East Side Ink

Extremely disappointed. Me & my wife were on vacation & she decided she wanted to get a tattoo in NYC (thinking that the tattooists in the city must be talented because there is so much competition WRONG) We read all the reviews on Unilocal & East Side Ink had many good reviews so we decided to check it out. My wife decided to get a tattoo of a purple star. A simple star not anything intricate or detailed that would require that much artistic ability. So for a tattooist to screw up this he is definitely in the wrong line of business. To add insult to injury he charged $ 160! It looks like sh** & it got infected. It was done on January 20^th the aqua colored star was done 4 days later when we came back to FL. Cost? $ 60. Needles? I think a better name would be scratches

My tattoo artist was Cheo. As an artist, he is OK. Especially if you come with your own design that doesn’t need any changes. However, if you want any input from your tattoo artist, any changes to your design — he is the worst. He wouldn’t give me any advice at all. He didn’t seem friendly. Once I explained what kind of tattoo I wanted and showed him some samples, he basically just combine a couple of them (no original work) and showed me only outlines, not full design. But the worst part is he just doesn’t care and doesn’t pay attention to details. So, he made a mistake in my tattoo, which took two more sessions to correct. Not a good experience at all.

So far two thirds complete with my owl tattoo. Will update review when the rest is complete. Posted a video in the meantime.

I had a small tattoo made at East Side Ink earlier this week… Overall a decent experience but never saw such a snob hipster attitude in any other place in NYC! OK, I did only a small wrist tattoo but it still pays their bills, no?
Instead, the receptionist and the artist were joking about it all the time (in front of me!) when he was preparing his needles, talking about «tramp stamp» or «only little stars today». Really?!
I work for an advertising creative agency and I can easily work on any sort of project, from SuperBowl commercials to little subway billboards, everything can be a chance to express creativity!
Also, please be more original guys! The receptionist looked like a mix between the girl with the dragon tattoo and Abby from N.C.I.S. …If you want to keep an attitude at least don’t be so stereotyped!

I literally just got my tattoo here. It was a good job done by Angela, she was sweet but it was hard to position my body to get my arm done a certain way. So there was a little miscommunication there. But other than that I am happy with the work. And give her 4 stars! The service, in particular, the receptionist was horrible. She was very rude and cold. Although the tattoo experience wasn’t necessarily bad the experience of the whole service wasn’t pleasant. I called in advance to get a minimum estimate and was told $ 100, the tattoo took less than 1 hr. When I came up to pay she quoted $ 140 plus I had to tip my tattoo artist $ 20. The whole hour was $ 160 and I wasn’t happy with the time I spent there. Overall the job was done well. But the customer experience sucked so bad I would not recommend ever going here if that matters to you.

Living in East Village, I am spoiled by the number the amazing ramen places and tattoo shops it seems. After extensive online research, I decided on East Side Ink after looking at their profile. I wanted to get a quote from the Little Prince in French tattooed on my ribcage and some of their artists had great line work. I called the shop on a Saturday and was set up with Angela de Rosette for an appointment the next night. I showed up with pictures of the quote I wanted and the font. Angela was able to help me position it and size it so it’s readable but also small. The tattoo itself hurt pretty bad since it’s the ribs but Angela worked pretty fast. All in all I think it took about 15 min and the end product is amazing. The lines are very dark and perfectly straight. It looked like it was printed on my skin. I love it more and more every day I have it.
The place is a bit pricey. It was $ 140 for my tattoo and it was 2 lines of words with a couple stars. However I felt for the quality, it was worth the price.

So, I have been tatted here before, along with another friend and the experience was great. However, we brought a friend this weekend and the shop person was awful. The tattoo artist was really great, but the shop person is the person that explains all the aftercare and explains the pricing so they are your first encounter with the space. (I do not know their gender– so I will be using gender neutral pronouns for the shop person). So, my friend was given the price of her tattoo before she had the tattoo done. The shop person said «around $ 125». My friend gets a very small tattoo that takes about 25 minutes. When my friend goes to pay– they only take cash so she leaves to go to the ATM and takes out $ 125– when she returns– the shop person tells my friend that she did not take out enough– the tat is $ 150. My friend tells her that she was not upfront about this cost. I, then ask what made it $ 150? And the shop person says the time and size. YOU HAVE TO TELL PEOPLE THIS UP FRONT. It literally just seemed like the shop person was just making this up.
But let’s back track– before my friend got the tat– the shop person is going over the after care and we (friends with tattoos) are chiming in about what you can do at the beach and such. The shop person interjects and says «do not ever listen to your friends about tattoos». Now, I can see where she was coming from if we were not standing right there. But we were standing right there. There is a way that you speak to customers to acknowledge and validate what they say while also taking care of them and this was not it. The shop person then goes on to say that they do not always use lotion because they are allergic to everything so there are ways around the after care. So, there are ways around the after care but do not listen to your friends who also have tattoos??? What!??
I would not get a tattoo from this place if you have to interact with this person. They will be very short when it comes to explaining after care for a tattoo and give you an ESTIMATE of a price when you are paying.
Finally, we were told that only one friend could support our friend while she was getting a tattoo at a time. But, guess who else would wander to my friends space where she was getting the tattoo to provide insights and nonsense: SHOP PERSON. How does this make sense?
Plenty of tattoo places in the area. Shop around before you just go to the place you thought you loved.
–E

overall my tattoo experience was great. the only thing i do have to complain about is the wait time. I got there at 6:15 and my appointment was at 6:30. I had to wait until 7:30 until speaking with my tattoo artist Cesar because he has 3 consultations before seeing me. I was annoyed! the receptionist was also very unfriendly, did not smile once while she spoke to me.
BUT the tattoo itself and cesar was GREAT! he was detailed oriented, did exactly what i wanted and gave me his own advice on how to make sure i got what i wanted.

Angela is the best !! A brilliant artist ! Did mine and I get compliments everywhere I go ! You’ll be lucky to have her as your artist

Please e mail me at
about old tattoo
Would prefer t talk rather than write a review cause u guys are awsome but need to say bout experience

I came here a couple years back for my first tattoo. It was a great experience so why not? Came back again. WELL I SHOULDNT HAVE. I called before hand to confirm the prices. It’s 200 an hour, $ 100 minimum. Ok I thought, since im getting Arabic script, it shouldn’t be long. It would probably be between 30 – 60 mins at most. I made an appointment and came in to get inked. I finished my tattoo in 30 mins, went to the receptionist to pay, thinking it would be around 100 minimum. And the receptionist woman which was extremely rude, said $ 240. I asked her nicely, I was under the impression it would be around 100ish. She said no, I don’t know what you’re talking about. Rolled her eyes and said he wanted to charge you 250. Small stuff is «hard.» Are you kidding me… Hard. Anyways, she rolled her eyes at me and said «ok $ 200. Figured you wouldn’t have change.» I feel completely ripped off and I would never come back again. $ 200 for something that took 30 minutes with no shading or any technique other than black ink… I went from a 5 star rating a few years back to a 0 star, but unfortunately that isn’t an option on Unilocal.
** future customers: make sure you get an average price quote BEFORE you start getting inked.

Blondie with the tattoo sleeves at the front desk should be replaced. I was excited to get my next piece done and she ruined my experience. Didn’t even apologize for her mistakes. Then she proceeded to tell me my artist needs 3 hours to complete my piece. The actual image is definitely not going to take more than an hour and a half, your pushing it if it is 2 hours. If this is your way of increasing your sales, by milking your customers, good luck.

Another long overdue review!
I got my second tattoo at East Side Ink as well as a touch up on my first one, and I was very happy with the service and the result.
My brother and I came here when he visited me in New York back in November of 2014. He was getting his first tattoo and he wanted it to be detailed and realistic, so he had done some research and felt that East Side Ink would be a good fit for him so I tagged along.
Both our tattoo artists took good care of us and listed to our wishes. We are both very happy with the result and could not have found a better place.
Yes, East Side Ink might be more on the expensive side, however they do take great care of their costumers and try to mach you with an artist that fits the style of the tattoo you want. In the end you pay for a great result that will last your whole life so it is worth the money.
The place is clean and intimate and has some nice leather couches to hang out on while you wait (if you go with someone).
Keep in mind that this is a cash only place! There is a local neighborhood store right across the street with and ATM, but it has a $ 200 limit for each withdrawal.

This is my 5^th tattoo and it’s a thing I always take very serious, because of the fact that it stays forever and I want it to look exactly the way I want it. I did research and this place came up. I went there and choose a person by looking into their booklets!
Now, my tattoo came out good, however not the way I really wanted to have it!
I choose Raul Suarez and that was my mistake! He has a huge attitude! So be careful when you end up with him. He is a great artist but his communication skills are non existent. The day I went to look at his drawing he said one thing about a change I asked about, the other day, when I was finally there to get the tattoo, it was not possible anymore.
When we finally sat down to start the tattoo, we ended up arguing about one thing I thought we had decided on beforehand as well. I don’t want to argue with the person making my tattoo WHILE he’s making it!
When he was done, he just cleaned it and walked away! That was it!
It left the whole experience, which is supposed to be a fun adventure, to be something with a bad after taste! It is really too bad he made it that way!
What can I say? I should have walked away on him when we started to argue before he started his work! I really should have!
The place is good though and I don’t actually like to give it only 2 stars! It’s really only because of Raul that I can’t give it 5 stars! The others were great and I will actually go back to get another tattoo!

Needles is amazing. We pulled up a design from the web and I think he made it even better. My chicken is the perfect memorial for our special friend from last summer

Even though my tattoo was going to be small and hidden I still wanted it to be perfect. I was debating between here and 1 other place, but ultimately decided on here because the line work was amazing and precise.
I called to make an appointment and the lady who answered the phone was friendly and helped me schedule with Caesar. I was really excited because I had seen some of his work on Instagram and was impressed. (Also, my dog’s name is Caesar so I was like this is fate)
This place is SO nice. A beautiful over sized leather couch is inviting and it isn’t too crowded with clutter. Very classy. Anyway, I came with a friend because I am terrified of needles/​pain/​blood (haha everything a tattoo involves) and also because I was getting it on the back of my neck so needed her to tell me if it was straight/​looked good/​etc. It was also my first one, so I needed a little support.
Caesar did an amazing job, its perfectly centered, the pigment is fantastic and its a really delicate feminine piece. Even though our conversation was limited he was a very nice person. He helped ease my fears about the pain. And he was totally right! No pain!
I would HIGHLY recommend this place!
Thanks so much Caesar!

Let me start off by saying NEEDLES is Freaking AMAZING. if you explain to him exactly what you want he will do it 10x’s better than what you can imagine having. He is very detailed with his art work and talented. I cant see myself going to another tattoo shop since no one can compare to Needles.!!.

In town from Los Angeles. I was referred to East Side Ink by a bouncer at Three Monkeys Bar (see review). Walked in and was greeted by smiling faces! It was a toss up between Drew and Caesar to do my «Yankees» tribute to my first trip to NYC. Both were very patient and professional. Caesar Bacchus was my artist. Quick and clean! Shop was clean & friendly! Great way to culminate my trip!

This review is extremely tardy but have to show love to east side ink. I have 2 tattoos, both from east side ink, and I wear them both with such pride and love. My only regret is that I can’t see the one on the back of my neck!
I had rough ideas of what I wanted but not an exact design prior to getting both. The artists took the time to understand what I wanted and helped me to choose size and placement.
Shout out to Jonah Ellis. I had about 100 different photos of feathers and he drew one exactly to my requests/​vague direction. The detail is amazing and it’s exactly what I didn’t know I wanted. He also was really honest about his opinions on placement and size which is awesome. Love knowing I can go to someone who won’t do bad work. Gotta trust someone putting permanent ink on your body.
My second time there I didn’t have an appointment and they were able to get me in same-​day on a really busy one. So appreciated. Will be back very soon!

I got my tattoo here in June 2012 and it still looks incredible. As many people before me have done, I researched the hell out of salon in NYC before getting my first tattoo and based on reviews and the art displayed on the website, East Side Ink rose to the top of the list. Josh seemed best suited as he is known (based on reviews) as being «good with fine detail» and I’d been dragging an old folded copy of a picture of a finely detailed tree and was determined to find someone up to the challenge.
The minute Josh and I met I knew I wanted him to do my tattoo! What a gentle soul! Someone who made me feel even more excited about my tattoo than before. I found out that he is also the owner and had been doing this for 10+ years which made me feel even better. I came to find out that he wouldn’t have an opening until two months later, and though I was disappointed I wouldn’t have instant gratification, it was a further indication he was well sought after!
HE WAS AMAZING and worth the wait. My best friend came with me and we had a blast. He was skilled, patient, kind, funny, and focused. Clearly a pro. My experience was excellent. Whenever we took a break he would have us walk around and view every other artists work and was invested in supporting and encouraging all customers and staff alike.
The tattoo itself is excellent and healed perfectly. Even though it is on my upper inner arm (bicep) the pain wasn’t nearly as bad as I thought and Josh was careful to be clean, gentle and explained everything he was doing. I felt very taken care of and like I was in good hands — someone you can trust!
The prices are real high, but it’s worth it as far as I’m concerned. It’s on your body forever, folks. Pay for it.