Grateful Head

This place is a joke! I called a week in advance to schedule an appointment with Karen for hair coloring. A woman answered the phone (with a Russian accent) I told her I was calling a week ahead of time to schedule an appointment with Karen for hair coloring. She said «no problem». I asked her if I should call back to speak with Karen regarding the appointment. The woman said it was not necessary as she would schedule it in, in Karen’s schedule.
I showed up the following week at 2pm for my scheduled appointment. Not only did Karen show up 30 minutes late but had bumped into her friends on her way in.
As she was told by a co –worker that I had been waiting on her, she looked at me confused. I advised her I had a 2pm appointment for hair coloring with her. She looked at my hair with disappointment and said «that would take hours and hours and hours» to do. (My hair is up to the middle of my back). She said I can’t do that right now I have appointments. I asked her «Well what can u do?». She said «highlights but not dye your hair».
Omg. I told her that is not what I wanted and informer her I had called a week in advance to scheduled an appointment with her for hair coloring. She looked at me with a snobby look and said she was not aware of any appointment and then began signaling to her friends (the same ones she had bumped into on her way in) that she can now cut their hair.
She then told me to go ask one of the other stylist to do my hair since they may have extra time .
This was completely rude of Karen, she completely brushed me off to somebody else in order to calm her anxiety of cutting her friends hair (who were drop ins by the way). Mind u, I drove in a storm, circled to find parking, and left my son with a sitter to get to the appointment on time.
I then again informed her I had a 2pm appointment and she looked at me and said «had no clue» and called her friends over to her chair.
What kind of place is this! Not only was she so rude and brushed me off to another stylist but ran to make time for her friends. This is not a business. Whoever is answering the phones does not know what they are doing. They can not tell people they are scheduled in then not schedule them. This place is a joke and I vowed to never returned to this place again. Karen is a completely rude stylist. Save your money people, pick a respectful professional place instead!

I have been going to the salon for over a year now and although my visits are few and far between, I always look forward to coming in and getting my hair cut from Karen. She is a natural and can translate any ideas I have for her concerning my hair into a killer haircut/​style. I’m always impressed by the staff in the salon: their friendly demeanors, the immaculate cutting floors, their ability to keep service good and speedy. Ask for Karen when you sign in– you won’t regret it!

I’ve been going to Karen for years, and she gets it right. When I got a haircut I liked, I had a friend take photos of the front, back and sides. They photos are on file there, and she uses them as a guide for how I want my hair to look. She does seem to have an essential tremor in her hands, but as far as I’m concerned it doesn’t seem to affect her work. I get a consistent cut. I always check if she’s available before going in.

This is just about the worst haircut I have ever gotten. All I wanted was a trim, I didn’t know it would be too difficult for my stylist. Actually, I wouldn’t even call her a stylist. She must be an alcoholic by the way her hands SHAKE as she’s cutting your hair. She insisted I take all the damage off which is, alright, but she takes off 4.5 inches. There was certainly not 4.5 inches of damage. I have worked and waited so long for my hair to reach the length it had, and she completely ruined it. I feel so sad and angry. She doesn’t even wash your hair, she cuts it DRY and wetting it periodically with a squirt bottle. AWFUL. She doesn’t even bother to fully comb out the hair, either. I didn’t know how bad my hair was until I styled it straight. It’s longer on one side. SHe also cut very thick hair completely blunt. Please never go here unless you’re a guy and just need a buzz cut. I can’t believe I was charged $ 20 for the worst haircut of my life. I feel ripped-​off and tricked. LAZY. INCOMPETENT. I wish I had read the other reviews here before she ruined a year’s worth of beautiful growth. Effing Crooks. Read less

If you want consistency you will do well here. I am Linda’s client and though my hair takes a long time to do, she is always accomodating with my schedule and does a good job each time. The other staff is similarly friendly, effective when a client knows what they want, and usually available for walk-​in cuts every day of the week.

I’ve been getting haircuts from Linda for 20 years, including the last ten years or so that she has been at the Grateful Head. Linda cuts my hair better than anyone ever has. It just plain looks better, and my family and friends tell me that all the time. I have never had a bad haircut form her. It has always been exactly the way I want it. As I’ve grown older, some gray is creeping in, so Linda added some color, and that always comes out perfect as well.
When Linda has been away from work on vacation or personal time off, Frances has cut my hair and colored it, and she does it every bit as good as Linda. I have never used Laura or Karen, but they have been working at the Grateful Head as long as I have been going there, and each of them has a large number of very satisfied returning clients. In all the years I have been going to the Grateful Head, I have never been present when a client complained about anything. I am really surprised to read the negative reviews here, because I sure haven’t heard anything like that.
Finally, the stylists are all hospitable and friendly, and the place is modern, and clean as a whistle. It might be a little pricey, but you get what you pay for. It is the only place I would ever recommend to someone who wants a good.haircut.

Entertained by Karen. I brought my friend to help me decide and get an opinion since I wanted to cut off more of my hair. I wasn’t sure how short I wanted to make my hair.
My friend suggested that Karen should cut my hair little by little. Karen rudely interjected that my friend shut up, since she «knew how to cut hair.» She ended up cutting my hair shorter than I expected, without seeing if I would want it longer or shorter.
She apologized to my friend and I many times, but it was very ingenuine. She blamed her «big German mouth.» Very unprofessional. She also came off racist against the both of us.
However, I ended up being satisfied with my cut. But I suggest not tipping her since she can very rude and snobby.

Frances has done my hair for years and she is one of the best hair dressers. I love her personality and her sense of humar. She is extremly friendly, kind and caring. I love how she always has a smile on her face and also the way she washes and massages my head. She has a really good touch. The pricing of this place is very reasonable.

I have been getting my haircuts here for several years. The price is reasonable, the staff friendly, and the location is right near MUNI. Parking can be a little hard but there is street parking on side streets. Quan (pounced like Juan) was excellent and I asked for her every time, but she retired recently and I haven’t had enough time to give the other staff an evaluation based on multiple haircuts. So for now I say «Try it.»

Never coming back here again. Laura was a know it all, she was way too rough, didn’t look me in the eye, she was extremely grumpy and annoyed at my questions. She rushed through my hair cut and threw globs of gel on it without asking. Then when I asked her to fix it, she buzzed ALL of the sides off and way too high. It’s officially the worst haircut I’ve ever had. She made me look like Butters from South Park. Now I need someone to fix it.

No, just NO! The woman who cut my hair, I think her name was Laura, was just plain mean and grumpy…

Linda always cut my hair but last week she was not available and she did not know when she will be back to work. My hair was getting too long so I asked Karen to cut my hair. Before I sat in the chair, I told her that I am very particular about my haircut and that she should start slow and take it easy until she knows what I want. She asked what number clipper to use. I told her that Linda starts with the #3. Before I knew it she started hacking at my hair, cutting very close. She gave me the worst hair cut I ever had. It was very uneven and you can see low spots. One side is not symmetrical with the other side. I also noticed that her hands have the shakes.
I was surprised that she could not follow instructions. I hope that Frances, the owner, will do something about it.

I live close by and have gotten my haircut here multiple times, usually it was a last minute sort of deal before I had to hop on a plane and head back to base (I used to be in the Marine Corps).
Now the haircut that I, or any friends I brought to sf, asked for were always a simple medium or low fade from zero at the bottom. It’s one of the easiest haircuts to give. Every time, every single time, they messed up the fade and cut it too high, or they messed up the top of our heads, or bangs and we ended up having to buzz the entire thing. Really annoying. The women hair cutting never offered a discount or anything.
But I guess it’s my fault for giving them more than one chance.
I will never go back and I will strongly urge anyone thinking of going here to reconsider.
It’s the worst.

I finally got around to donating my hair to locks of love and I could not have found a better place I do it.
The woman cutting my hair told me exactly what to do in order to make sure my hair was used. And even when I was crying as she cut off 13 inches of hair is been growing for two years she reassured me that I was doing a good thing.
Knowing I was donating she gave me 5 dollars off the haircut and free 15 $ product to style my newly short hair. I tipped her well for sure!
This place is clean, friendly and hospitable. I will never go anywhere else ever again! I wild highly recommend!

Finally a good haircut without breaking the bank!
So my hair was getting long again and I’m trying to look more professional these days. My hair is neither curly or straight which for some reason means that it has been almost impossible to get a decent haircut in the city without having to spend half my paycheck. I’ve lived here for over three years and have been butchered over and over again. So a couple month ago when I wandered into the grateful head I didn’t expect much.
I was greeted by a friendly staff and an eat of the floor sort of cleanliness. I put my name down and within 2 minutes was sitting in Laura’s chair. I told her what I wanted and she went to work. Not too much chit chat from her but that’s fine with me. She was quick and the haircut not only looked great but grew out nicely as well.
I went back in again last week hoping for laura again but she wasn’t there, I could feel my heart start to race as another woman called my name, this time it was Karen. To my surprise I walked out with another great haircut, Karen was more talkative and approachable then Laura and her hair cutting prowess was something to be admired.
If you’re looking for a friendly staff, clean tidy salon, and a great haircut all for under $ 20 this is the place to go. Thanks Laura and Karen!

This place feels very sterile. Did they just move in?
$ 80 partial highlight — you gotta be joking me!
$ 20 hair cut — OK. I wasn’t impressed. They don’t even wash your hair. Is that because we’re in a drought or because they’re cheap? Not returning or recommending.

Walked in, no appointment and seated within the minute! Great customer service!!! I got my bangs cut ($ 7) and the lady was super nice! I am very particular about how I like my bangs cut and she was understanding and worked with me to achieve the look I was going for. She was even nice enough to blow dry it and make sure it was to my liking. I will definitely be back!!!

Thank you, Karen, for one of the best haircuts I’ve had in a loooong time. I usually dread getting haircuts because I have Curly Asian Hair and it seemed NOBODY ever knew what to do with me. The key words I use are «layers», «chunky», and «cowlicks» — and previous stylists never seemed to get exactly what I wanted, even when I brought in pictures. Karen was patient, talked me through the process, and kept checking in with me throughout the cut to make sure she was on the right track. And for the first time in EVER, the cut was EXACTLY what I wished for. I also like that the salon accepts walk-​ins and the cuts are inexpensive ($ 20!), perfect for a busy mom like me.

This review is for Francis. Francis, you’re awesome! You always have a glass-​half-​full attitude, smiling, friendly and want to ensure you’re doing everything right to make me look my best.
I come in just about every week to see Francis and she’s excellent at her work.
I highly recommend her for a hair cut, straighten/​blow-​out or whatever your styling needs may be. No appointments, walk-​ins only.

Is getting a haircut supposed to be scary? Maybe if you are 5. When you are 22 it’s usually a relatively pleasant errand that needs to get done every 4 – 8 weeks or so. Not so for this place. From the second I walked in to the second I was scooted out the door it was a terrifying ordeal that left me thinking «did that really happen?» I may have PTSD due to the 20 minutes I spent in here. Let me explain.
At first, the blonde (maybe redheaded) middle-​aged lady was friendly and welcoming. We drank our coffee together, both starting out the day, and I figured I could just sit back and relax, show her my photo from my previous haircut, talk about the weather, and then get on with our lives.
So I show her my photo and she takes one glance at it and says, «ok, let’s do it.» I’m not even really sure she acknowledged its existence because she never once went back to look at it again. Then I tried to have some friendly banter and she kept going off on how she used to own her own place and now she’s stuck here. I tried to offer some solace but she wouldn’t hear it and preferred to talk about the terrible customers who come in and ask for outrageous things. I try to change the subject to weather, to which she says, «oh yeah, global warming. Thanks a lot Al Gore, asshole.» Not only does this statement not make sense, she said it with such a snarl that it sounded as if she had once gone on a date with Al Gore and he never called her back.
When she started taking a lot off the back, I tried to say «be careful not to take too much off back there,» to which she replied «this is one of those things you tell someone before they do it.» I would have walked out right then and there but she was waving those scissors around my head and I wanted to leave with both my eyes. When she thought it was done, not me (and there were plenty of mistakes, mind you), she said, «let me get your coat.»
«I don’t have a coat,» I said. This was practically the last straw for her and she gave me the nastiest look I’ve ever seen from a hairdresser. I payed her, left, and didn’t look back. Once I got out of view of the shop, I put on my hat and started to long process of finding a place that could fix my botched mop top.
Word to the wise, avoid this place at all costs. Walk on the opposite side of the street when you get near. Send your enemies here. Write to your congressman. This place is HELL.