Raw Bar Near Me in Greenwich Village: Mermaid Oyster Bar on MacDougal

Mermaid Oyster Bar sits at 89 MacDougal Street in Greenwich Village, between Bleecker and West Houston, and it is the raw bar near me that rewards anyone who shows up early: from 4:30 to 6 pm Tuesday through Sunday, and all night on Mondays, chef's choice oysters and Long Island littleneck clams cost $2 each, ordered by the half dozen. Outside happy hour, the six-oyster, six-clam Baby Grand Platter with tuna crudo is $49.

The restaurant belongs to Mermaid Hospitality, a small family of seafood restaurants that the group says was born in New York in 2003. It started in the East Village as a rendition of a casual New England fish shack and later grew into what the company calls an American seafood brasserie. The stated design brief across the group is the feeling of a mini vacation in a small seaside village, which is why the menus lean on New England staples like chowder, Parker House rolls and lobster rolls.

Today the group runs four New York rooms: The Mermaid Inn on Columbus Avenue on the Upper West Side, The Mermaid Inn at 227 10th Avenue in Chelsea, a Mermaid Oyster Bar on West 43rd Street near Times Square, and this Greenwich Village outpost. MacDougal is the one built around shellfish, so the raw bar list leads the menu and the plates section reads like supporting cast. The group also publishes Oysterpedia, a free oyster field-guide app, which tells you how seriously it takes the bivalves.

Start with the daily oyster selection, which rotates between East and West Coast varieties at market price, and add Long Island littlenecks at $3 each with mignonette and cocktail sauce. Jumbo shrimp run $5.50 apiece. If you are two people who want a bit of everything, the Baby Grand Platter at $49 is the efficient order: six oysters, six clams and a tuna crudo, built on ice and ready to share across a two-top.

Bigger groups should look at the Grand Platter at $79, which stacks twelve oysters, six clams, four jumbo shrimp, tuna crudo and salmon tartare. The crudo list stands on its own too. Hamachi ceviche with yuzu, truffle and garlic chips is $22, salmon tartare with orange ponzu and toasted sesame is $18, and yellowfin tuna tataki with wonton crisps and pickled ginger is $18. Snow crab hand rolls come two to an order for $23.

Two cooked dishes earn a spot next to the ice. Broiled local oysters with Tabasco butter and parmesan, served with a Parker House roll, cost $22, and the lobster knuckles done escargot style in parsley garlic butter with grilled country bread are also $22. New England clam chowder with bacon and fingerling potatoes is $14. Maryland lump crab cakes with endive-citrus salad and remoulade come in at $25, a fair price for a starter that eats like a small main.

The honest skip is the Crudo Tasting Tower at $49. It bundles hamachi ceviche, salmon tartare and tuna tataki, which is lovely, but it costs the same as the Baby Grand Platter and leaves out the oysters and clams that are the whole reason to sit at a raw bar on MacDougal. Order the crudos individually if you want one, and put the money toward shellfish. The hanger steak at $34 is for the friend who does not eat fish.

Happy hour runs 4:30 to 6 pm from Tuesday to Sunday and covers the whole evening on Monday, which makes Monday the smartest night to come if oysters are the plan. The $2 oysters and $2 littlenecks come in a minimum of six. The same window brings a $4 mini clam chowder, $4 mini fish tacos, a $10 salmon tartare and $9 clam sliders, plus $12 cocktails such as the Pink Flamingo with gin, strawberry and basil.

Weeknight dinner opens at 4:30 pm, so the first hour is the calmest and the cheapest at once. Fridays and Saturdays open at 1 pm and Sundays too, which gives you an afternoon window before the Bleecker Street evening crowd arrives. If you come on a weekend night without a booking and the host quotes a wait longer than half an hour, walk to the group's Chelsea location at 227 10th Avenue, which runs a fuller dinner menu.

The group's website takes reservations for each location. Parties of six or more get an automatic 20 percent gratuity added to the check, so plan the tip math before you split the bill. There is also a kids menu at $12 per plate, with crispy fish fingers, pasta or a chicken quesadilla and a side, which makes an early Sunday oyster session workable with children.

Drinks are priced for lingering. Specialty cocktails such as the Rose Lychee Martini, the Mermaid Mezcalita with pomegranate and tajin, and a fall espresso martini made with spiced bourbon are $17. The wine list matches the shellfish well: a 2023 Alain Geoffroy Chablis is $22 a glass, a Grüner Veltliner from Bründlmayer is $17, and Pazo Torre Albariño is $16. The Mermaid House Lager on draft costs $10.

This room works best for two kinds of evenings. The first is a quick, cheap oyster stop at 4:30 before a show at one of the MacDougal Street comedy clubs a block north. The second is a slower Sunday afternoon platter with a bottle of Peyrassol rosé at $62. For a big birthday dinner, the group routes MacDougal events through a separate event-inquiry form on its website rather than the regular booking widget.

Mondays are the sweet spot for value, since happy hour pricing runs from open to close. Tuesday through Thursday the kitchen closes at 9:30 pm, Friday and Saturday at 10 pm, and Sunday at 9 pm, so late-night oyster cravings after a set at the clubs will need another plan. Aim to sit down by 8:30 pm on weeknights so you have time for a second round from the raw bar before the kitchen closes.

MacDougal Street is one of the busiest blocks in the Village after dark, and the restaurant puts you in the middle of it. Walk north past Bleecker Street and you reach the Comedy Cellar at 117 MacDougal Street, one of the best-known stand-up rooms in the city. Keep going and the street runs straight into Washington Square Park, where the marble arch at the foot of Fifth Avenue makes a good after-dinner loop.

Going south instead takes you to West Houston Street and the edge of SoHo in about two minutes. The nearest subway is the West 4th Street–Washington Square station, served by the A, C, E, B, D, F and M trains, a short walk north through the park side of the neighborhood. The Houston Street station on the 1 train sits a few blocks west at Varick Street if you are heading uptown on the West Side.

Address: 89 MacDougal Street, New York, NY 10012, between Bleecker Street and West Houston Street. Hours: Monday to Thursday 4:30 to 9:30 pm, Friday and Saturday 1 to 10 pm, Sunday 1 to 9 pm. Happy hour: 4:30 to 6 pm Tuesday to Sunday, all night Monday. Budget about $49 for a two-person platter, or around $24 for a dozen happy-hour oysters before drinks, tax and tip.

Lobster rolls and the daily oysters are listed at market price, so ask your server for the night's number when you order. Bring a group of five rather than six if you want to set your own tip, and come on Monday if you want the $2 pricing all evening. Families get the most out of the weekend 1 pm openings, when the kids menu and a platter can share one table before the evening crowd arrives on MacDougal.