This was another weird and must see restaurant that I found in the \"Weird Las Vegas and Nevada\" book, so I decided to check it out.\n\nAs a local, it's pretty cool getting excited about something touristy or new or in this case, unknown. The Mermaid Lounge is found in the Silverton Casino, just a little south of the main strip, and lives up to its name in a surprising way.\n\nThere is a beautiful aquarium just outside the restaurant, with plenty of fish, manta rays, and... an actual swimming, smiling mermaid.\n\nWhile it's not a modern discovery of science, the fully underwater girl dressed as a mermaid swims up to you, poses for pictures (between the tank glass), and admittedly, it's a very novel and cool effect. The girl's a good sport, making sure that camera hungry folk get a good shot or two before popping her breathing apparatus back in.\n\nThe restaurant itself is quite pretty, with chairs named after famous fish folk (Ariel, Shamu, etc), and behind the bar is a tank of jellyfish that have neon lights flickering around them, making their translucent bodies change color. Beautiful and creepy all at once.\n\nThe first server girl we ran into was a little stand-offish, but our main server was very friendly and attentive. Food and drinks here are reasonably cheap (less than $10 for most meals, and the same for drinks). I tried the ahi tuna wrap, and it was quite tasty (and a little spicy).\n\nThe Silverton is a little out of the way from the Strip, but this is a very cool bar, and worth the extra effort to get over there. The aquarium is awesome, and there is a small alcove that when walking in, gives you a brief sensation that you are actually walking into the aquarium's water. It's an interesting effect in itself.\n\nSeriously, though. How often can you claim that you're able to mermaid watch while sipping drinks with friends?
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