Inker's Tattoo Company

 

0

1

John T.

San Diego, CA

I got my eyebrow pierced here this weekend after finding it on Yelp. The place was really cool, and conveniently close to SDSU. I walked in Friday around 7pm and had to wait 10 or 15 minutes, so I played on their pool table with my friends! The vibe was cool and I enjoyed "The Zephyr Song" playing while I got pierced. The piercing was quick, clean, and felt about the same as getting a shot at the doctor's office. $40. All in all, a great experience. I'm taking one star off because I wanted a black ring, but they didn't have any, so I got a silver one. No big deal, I'm cool with what I got, but still.

Bookmark   Send to a Friend Link to This Review

Elite '08

71

204

Daniel M.

Santee, CA

As I've never been inside any other tattoo place before (save for one to flip through their "book" with a friend), I'm not entirely sure what things I should be rating this place on.

Cleanliness, yeah?  Artistry?  And... friendliness, as it is a bit of a personal process.

I mean... this dude had to shave my back before he started.  It doesn't get much more personal than that.

For a couple weeks leading up to my 21st birthday, I had decided that I was going to get a tattoo.  Confident in my own artistic abilities, I tried to come up with my own design.  Failing in that, I looked at designs that I liked, and modified it... going through about 12 drafts until I found something to my liking.  And the goal was to make it a 2-part deal.  I left some room in the center for expansion and maybe give it a theme... which has yet to be done...

Although in hindsight, I totally should've let the artist do the designing for me.  Ah well, someday I'll get more work done.

I stop inside this place to check out as I was in the neighborhood.  Some guy named Bizkit (sp?) helped me by checking out my design, scaling it up, and saying he could easily make it happen.  I looked at some of his other work, and felt safe goin' with this guy.

So, Sunday morning... my first tattoo experience.  I show up and there is Bizkit.

He asks, "Can I help you?"

Dude doesn't even remember me, and I was just in there 3 days prior.

"Ummm... you are doing my tattoo today..."

"Ohhhhhh, I totally thought I was working on someone else today.  Sorry, bro."

Right.

We get started, and this is a very foreign process to me.  He showed me the tracings he had done, and we talked about the details of it, making sure he'd get it right... and we start.

And, it wasn't so bad.  It didn't hurt like people were letting on.  The first two hours were a cakewalk, although, Bizkit had the shakes.  We took a break and he had a couple cigarettes to ease the nerves, and then we started on again.

Hour three... yeah, okay, there was some pain, but no big deal.

Hour four... oh my God, I was going to die.  It wasn't the tattooing, either.  It was the wiping away of all the blood.  My skin was raw, and he was going back to redo the spots that weren't solid.  I started to go into a mild shock... my body was not happy with me.

But y'know what?  Bizkit did a good job.  I was pleased.

They said to come back after a couple weeks to touch it up for no charge.  Although, I didn't do this... as it looked just fine by that point.  Just like the drawing I gave him.

My only issue... is that I was charged a pretty penny.  I didn't know how much a tattoo should run, and considering there was no design work employed by this guy at all... I got reamed.  Still though, that's my fault for getting some huge-freaking-tattoo my first time around.

I want to get more work done sometime.  It was a good experience all around.  If I do go back for more, I'll stop in and talk to this Dan guy.  I'm pretty sure he was there that Sunday morning, and seemed to have some great artwork going on.

Bookmark   Send to a Friend Link to This Review

 

15

19

Amanda F.

San Diego, CA

After picking up a rather large deposit on a paint job yesterday, the PSYCHO EX was itching for a new tattoo.  "Please, baby," he pleaded.   "It's been four months... it's the longest I've ever gone without getting SOMETHING done!"  I gave up trying to internally calculate how much bare skin he would, at this rate, have left within the next couple of years and agreed.  

I live in the College area, so we trolled El Cajon Blvd and I suggested Inker's (I'd had a bit of touch-up work done here years ago).  Clean shop, mellow music, cool black and red paint job, good art on the walls, and the staff here are kick-ass.  Like the reviewer below, we worked with Captain Dan, a young but accomplished artist, SDSU-educated, who carefully drew up and positioned the PSYCHO EX's knuckle tattoos.  According to the client (also a professional tattoo artist):  "Very professional, reasonably priced, courteous, efficient, knowledgeable of the industry, very clean, almost painless, looks great."  

I should add that Dan had just returned from picking up a sandwich, and despite our protests, refused to take time for lunch when he had a client waiting!  Really an awesome artist with a lot of passion for his craft... totally makes the customer feel like number one!!!

So... five stars!   And we were able to walk right in, an added plus. Plenty of street parking, during the day, at least.   Great place to get tattooed.

Bookmark   Send to a Friend Link to This Review

Elite '08

174

98

Ryan R.

San Diego, CA

I went to Edgewater this afternoon and they were closed so I figured I would research a possible replacement. I am very weary of tattoo parlors, especially on El Cajon Blvd.  A friend from college had told me that Inkers was a good place so I decided to go in to inquire about what I wanted done.
    I met with an artist named Dan and we discussed what I brought in and how he could make it happen. I learned that he got his degree in art at SDSU and was able to view a lot of his art work.  It made me comfortable to know that the guys here are really passionate about their art. Aside from tattooing, Dan is also a fantastic painter.
    After a brief discussion, Dan drew up my design and went to work. I am very happy with the final result and will definitely be back in the future. Wow, that kind of sounded like an ad for Pacific Law Center...This place is also next door to one of my favorite bars that is about to reopen.

Bookmark   Send to a Friend Link to This Review