"After feigning excitement at another friend’s mediocre Arts District brewery birthday party, walk over to Little Tokyo and into our favorite new dive bar, The Mermaid. Unlike most dive bars, the cocktails are the reason to come to this dimly-lit spot. The gin-based Drink Your Vegetables is briny and fresh, and there’s also a snow-cone machine onsite. The crowd is cool and laidback, and if you head to the bathrooms you’ll spot a porthole with mermaids passing by. It’s just a video on loop, but it never gets old." - brant cox