grill — Restaurant in Saugatuck

Went in for a late lunch today, Labor Day, with my wife and 4 month old son. My son was sleeping in his stroller, so we asked who we assumed was the manager manning the host stand if it was alright if we brought the stroller in even though they have "No Strollers Inside the Restaurant" signs prominently placed outside the main entrances. He didn't hesitate a second to agree that the best thing was to leave our sleeping son in the stroller and allowed it in the restaurant, which we were grateful for. As we were leaving, I was guiding the stroller through one of the tighter areas where there happened to be an employee standing partially in the aisle. I did my best to navigate around her but ended up bumping into her foot ever so slightly with the stroller, and I immediately apologized, which she acknowledged with a half hearted smile and said "no problem". Not more than two seconds after that as I'm walking directly past her she says under her breathe, assuming I can't hear her-"that's why we don't allow strollers in here". It took me a minute to actually realize she actually said this, because I had an extremely hard time trying to give her the benefit of the doubt and telling myself I heard her wrong, but I didn't.

I have a soft spot for anyone who works in the food service industry, since I can relate growing up in our family restaurant. However, this is probably one of the worst things you could say to a paying customer leaving your business, with a baby, while trying to give you as much room in the aisle as possible. I hate to think what she may say about customers who are not within range of hearing her, since she had the audacity to say this under her breathe with me just a foot or two away. Our experience beside this was great, everyone else that we encountered was friendly, and more than accommodating. This small, five second interaction ruined it for us though, and it took everything in me to not turn around and ask her to repeat what she said a little louder, and then make management aware of an employee who is helping them lose business, especially ours. Hopefully this will help though, and if any family out there is looking for a stroller friendly restaurant, do yourself a favor and walk past this one. There are many other great places around, you're not welcome at the Mermaid and they will make sure...

The outside seating is nice and the menu/decor seems more upscale than the other restaurants in Saugatuck. The waitress was nice and upbeat however the roasted cauliflower appetizer is not roasted at all which we noticed before she even set it on the table.It's steamed or boiled much like when I was a kid. It was terrible, we didn't even eat it. We told the waitress and she asked if we wanted anything different we said no (this was an appetizer at lunch we were just excited to try their "roasted" cauliflower). The kicker is it was $11.90 and the waitress didn't take it off the bill. I normally don't mind paying for things that I don't care for but I thought this was an absurd price to begin with for a lunch appetizer. We're foodies and expect to pay for good quality food. Basically we paid 12 bucks for boiled cauliflower from the 70's!! I ordered the steak salad with sliced filet mignon. It was good but definitely wasn't filet mignon. It was a flank steak covered in sauce disguised as a filet. I didn't complain but I'm sure other people would be disappointed. A restaurant with this type of clientele and prices should know better than to send something like these dishes out. Shame on them and please take the boiled cauliflower off the menu! Everything else was just ok - fish and chips and burger. They are clearly overpriced in hopes of getting the yacht...

My husband and I have eaten at this restaurant in the past. It used to be "pricey" but with a beautiful atmosphere and good food. In the past 2 yrs. the prices have increased while the quality and portions of food have decreased!! I ordered chicken piccata for a price of $18.90. That was one of the cheapest entrées on the menu unless you wanted a sandwich, which were from $13 to $16. The chicken piccata came with a serving of broccoli and a skimpy serving of spaghetti noodles on the same plate. There was almost no sauce on the chicken or pasta and the broccoli was crunchy, not done! I ordered a side salad for an extra $3.99. The salad was probably the most PATHETIC masquerade for a salad that I have ever been served!! It was LITERALLY about 2 tablespoons of lettuce, a teaspoon of shredded carrot, 2 cherry tomatoes and 2 thin cucumber slices! Not even any cheese, and this PATHETIC tease cost another $3.99 after you already ordered an entrée costing $18.90!!!! I know that when you visit a tourist city you are going to pay more for food. That was already accepted. But nothing makes a restaurant customer more ANGRY than to pay HIGH PRICES for SKIMPY just OK food!! Anyway, if you're going to Saugatuck for a nice afternoon DON'T eat at The Mermaid Bar and Grill!! Go...