The Mermaid Inn opens expansive new location in Times Square
All images courtesy of Alex Staniloff
The Mermaid Oyster Bar, a new outpost of the beloved Manhattan seafood restaurant family The Mermaid Inn, opened in Times Square on Tuesday. Located at 127 West 43rd Street, the restaurant is the Mermaid’s largest location yet, three times larger than any of its other Manhattan branches. Owners Danny Abrams and Cindy Smiths have opened the new location alongside restaurateur Jeffrey Bank, CEO of Alicart Restaurant Group.
Started by Abrams and Smith on the Upper West Side, the Mermaid has served New Yorkers for nearly two decades, offering a tasteful menu of seafood and seasonally-inspired dishes, along with their fan-favorite oyster happy hour.
The new location marks the first time Abrams and Smith have teamed up with Bank. Bank will help manage the expansive restaurant, which spans 15,000 square feet and opened with 285 seats with more soon to come.
The open-layout oceanic restaurant features a sprawling 30-square-foot marble raw bar with 18 stools, making it one of the largest raw bars in all of Midtown, and a 40-square-foot cocktail bar located at the opposite end of the space.
Situated at the back of the restaurant is a large private dining room available for booking, which can be broken down into two separate areas with 110 seats each.
The Times Square restaurant will offer the same oyster happy hour, raw bar, and signature coastal dishes that loyal fans have grown to love, cooked up by Executive Chef Michael Cressotti.
Cressoitti, who has served as the Mermaid’s head chef for nearly a decade, will continue his work as the Mermaid’s culinary leader in the Times Square branch, serving the Mermaid’s classic seafood dishes, ranging anywhere from raw bar items to grilled fish and “composed plates.”
In addition to the Mermaid’s beloved classic offerings, new items on the menu include pan-roasted cod, whole Mediterranean branzino, chilled crab claws, spare ribs, and more.
In September, Abrams and Smith announced they would be closing their UWS location, the Mermaid Inn, after 15 years of business. However, the restauranteur power couple ensured longtime patrons that they were planning to open a new location on the UWS in 2023 and simultaneously announced their new Times Square location.
With the opening of Times Square’s Mermaid Oyster Bar, the Mermaid now has four locations throughout Manhattan. The restaurant’s other locations are at 96 Second Avenue in the East Village, 89 MacDougal Street in Greenwich Village, and 227 Tenth Avenue in Chelsea.
Time Square’s Mermaid Oyster Bar is open daily from 4 p.m. to 11 p.m. More information on the restaurant’s offerings and making reservations can be found here.
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