NEW YORK The Mermaid Inn

American seafood, reopened September 2015

“In 1986 I was the manager of a restaurant called Lucy’s Retired Surfers Bar [in New Orleans], and it had a great neon sign, so I’ve always been a fan. Over the years, we’ve had neon signs at the Mermaid that said, ‘No vacancy,’ with the ‘No’ flashing. We have a really big storefront at the new location, and the logo called out to me as something that would look great in neon.” —— Dan Abrams, co-owner