The Mermaid Cafe

Cool atmosphere with good service. The stuffed catfish is wonderful and the caramel custard for dessert is a great way to end the night!

Love this place! Excellent food, great ambiance, great service! It overlooks lake Caroline. There is s porch where you can eat or enjoy a cup of coffee after dinner

No More Mermaid
Hubby and I moved to Madison — Lake Caroline — from Atlanta in late 2013. Since the Mermaid Café was the only restaurant within a 10-​mile radius of our home — we (and our visiting adult children) have eaten there on many occasions as a matter of simple convenience, but it’s just never good. We are so glad The Gathering at Livingston has opened. It is wonderful. Now we never go to The Mermaid for pre-​fab overpriced food. Yay!

I had dinner there tonight with a group. I ordered the Mediterranean Pasta salad with shrimp. It was a generous serving of white rotini, finely slivered peppers, cheese (feta or goat?), green and black greek olives, cubed red onion, cucumbers, and dressing. It was good. I wouldn’t drive to Lake Caroline for it, but not bad. Friends had gumbo and the smoked chicken tossed salad and liked them, too. We walked out at 9:40 on a Friday night and there was no one in left except 4 people at the bar, so it’s not a late night venue. We felt a bit rushed out as we were the only table left at 9:30. We had a cute high school waitress, and she did a good job for her age. Service was pretty slow with few diners. It’s just a diff vibe than Nick’s for sure. Very casual.

Cool place. The Chicken & Spaghetti is really good. Their fried Dilled Oysters are exceptionally good. Really cool local vibe here. These guys do it right. This place is a spin off of another Jackson restaurant that is very high end and good.

i’ve been here a few times and it has been good; however, last friday the service was VERY POOR. After finishing my side salad, I happened to find a dead moth at the bottom with dressing on it. The poor waitress didn’t know what to say and although i was throughly disgusted she tried to make a joke, «well, at least it’s protein.» then she proceeded to get the manager who just happened to arrive with the food and she told him, «look what was in their salad.» He didn’t even look at me, just muttered under his breath, «must have flown in there.» and left. You would think the manager would at least apologize or at the very least address the situation, but he didn’t. After dinner, as we asked for the check the waitress said, «don’t worry, my manager is gonna discount the meal for the moth.» When we got the check he had discounted it $ 4 for the side salad. Still no apology or statement came from the manager. My wife and parents (who it was my parent’s first visit) were very surprised and upset with the way the situation was handled. The sad part is the poor couple at the table beside us were complaining too. They had been there over an hour and all they had gotten was a salad. When they inquired about their steaks, the waitress went to check on it, came back and said, «oh they are out of prime rib, would you like something else?» he couldn’t believe they were just now telling him this and chose the filet and then about 15min later she came back and said, «they are just now about to put it on» He couldn’t believe it and was also highly upset. either way, service seems to be less than desired.

One of my favorite spots especially after a good round of golf at Caroline. Great food & atmosphere!

Great food, wonderful setting for a sunset dinner.

The Mermaid Café is in a beautiful location with a great coastal feel. Feel free to dress casually and still enjoy a fabulous meal. Tonight we tried the crab claw appetizers which were fantastic, the pork and grits which was good and the stuffed catfish which was delicious! The service was excellent.

Fun, Tasty, and a Great Time… The Mermaid is located at Lake Caroline and has a delightful view of the lake. The menu is diverse and everything I have tried has been wonderful. Nick Apostle has another success under his belt.