Tattoo Shops near San Bruno

“BG was great, everyone was super chill. i did call pretty last minute but they were able to get me in asap ! highly recommend this place“

“Got my first large tattoo of my baby Jackie from Jia, and the experience was amazing! Her website was very informative for prep and aftercare. She was also responsive to my emails. The studio itself was clean and organized, and has lots of street parking options. Jia was very intent on following what I wanted for the placement, size, and color/shading. The 2.5 hours we spent was fairly charged, and I was comfortable throughout the session. She's definitely now my go-to for my next tatt, and I've been recommending her to all my friends. Thanks Jia!“

“This is a long review, so I below I posted “Short Story” followed by a more detailed “My Awesome Experience with Morningstar Tattoo Parlor”.

SHORT STORY:
Morningstar Tattoo far exceeded my expectations in every way; their facility is comfortable, clean, and professional. My Tattooist, Jordi Simmons, did an amazing job throughout the whole design and application process. You will not be disappointed with Morningstar!

MY AWESOME EXPERIENCE WITH MORNINGSTAE TATTOO PARLOR:
I never thought I would ever be a “Tattoo Guy.” However, after my daughter suddenly passed away at age 30 in 2022, I wanted to have something that keeps her spirit with me and will always be with me wherever I go and whatever I do. After about a year of introspection, I decided that a memorial tattoo for my daughter would be highly appropriate for me. After much research on local Tattoo shops, I decided to work with Morningstar Tattoo Parlor.

When I first visited Morningstar, I was amazed that this parlor was not like tattoo parlors as portrayed in the media. Morningstar occupies a spacious, clean, comfortable, and professional series of suites on the second and third floors of their building. They are by appointment only, original artwork only, and they have several policies that strike me as highly professional.

When I reached out to Morningstar, Jordi Simmons returned my call, and after a brief conversation, I felt comfortable proceeding with Jordi as my tattooist.

My whole experience with Jordi, given her professionalism, creativity, artistry, and skill was outstanding! Jordi and I initially met for about 2 hours, and she really took the time to understand why I wanted this tattoo, what my what my daughter was like in life (the good and the bad), my spiritual beliefs regarding life, sentience and death, and other topics personally relevant and meaningful to me. Jordi also clearly described what she could and could not do with tattoo designs, such as font sizes, resolution, and other things to consider with the design. I gave Jordi some initial concepts of what might work for a design concept as a starting point.

Over the next 4 months Jordi and I periodically corresponded via email about design concepts to be considered. When I arrived on the day we had scheduled for the tattoo to be applied, we hadn’t yet settled on a final design, and Jordi presented the latest design she developed for me.

I was absolutely blown away at the design she created!

The design is way beyond anything I had thought possible. The image Jordi created for me captures an amazing amount symbolism about what my daughter was like in life, my spiritual beliefs regarding life and death, and other aspects of my daughter’s short life. The images, and even the relative placement of numbers, text, and images carries deep symbolism and meaning for me. Jordi quickly incorporated some very small changes to the design based on my feedback, and then it was time to apply the tattoo.

The initial application was a 3-hour sitting at Jordi’s station, toward the end of which, my skin was getting irritated enough that Jordi advised that we should stop, because continuing the application that day could compromise the quality of the final tattoo. Because of this, we ended our session for the day and scheduled a second sitting 3 weeks later.

During the interim time between the first and second application, I researched Tattoo best practices for design and application. This helped me really understand in detail that Jordi had carefully planned of the tattoo’s overall size, orientation, and placement that otherwise I would not have noticed. Everything Jordi did was according to the best practices I researched; Jordi planned for a tattoo that will displays and ages well.

We finished the tattoo during our second sitting of about an hour and a half and I am beyond h“

“Great customer service I appreciate my piercer Sasha when i went to get my nose pierced. I was very anxious but Sasha was very welcoming and was comforting me in the process which was very helpful. Also she took her time and was precise on where the piercing should be placed at. She was patient on which diamond size I wanted and helped me decide. Overall 10/10 i recommend:)“

“I absolutely love my tattoos! Tina is truly talented, and thanks to her, I have two new masterpieces on my skin. The shop is super cute and clean, and you are also accompanied by a cute kitty cat while you are getting your tattoo ? I 100% recommend Hello Tattoo.“

“Lovely intimate tattoo space with talented artists. TAYLOR was very accomodating and communicative. He gave a great price for the work he did and he blasted it so fast. I was very impressed. It was a semi-large piece for one sitting and it's healed already. Definitely recommend this place to anyone who appreciates the beauty of a walk-in tattoo going perfect.“

“Everything one could ask for: super friendly family business, excellent customer service, absolute cleanliness, and high quality of work done.“

“Idexa, was absolutely incredible, she worked with me to bring my idea for my tattoo to life. She is patient, insightful, and just an overall good person. The shop itself
is well located, and very clean. I will be coming back!“

“Leo does beautiful fine line wok. My daughters and I have been to this shop many times. If you are looking for fine line work this tattoo shop is the place to go. We haven't been to the new locaton but the artists are the same so I'm certain it's great. One draw back, I wish they took credit cards. ; )“

“Reed is the best. He has done tattoos for me and 3 for my daughter. He does great black and white and color tattoos.“

“Such a lovely tattoo shop. The artists are very kind and talented. The shop has such a good atmosphere and they play really good music. I highly recommend this latino owned tattoo shop!“

“I just stopped in to have help putting a piece of jewelry back in. Although it was a small thing- these folks are just clearly good folks. It was friendly, professional, fun, good humored, and the artists are clearly talented and top of their game. I highly recommend you stop in!“

“Great shop great vibes i went in for a couples of tattoos and I love them very professional and good quality :) definitely coming back for more“

“Cicely did an amazing job from interpreting my ideas to executing them with a light touch. Her experience was well appreciated during every step of the process.“

“JESS is wonderful! I waited three decades to get tattoos and had to have my first two done by Jess. Jess is wildly talented and they made the whole experience great. I couldn't be happier with the finished pieces. The studio was inviting and peaceful, with beautiful art all around. I highly recommend and will definitely be back in the future.“

“I have already reviewed Clayton at the other location in Oakland, at I Love You Tattoo on Piedmont. I went to this location to get my 26th tattoo. I'm gonna do a second session at the end of summer to get the shading and color done. This piece was so well done, that it healed with just over a week. Clayton has been super faithful and easy to communicate with. Super flexible on pricing and sizing.“

“I just finished my full tattoo sleeve at Thousand Stroke Tattoo and am extremely happy with the result. With it being my first tattoo experience, Oliver guided me through the entire process, answering many of the questions I had and laying expectations moving forward. Throughout the sleeve and its sessions, Oliver was friendly, transparent and understanding. I walked into the consultation knowing what pieces of my sleeve I wanted, but not knowing how I wanted to position them or their sizing. Oliver was able to piece it all together and really nail what I was looking for. His Eastern Asian themed tattoos are on another level, but with him he makes sure to understand your vision and ensure it's done the way you want. The actual tattoo experience was also pretty chill, given the privacy and comfort of his studio. I could comfortably do 6+ hour sessions at a time, but the option to pause and resume at another time was always open. At Thousand Stroke Tattoo, you can get a truly unique piece of art that you will be proud of for years. From a smaller piece to a full-on sleeve, Oliver puts 110% in each project to make sure your vision comes to skin. Oliver makes the entire process super easy and does it professionally and transparently. I would greatly recommend him to others who are looking to have their first tattoo experience as well.“

“1st tattoo experience was excellent experience all around from the min I walked in, professional, clean, and looks amazing no complaints. Definitely will b back! 10/10“

“I was soooo nervous to get my nose pierced, Jay and everyone there made me so much more comfortable by explaining the process and telling me how to maintain it. Would definitely go back for future piercings!“

“I have been returning to ROYALTY TATTOO on California Drive for close to 10 years. The owner and artists are friendly and helpful. The shop is very clean and spacious. I recently called ROYALTY for a special memorial tattoo and not being very patient, I thought I would not wait and I tried another tattoo place in San Mateo. BIG MISTAKE. The man approached me at the counter. No hello, no smile, just wanted to know what kind of tattoo I wanted. I had already spent over an hour at home drawing it and using color pencils. I told him my drawn tattoo is the size and color I want tattooed. All he had to do was to copy my design. He took my design and left me standing at the counter for 20 minutes. He came back with a design nothing like what I wanted. I thanked him for his time and left. NOW I have an appointment at ROYALTY on the 21st of this month. I was impatient and wanted it done right away. I learned my lesson. WHEN YOU HAVE THE BEST, WHY SETTLE FOR LESS? I know Sarah at Realty will tattoo exactly what I want and will be perfect. I highly recommend Royalty Tattoo. It is worth the wait to get what you want in a clean environment with talented artists. Pat, Brisbane, CA“

“I received many tattoos from Alex when he was in Berkeley, and when I moved back I was so happy to see he was working in my home city and neighborhood of Mission. Alex is a great tattoo artist with a plethora of experience, the blackest blacks, and a truly kind family man soul.Highly recommend getting work done from him. You won’t be sorry!!“

“Great place great employee's great story's it's a wonderful experience. Robert is my barber but there all good in this shop.“

“Got my first ever tattoo today after putting it off for the longest time due to having a low pain tolerance and huge fear of needles. Bea did my tattoo perfectly and was very sweet throughout the entire session making sure I was comfortable and if the placement was to my liking. I’m surprised it didn’t hurt as bad as I expected it to ! Thanks so much again xoxo I will be back soon for my Monster High tattoo ?“

“Dave the owner has been tattooing me for almost 30 years and I really feel he’s more of a friend then just a tattoo artist. He’s done about 15 tattoos for me over the years and very little fading. People don’t believe me when I tell them how old some of them are. Recently we started a massive full back piece (Medusa) and while it’s just line work I can tell it will be amazing he and his staff are always polite and show they really care about your vision. No attitude or primadonnas

They aren’t the cheapest but take my advice, I’ve been getting inked for 30 years,
Don’t go cheap, you will regret it

Thanks Dave for dedication to your craft and being you!’“