An An Hair Salon

They don’t know what products they use and they don’t even try to understand your request. Just like your hair is not a big deal

TL;DR: DON’T WASTE YOUR TIME. DO NOT GO HERE.
I’ve never written a review in my life, but I’ve also never left a place in tears.
THE FULL EXPERIENCE:
I first went in, with a friend, asking for the cost of highlights and a cut for long hair. They told me it was $ 60 for the highlights and $ 9 for the cut. I told them that I did not have enough cash and that I would come back. They told me that they accepted cards. The woman continuously pressured us to sit done to get our hair done there. We asked if we could see magazines to find a better picture than the ones we had on our phones. They insisted that they had all kinds of colors, not something we asked. We walked towards the back where the samples were, BUT she refused to give it to us to pick the colors. She hurried us to our seats before we could properly explain what we wanted. At this point, I was kind of hesitant being there, but I also figured, if this place had stayed open for this long, they probably know what they were doing. THEY DO NOT.
The first thing they did was the cut. I told him I wanted to trim it about half an inch because I wanted to keep the length. He said okay and began to cut off about 2 inches. He then thinned out the bottom of my hair to make up for the incredibly blunt cuts, which took away about another inch. By the time he was done, I lost a good chunk of my hair.
Not once did he ask what I wanted my hair to look like. I show him a picture and asked if I could get it to look that way. A dark brown balayage ombré. I did however tell him that I wanted the lightest color on my head to be the midtoned brown in the picture. He said, «You want it to be that short?» I told him no I want it to be this color but NOT to make it as light as the picture. He agreed and began mix the dye. I told him I wanted the color to be dark so that it would look more natural on my black hair. He said «Darker? Okay.» Then he added something into the dye and began to put the dye in my hair. During the process, I told him again that I wanted it to be dark brown. After finishing and having the dye sit, he pulled a fork out of his drawer and began to eat lunch. I sat there waiting until he returned to finish my hair. He unfolded one of the foils (which is not actually the legitimate balayage technique) and ask me if he should take the foils off now. If the color was right. This was the first time I had ever gotten my hair dyed. HOW WOULD I KNOW? HE’S THE BARBER. DON’T ASK ME IF IT’S READY. YOU TELL ME! Under all of the dye, I could no see what the color was too clearly. But I saw my hair was getting lighter and thought, sure it’s time to remove it, believing that if I had kept it longer, it would only continue to lighten my hair.
He then brought me to the back to wash my hair, but I already had a terrible feeling about how my hair was going to look. During the wash, he was incredibly careless and rough. I felt like my head and hair were being attacked.
We returned to the cutting the station and I stared at my hair in utter disbelief. THERE WERE BLONDE STREAKS IN MY HAIR. IT WAS NOT THE DARK BROWN OMBRE I ASKED FOR. My friends finished early and could see could how upset I was through the mirror, and the guy doing my hair saw it too when he asked what I thought. I told him I wanted the top to be darker and the bottom to be lighter so that it would fade into the color. He said, «No. Lighter on the top and darker on the bottom.» I said, «But I wanted it to be darker on the top and lighter on the bottom.» He said, «No, that’s not how its done. Light on top and dark on the bottom.» WELL THAT’S NOT WHAT I WANTED. THAT’S NOT EVEN CLOSE TO THE PICTURE. And it was the same tone throughout the strand. There were multiple blonde streaks down my head that stood out against my black hair.
My friend talked them into giving me a discount for not giving me what I wanted. Right after I paid, my mom walked by and saw me crying. She immediately came in and began arguing with everybody working there. They kept saying that I looked great and that I was crying because my mom was complaining even though I was crying before she came in. The lady then blamed me for not telling them exactly what I wanted and that I couldn’t communicate it clearly because I was born here and couldn’t speak proper Cantonese, which made my mom snap. I showed them a picture of what I wanted and they saw what was wrong. They then assured me that the color looked like an ombré because they let their hair grow out, even though you could clearly see the salon in the background. The women tried to explain it to the guy who dyed my hair, yet he still didn’t understand what I wanted. LOOK AT THE DAMN PICTURE.
They agreed to «fix» it by dyeing the top half black. At the end, the lady said, «Don’t forget to tip the guy that fixed your hair. You look pretty!» in the sassiest tone.
I ended up going to Walgreens, picking up a box of hair dye, and having my friend do it for me.

Had my hair dyed yesterday for $ 58.
I was in and out within an hour. The lady who dyed my hair was trying to get me to pay more with an oil treatment, which I didn’t like. I had to ask her to stop asking me because she was too persistent.
The man who was instructing the lady who dyed my hair was very nice. I felt very comfortable with him even though there was a slight language barrier.
Overall it was okay! I would come back!

This place is very. let’s just say it in the most polite way… terrible.
Asked for washing and cutting. NOPE. They are not going to give you a wash before the cut, what a joke. The barber insists me cut first because an employee is busy washing another customer’s hair.
I only wanted a very simple haircut, which contains no style at all but just to cut it short. This middle-​age barber spent lass than 10 mins to do it. He wasn’t putting any effort but only wants to get it done. But I did get a pretty nice hair wash afterward.
$ 12 for the wash and cut, that’s fine. I was going to give the barber a dollar as tips although I really don’t want to give him. Here it comes the woman who washed my hair staring at my money and asking for the tips. So i ask how much should I give, she said $ 1 for her and $ 1 for the barber. Sounds like a joke to me, normal barber shop give two hair washes and at least 20 mins to cut it good, this place doesn’t even do it PROPERLY and ASKED for tips. $ 14 spent to learn my lesson.
After I got home, notice that some random longer hairs are hanging out of the borderline, I knew this is going to happen because he didn’t use scissor and hair comb to clean up the extra. What’s WORSE is that he didn’t even use to razor to trim the neck hair. So i ended at facing the mirror at home, spending 10 mins trying to fix those things.
I am going back to my usual barber shop next time, to feel being respected and have my money well spent.
This review is here for you so you don’t have to go through the same $h!t !!!

Ask for Sandy (the owner) or her husband, and you’ll get stellar service. Ideally, speak Cantonese if you can, and avoid any upsells (facials, etc.).
For $ 18, shampoo and cut was a steal. I was impressed how Sandy actually spent 5 min blow drying my hair & using a straightening iron (yes, the kind for Japanese hair straightening) to straighten my hair before a layered cut.
I hadn’t been here for two years, yet it’s like I had never left. I previously came here for Japanese hair straightening years ago, yet found 5 hrs (while they cut others’ hair) vs. 2.5 hrs in my fav Korean hair salon in Midtown Manhattan a much better alternative for straightening (albeit I am fairly bi-​coastal).
Overall, bang for the Chinatown buck, I like An An & was able to get a great cut, no reservations, on a sunny SF Saturday.

This place is a complete disaster. nobody there can speak english properly. And they FORCE you to do stuff that are reeeeaally costy. i went there to trim and dye my hair with my mom. After i dye my hair, an asian lady washed my hair. She kept talking me in cantonese and i didn’t understand a word she was saying. I told her f**king A THOUSAND TIME that we don’t speak cantonese in mandarin. she didn’t seem to care and kept speaking in cantonese. and while she was washing my hair, she brought us two bottles of hair products and what i believe she was telling us «hawt oil — $ 30» with an very heavy accent. i thought she was just trying to recommend and sell those bottles which turned out to be the products that are used for the steamers. so my mom and i were like looking at those bottles and said nothing as we figured she couldn’t understand english and mandarin anyways., and she dumped some of those products WITHOUT my permission and put me in the hair steamer. I was like WTF? We asked the nice lady who cut mom’s hair what the asian lady was doing. She said that lady was trying to steam your hair and that would cost 30 bucks. Hell no! I refused to steam my hair and told the nice lady that the asian lady kept speaking in cantonese and that she does whatever she wants without asking us. And the asian lady and the nice lady were arguing and fighting verbally. And the freaking asian lady wouldn’t admit her fault and was blaming everyone. And she left me there with all the product on my hair for like 10 mins… At the end of the day, we tipped the nice lady and that asain lady still want some tip -.- wtf? Seriously? After all the worst service i have ever had in my life? It’s like officially robbing people with the license. I wouldn’t go to that shitty place in any second of my life again!

This hair salon is one of the best places to get a haircut! Although a haircut used to cost $ 5 + $ 1 tip = $ 6, but it now costs $ 6 + $ 1 tip = $ 7!
The cost of a haircut has risen by $ 1 or $ 2 over the last decade. I came here for my haircut today and paid $ 7 for it, which is just the same price if I go to Verna Beauty Salon Pacific Ave & Powell St!
I’d only be paying $ 20-​$ 30 if I came in here to get a haircut, wash and blow dry my hair!
There are plenty of hair salons in Chinatown, this is the second hair salon I’ve gotten a haircut from when I am in Chinatown! It doesn’t even make much of a difference to which one you get your haircut from! The most important part is getting the haircut you want and the cutting style of every barber is also a very considerable factor. The price is a dependent factor which varies from one hair salon to the next!
This place is a few doors from the post office on Stockton St & Clay St so this makes any trip to the post office easy whenever you have any postal transactions to take care of!
Café Honolulu is across the street from here so if you are hungry, then come here to get something to eat before/​after you get a haircut!
Overall, this place is quite decent since a haircut for under $ 10 — a decent price so I am coming here again to get a haircut next time!

I love Pauline. She did a great job straightening my naturally wavy hair. I was hesitant to go to An An because of the reviews for the place, but I’m happy with who/​what I got. I went in on a Friday afternoon around 2pm and left at 5pm. We didn’t talk much because I told her that I was ABC and my Cantonese was less than perfect (it’s not that bad, just wasn’t feeling friendly).
What really notched that extra star was the constant selling of other stuff. There was this one lady (don’t know her name), who really kept bugging me about my moles (beauty marks?). She kept telling me that she could zap them off for $ 10 each.
It definitely helps to speak some Chinese here and if you can ignore the sales ploys, it’s a cheap place to get your hair done.

I took my family to San Francisco to watch the Chinese New Year Parade, and before the parade started we went to some restaurant for dim sum… the waiter had a great hair cut. Naturally, I wrestled him to the ground to get the name of his stylist — which he wrote, in what I’m guessing is Mandarin on a napkin. He said it was called An An and told me to find the post office, so off I go with my two older boys and my friend to find the place.
We go in and show the girl the napkin and she says «yes» and takes my son to a chair. Now I’m pretty sure she’s not the right stylist, but I’m feeling daring. My hair was a hot mess, and «Bobby» noticed and asked if I wanted a hair cut.
Please bear in mind that I usually go to Faux, Invidia, or even spendier places, routinely paying 60 bucks and well up for a hair cut.
Bobby gave me a very edgy «fashion forward» hair cut and charged me $ 7.
Both boys look fine — Jenny did theirs.
Perhaps not the precision hair cut I might get at some places, but really cute and trendy.
I’ll be risking it again thanks. My savings paid for the dim sum AND the bleacher seats.
Worth the drive from SJ.

Cheap 5 dollar hair cut. I don’t have that hair. Its look ok.

This was a nightmare! I was suckered into this place by my grandmother. She’s a regular here (shampoo n dry for $ 5).
I saw this picture on the wall and I loved the look. Redish brown hair, layered with curls on the bottom. I HAD thick straight black hair down to my waste. The lady said she can do it. I said «if you can style my hair to look exactly like this minus the color, then let’s do it!»
My hair was shampooed and washed. I was sat down n all of a sudden SWIPE, a six inch lock of hair on my lap. WTF!!! Not what I expected! After butchering my hair, she claims she’s done.
I refused to walk out of there looking like this… Where’s the curls??? This looks like a hot mess!!! So after my mother has a discussion with her about how my hair looks nothing like the picture. The woman agrees to curl it, AFTER she’s done styling her next customer… WTF!!!
After much frustration, I just let her continue… She curled the ends n it looked very similar to the picture. But with out the curls it’s awful!!!
What did I get my self into???
A week later I went to DivaInternational! They said the cut was great, it just needs to be styled correctly!
So I guess it was all worth 20 bucks but customer service sucks! I don’t plan to return!

I can only speak about one stylist here, but I love her. Lily cuts my hair once a month to perfection. I go for an army/​industrial cut, which is a style that is very easy to get wrong, and every time she comes out with clean lines and smooth gradients.
If I went to a hipster hairdresser they would ‘soften’ up this style too much, and the fact that a mature lady from Hong Kong has found the perfect balance makes me really happy.
Ask for Lily!

just walk away. I know that tempting sign that crosses out the $ 10 and puts in the affordable price of just $ 5. And while this is tempting and a seemingly great deal. it’s NOT. Just not worth it.
My friend comes here often because it’s SO cheap but she comes out crying… they mess up her bangs EVERY single time! It’s unfortunate. Plus they get distracted when customers come in and rush you out.
I used to come here ALL the time because my mom likes a good deal but NO I do not want to risk a month of bad hair.

Oi. so I have not input my 2 cents about this place…
ehhe… where to start.
1. I was here a two years ago. I got a very quiet, yet professional hairstylist. The poor stylist however, i BET suFFers psychological verbal abuse from the MAN boss. The i had a picture of the star, and i wanted my hair to be like, and she did a excellent job, trimming, and perming my hair.
However, the whole time she was doing her thang… the MAN boss. (you would totally know who he is…) is by her ear… buzzing: don’t cut her hair, leave it, the perm should come off, no it should stay longer, how long did you put the set in for. blah blah blah blah. I was so annoyed I nearly told him to shut his trap. eventually, when i got done, I tipped her really well, because I was really satisfy with her work, and felt really bad for KING BEE buzzing in her ear the whole time. I don’t think she work’s there no more. and I am so PROUD of her.
Anyways, I wanted to input my own two cents as I just walked passed the man boss, and mmm hmm, that rude man, just straight bumped/​pushed passed me, while littering sunflower seeds, and spitting on the streets! YUCK. right? ! YES indeed, this guy needs his lesson learned. I hope his underlings, would be able to find better salons to work at… I feel sorry for them working there.

I come here cause it’s cheap. $ 5 bucks a haircut only! Try to avoid the boss lady. She cuts hair in less than five minutes. Seems like they spend more time on people who get their hair washed than those that don’t. Don’t come here if you have high expectations, but it’s decent

ive been going here forever. they always do my hair the way i like it =] & super nice 2 me
$ 5 haircuts = yayy!!!
this place’s stylists come and go
i can recall at LEAST 3 other stylists who have worked here before who now own their own salons in chinatown including that small new place right across the street. (the fact that they havnt closed down yet means theyre trained pretty well here i guess…)
i can also recall at least 3 other stylists who work at other salons elsewhere in the city.
ask for sandy (boss lady), shes the best ^-^ but shes also really busy and often only does customers shes acquainted with

Honestly, there’s not much you can do to mess up my hair. Just wanted layers ending in a pointed V shape with side bangs.
They were having a $ 5 haircut only sale (+2 since my hair is long…) and i thought, why not give it a try? My hair is impossible to f up anyways. So i went in with no expectations.
I wanted asymmetrical bangs so i pointed to a picture of a model and the lady that helped me said that it would look really odd so I chose another picture. Note: my bangs already sort of looked like it but it was more pronounced and much shorter in the picture.
After the layers (okay, could be better… not very «V» shaped at all) she went to the bangs and… basically cut twice and put down her scissors. I had to tell her that I wanted much shorter (like the picture) and actually into bangs. Still, the actual haircut went over well and I got complimented at work the next day so I guess she did something correctly. Can’t beat it for around $ 9 tips included.
I went in with no expectations and walked out basically the same way.

For the price I got suckered into getting the facial package. I’m a sucker for a good deal! 10 treatments for $ 360 with extractions. You can’t beat that!
I’ve gone to Asian facialist before so I wasn’t that worried about it. Eva and Sukee were great, if they worked any where else I would consider going back, but the boss and his wife are so pushy. It’s all about the sale for them. On my 9^th treatment I decided I wasn’t going back for my last one, due to the fact that I was pressured into signing up for another package. I finally told the girl I didn’t have any money on me and that I would do it next time. I hate to lie, but honestly that ruined it for me.
Sukee is supper nice, I wish her all the best and hope she doesn’t get yelled at for not making the sale.
If you can handle the pressure and need to get a bit pampered sign up, it’s not a bad price and they do spend a lot of time on you. But if you hate being solicitated this reallly isn’t the place for you.

So… this was an okay priced place to go… So i stepped in… wanting a bit of a trim. i was greeted nicely… got my hair washed. and boy they dont spend alot of time on it. sooo i let that go… the lady who was cutting my hair seemed to be mighty inexperienced… and so i let that go cuz she wa really nice and was spending a lot of time on me. But the BOSS was being soooo mean.. kept on rushing her!. soo as much as i wanted to tip the lady… i didnt because the boss was an a$$.
–x3 shells

I had an appointment with the owner for a haircut. Anyway, she was working on some girl (read more $$$) who had a thing a majig hooked up to her hair like Bride of Frankenstein so she pawned me off on one of her underlings.
The underling cut my hair too short. :(It’s ok but it’s not how I preferred it. Oh well, I have a ½ year to decide where to go next (it takes that long to grow out my hair???). Definitely won’t be here!