Imperial Barbershop

The guy who shave my head did not know what he was doing left hairs on the back of my head and on my neck. Don’t call it a barber shop if you cant do a decent shave. Not all the guys are bad a lot of great haircuts. DON’T GO THERE FOR A SHAVE

Yes this place is cool.

I am a stickler for good customer service. You can have the best business in town, but if the customer service is shitty, your business is crap in my book. First off, the haircut skills. I’m sure that some of these guys do an excellent job, but the one I went to was crap. He f’d up my son’s hair. He set his wig a couple inches back, which I did not appreciate. I believe the guy’s name was Kevin. I was actually told not to go to him, but it was too late by the time I realized that it was him who cut my son’s hair. F’d my son’s hair up!
Customer Service: NO ONE greets you when you walk in. As a matter of fact, when you walk in there, they look at you like you’re bothering THEM! I find that quite odd. Their attitudes are terrible. They always seem to be in a funky mood. I thought things were bad at some beauty salons, but it is just as worse at some barbershops. Why is it so hard to find a decent barbershop… smh

This place is a hidden gem. The barbers can all cut and have you looking tight. I took my son today and Cameron was patient with him which I appreciated. If you have kids, you know what I mean. The wait is not long and I found my new barbershop and Cam is my guy now.

Hard to miss on Imperial. Today was my 1^st time goen to a black folk barber shop. When I got there I was advised the cut wud cost $ 20.00.
The attention to detail was so good I had no problem adding a tip. There was good music in the background and the facility was clean. They open by 7am but for sure by 8am.
They are close to the trolley, bus stop and near 805 fwy. A local young man even entertained me with freestyle rap. I had a great time.
There is nothing wrong with being cotious with managing your funds but don’t cheat yourself of a good haircut.

This is a true Barber Shop, complete with great talent barbers, hip hop tracks playing in the background, requisite pictures of great pro-​athletes past, lively conversations on all manner of topics, and a friendly vibe! On walking in, it reminded me of my most cherished barber shop experiences growing up. I especially appreciate the light bright color scheme. It’s always clean, well staffed and well maintained throughout the day. The barbers do a good job keeping the cutting tools disinfected and clean for each customer.
Once you step up to the shop, you can walk to the left or right side of the shop. I recommend you walk right and ask for Kenny. Better yet, call ahead and book an appointment to save time.
Kenny was highly recommended by a local friend and I learned why first hand. If you are new, be sure to explain your preferred cut instructions best you can. I ended up asking my old barber in Dallas’s Fade Shop for a technical explanation including description of clipper head numbers and directions of cutting against the grain.
The first cut was very good, but after I gave more detailed instructions a couple weeks later, the outcome was top notch! I can now Unilocal that I found myself a true barber in San Diego! He listens, takes his time, and is not distracted during the hair cut. Very much appreciate no side conversations, cell phone calls, texts, etc… It’s all about me for that time. Golden!!! The cuts are reasonably priced and include getting your facial hair trimmed and lined up too.
The shop in the Encanto neighborhood is safe and easily accessible by I-​805. Well worth the drive for a top notch barber specialized in cutting Black hair. You’ll need to street park on Imperial Ave, but there are usually empty spaces nearby. If arriving by public transit, there is a MTS train station (Encanto/​62^nd St Trolley Stn) within walking distance, about a quarter mile away.

The only barber shop I go to be sure to make an appointment lines are very long or just come early and please don’t be mad if someone shows up after you and gets his hair cut before you in sure he had an appointment

I’ve visited this shop twice. I have two young sons. I feel bad that I don’t even know the young man’s name who has cut their hair on the two occasions I’ve visited. His chair is the second chair on the left hand side. He is VERY patient with my two year old and his hair, which grows in unevenly naturally, always looks great. This past Friday, 7/​1, he even cut my one year old’s hair and it looked great as well. The wait wasn’t long and having great patience for a mom with two young boys goes a long way. I will be back and thank them for their professionalism. The only star I’m knocking off is for the DVD about Frank Lucas that was playing at the time. Inappropriate when young children are present in my opinion. Also, one of the barbers used profanity in front of my child. Just one word, but still… being present and aware of children is big in my book.

I wanted to like this place. Especially since the reviews were so good… but I think you have to know the barbers there in order to get hooked up with a good cut. I brought my son here on the Saturday before Easter because he needed a fade. I had called before hand and the person I spoke with said that walk ins were fine. I even asked if he recommended anyone in particular and he said everyone was good, so I felt ok about coming as a new customer. We got there, we were greeted and told to sit and wait for someone to be available. There were 5 guys working that day, and a lot of people waiting. Repeat customers for some of them, I’m sure, because I kept seeing people come in an being told by 4 of the guys that they had people waiting. After waiting for about 10 min, I was asked if I was waiting for anyone specific… when I told him no, because we had never been there before, we were directed to the guy in the back corner who didn’t have a line of folks waiting. Again, because of the good reviews I wasn’t concerned. I don’t remember his name, I wanna say Terrance? But I’m not exactly sure. My son asked for a bald fade, and when he got done it looked alright… not as clean as the guy we normally go to, but he’s always hard to get a hold of so I was hoping to find a new spot where we could just go anytime and get a fresh cut. The fact that they’re located near my house was a plus. My disappointment came when my son’s hair started to grow out. It looked AWFUL. It was uneven, and his head looked like a porcupine while it grew out. It’s taken up until now for my son’s hair to look decent, and now that it’s time for another haircut we will not be going back to Imperial Barbershop again.

Wow, I can’t believe these guys don’t have any reviews for them. I am honored to be the first then because this is the place to get your haircut!
Especially if you’re African-​American and new to town like I was, its so hard trying to find a good African-​American barbershop when you’re new to a city because its hard to google such a place.
Luckily for me, my roommate recommended this place and I haven’t gone to any other barbershops even though its a bit of a travel for me to get there. Its worth it, these guys know what they are doing, the shop is very open as in the space, the air flowing in from outside and what have you.
I am about to take the bus, which is an hour long trip, just to get the haircut because they do a wonderful job.
Edit: And they’re open on Sundays, which I don’t think I’ve ever found a barbershop to be open today, good stuff!

Great group of barbers! They frequently serve the community and this shop also has a lot of influence in local politics, and politicians aren’t living up to their promises.
I’ve been going there for a long time, and the staff is quite professional. I would suggest giving them a shot, they can do regular cuts and specialized styles. I used to go to a place downtown and get my hair cut for $ 5. I then realized that I was getting what I paid for.