My husband went here to get a tattoo. It came out alright but the lettering wasn't consistent. Went back again, tattoo came out great.
Came back a third time and we brought $200 to get a tattoo. He told the artist what he wanted and it was estimated at $275. We said we would be right back to get the money to cover it (remember we've been here twice before). As we were heading out the artist laughs and goes "He's not coming back" and called him a derogatory name. Well, you aren't getting our money now! My husband and I immediately walked the other way, away from the ATM and headed to our car. We won't be back.
I wouldn't even give this place one star if it was my choice. I came in to get my industrial and the chick was super unprofessional. She didn't ask me about placement, she stabbed the middle of my ear on accident, didn't tell me one thin about aftercare and was really rough. My ear swelled up and looked like a tomato, I'll never ever go back here they suck.
Review Source:Start out by saying my tattoo is super Rad and I'm really happy. Had a great experience Collin tattooed me and Fella tattooed by boyfriend. Both came out great. Collin has a light hand and made me feel comfortable. The shop was very clean and the people where friendly. I will be coming back for another tattoo as soon as I can.
Review Source:I walked out of here feeling like...I was begging for them to work on me LOL.
Called them and said that I had two tattoo ideas that I was considering, had some pictures and wanted to send them to someone in the shop. The guy who answered the phone was pleasant, told me it was okay for me to just come in after work. I decided to go in on my lunch break instead, just to get a price.
I rush down to the shop, walked in and was greeted with two very dry personalities sitting down behind a large barrier lol. Neither one of them barely made contact, let alone stood up to help me. He kept saying that they charged $100.00 per hour, and that they he "didn't know how much this would be"...uh...ok? lol.
My friend recommended them, but I will overlook convenience and just make an appointment at a shop that I know will have time to quote me correctly.
Well.... where do I start. I will first start by thanking the wondeful staff of Absolute Tatoo& Piercing, they are very professional, respectful, and talented. Not only that, the positive vibe that this place has is super amazing. I went in Saturday June 22, 2013 and Carol right away set me up with an appoinment to come see Nick, on July 1, but before I left Nick took a look at my tattoo and I gave him an idea of what I wanted done and he said that "He could definitely make it happen" so I was extremely pleased to hear that.
So, I showed up July 1 and and was kindly greeted by Carol and the owner Cathy, whom by the way is a wonderful person and let me tell ya, I was kind-of jealous of the beautiful artwork she has (Actually both Carol & Cathy). Anyways back to the tattoo experience, Nick fixed a lot of mistakes that were wrong with the tattoo I had gotten at a different place. He took his time at fixing my not so old tattoo. He first fixed the right wing, then the left, and finally got to the Angel. He did an amazing job of covering the ugly and mean looking face and body of the Angel, he made it look 150% better than what it was before. He is an exceptional artist, that took his time during the whole process. I cannot thank him enough for what he has done for me.
I would HIGHLY, HIGHLY,HIGHLY recommend this shop. I was lucky enough to meet the almost the whole staff and they are all extremely professional and full of ideas. Pay no attention to those negative reviews, find out for yourself how this place really is. I look forward to my next appointment with Nick.
I like the way this place is tucked away and low key. I've been to a lot of tattoo shops all over the world and dealt with every sort of tattoo artist, but Nick is one of the best in the business. He can take your vision from your brain and put it on paper. He also did a great job of enhancing some of my existing artwork. Now I go to him anytime I need any work done. He is fast but the quality is outstanding. He also has no problem with touching up any of his prior work. I recommend him to all of my friends and family. I didn't know they had a Friday the 13th special. I'll have to circle back and check it out next time.
Review Source:Thankfully I did not come here to get a piercing, just replace a lost earring. Â The guy was ridiculously stoned, which normally, i don't care but if you are in a buisness that does permanant work on peoples bodies, you prob shouldn't be HIGH!
I don't think he was very knowledgable, he offered me regular ole earings with a sharp back for a tragus peircing, so i would have been stabbed in the ear canal. He sprayed what looked like windex on the earrings to "sterilize" them. Â Sterilization takes way more then blue liquid, he was sanitizing them. Â He ended up giving me two new earrings and said he would only charge me $15 bucks. Â I only had $11 on me so i handed over my credit card, so he said he would just charge me $10 instead. Â I got a great deal but I think the owner is getting screwed over, im sure the guy just pocketed it.
I've been getting tattooed here since 2005. My most recent tattoos were done within the last month by Fella. I came in with a Sailor Jerry flash but wanted to make some minor changes to the hair color and to add a few more flowers to the design. Fella did an exceptional job! He was extremely friendly and professional. I was so impressed with the first tattoo from him I came back with 2 friends from work so they could get quotes from him and I wanted another quote as well. I asked for 3 butterflies representing my Mom, my sister and I. My only requirement was lots of color. What Fella drew up and tattooed on my arm went so far beyond my expectations. It's absolutely beautiful. Tons of color in the butterflies and beatufiul cherry blossoms. His work is very clean and his kick back personality makes the conversation flow that you're done before you know it. Everyone in the shop is very friendly and accommodating. I will definitely be going back to Fella to complete my chest piece and add a couple new pieces to my other arm.
Review Source:The guy Sammy trying to charge me more than negotiated price over phone, but i'm confront him to give me reasonable price.
The other old dude looks like desperately want to get into "Ink master", and not really appreciate me being an asian, by not being friendly with me. Hey, it's okay, i don't come here to make friend.
Overall, the guy Sammy was fast and go easy on me for pirecings, and he is really professional. Overall, i will consider to get tattoo here, if i already know its addicting. I Just don't want to look like Chris Brown, man.
I went in with a design I had in mind to cover up an old tattoo. Bud was a very welcoming person and offered to place the outline on my neck to see how it would work out if I went through with it. The placement was perfect and exactly what I anticipated, so he went ahead and did the tattoo for me then and there. I was extremely please with his accuracy and attention to detail, assuring that every spot was filled. I would recommend this shop to anyone. Clean, friendly, good pricing. I'll be sure to come back in the future.
Review Source:I went to this shop for the first time for the Friday the 13th $13 dollar tattoos... The tattoo shop itself was clean and the artists seemed friendly enough although stressed with the amount of people there. I was somewhat disappointed due to them only having two sheets to choose from (they advertised 4!) and one was not Friday the 13th themed at all! Isn't that the point? Anyway, I was able to get tattooed by Fella who was really nice. He even added to what I chose which I thought was really great! As the original design was blah and didn't even include a 13! But with a simple request he added a 13 and even some color. He made the wait and lack of Friday the 13th tattoo selection worthwhile.
Review Source:Went in to get a tattoo done and the guy in there was too busy talking about how he couldn't wait to get out of there to start his weekend of partying. Â When I showed him what I wanted done, he was really rude to me and just straight up ignorant and obnoxious. Â Customer service here is pathetic. Â A total turn off to customers. I turned around, walked out and went somewhere else.
Review Source:These guys are awesome! I went in just to ask a question and ended up staying 3 hours and got some new ink! Dean Bomb is the bomb, great artist and I will be back to get some more done. The place is clean and everyone is friendly. I will recommend Absolute to my friends or anyone looking for a good tattoo shop.
Review Source:I stopped by with my girlfriend on a Saturday night for a tattoo cover up. I was helped by Matt who is super nice, professional and cute . Lets face it, you don't want a grubby stranger putting his hands on you. Luckily, you wont find any of those here. Anyway, he talked me out of the cover up I wanted for the time being and suggested I figure out what I really want before I commit to something larger, makes prefect sense, right? Since I was in the mood, I ended up getting a prior tattoo retouched and reworked and I will admit it looks much better. It did cost me $120 with tip, but seriously, I felt good walking out of there and hope to see Matt again in  the future.
Review Source:Got a tat and piercing. Didn't have to make an appointment. Sammy pierced my nose. Â I was nervous but he cracked jokes and immediately put me at ease. The piercing wasn't too painful surprisingly. Next, Asa did my tat. Awesome job. Very intricate details. Asa did a beautiful job and quickly too. Thanks guys!!!
Review Source:Walked into Absolute on Monday afternoon (4-ish) and immediately felt like, "yep, I'm getting some ink here." Â I was greeted almost immediately and was asked what I was in for. Â Gave them a vague description of what I wanted to do. Â Bud was very helpful and recommended what I should do to help him visualize what I wanted. Â I asked if he'd be around the following day - he acknowledged - so back I went w/ ideas in had round 4 again the next day. Â
Long story short - he took my vague idea and existing tattoo and literally blew my mind with the results. Â
I've got several tats from all over the country; Virginia, Florida, Illinois, Mississippi, and what happened here at this little shop in San Diego beat all my other experiences - HANDS DOWN. Â The price was very fair for the amount of work I had done and Bud is extremely personable.
I absolutely would recommend Absolute Tattoo to anyone interested in getting quality ink here in San Diego... Â I know I will be returning here for future projects!
Do not go here. This is not a good place to get pierced. I went here a few years ago to get snakebites done and the people were really friendly and everything, but the first guy that pierced my lip did a HORRIBLE job. They were completely crooked and I had to go in a second time to get it done a few weeks later... only to have them still be crooked! The second person that did them for me was nice about it and did not charge me but it still makes me mad that I had to get the same piercings done twice for them to still be crooked. I gave an extra star for the nice customer service, but lack of stars because of the poor performance. Not to mention they used externally threaded jewelry on me NOT ACCEPTABLE! At the time I had no idea about the quality of jewelry and thought that body jewelry was just body jewelry and now I know...
Review Source:This place is awesome. i got my first tattoo here and it was a very good experience. The shop is clean, organized and has a bunch of bitchen scenery to keep you distracted. The artist, Chris "Bud" Wilson is the fuckin man! He created something for me that was exactly what i wanted and better than i had imagined. Go here, you will NOT be disappointed.
Review Source:Got my 2nd tattoo and each one that followed at this shop, all done by the amazing Nick Fish. The work is wonderful, the sessions were really easy and fun to sit through. I have enough confidence in the clean and quality work  to recommend Absolute Tattoo and this artist to several friends to get new tattoos, piercings and had bad tats from other shops fixed.
I could go on, but it is easier to say that the work on my skin speaks for itself.
Had my large rib cage tattoo done here by Dean Semple about a year ago. He was very enthusiastic when I told him my idea and it definitely showed through the art. All the resident artists seemed very friendly, one of them even came over to chat because he was waiting for his next appointment. Overall a fantastic experience, Dean made sure I was very comfortable. There is also plenty of parking in the plaza!
Review Source:Went to Absolute today with my sis to get matching tattoos to honor my dad passing away! Fella was the artist we used cause he knows my sisters man. I was impressed with the shop the second I walked in. It wasn't just flash but actual art on the walls. Now on to the ink. It definitely helped in my opinion that Fella was from the Mecca aka Mira Mesa for those not from there. We gave him an example of what we wanted and he started to draw! We were both happy with one of the designs and he started getting set up. The owner and another artist came in and were very friendly and chatted it up with us. He went to work on the sis and I wasn't going to do color on mine until I saw what he did with hers and changed my mind. Just a mellow spot with an amazing artist we both walked out knowing where we are going to get our ink done from now on. Thanks Fella and Absolute for being so chill and legit.
Review Source:The smell of weed that a previous review mentioned failed to state theres a collective next door!!!
Fella did my piercings and my ink the same day. All I can say is I LOVE this place!!! My ink is amazing... he drew the vines and leaves on me free hand and he truly captured my personality in the colors after knowing me only a short time!
The customer service here is very horrible. I called one night to confirm an appointment and they said it was fine. When I got there they told me the piercer had already left. WTF I made an appointment for a reason! I came back a few weeks later to get my tragus pierced. Ok first of all, the place reeked of marijuana and second the piercer told me he could only pierce with a ring not a stud. I honestly do not want someone who is stoned to be putting a hole in my body and I was sure pissed because he wouldn't allow me to choose the jewelry I want. I would not recommend this place to anybody. If you are looking for a good piercing shop I would suggest going to Enigma.
Review Source:DON'T go to this business, please! I went to get my ears gauged with a friend, and the woman who did it wasn't very good. Something went wrong with my friend's ear and she pulled the needle out, let him bleed for a few minutes, and then shoved the earring into the hole. Also, her kids were running around, and she answered the phone EVERY time it rang, no matter what she was in the middle of doing.
But the worst part of this business was that, while we were getting the piercings done, one of the tattoo artists was having a loud conversation with a customer about how THE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH CAN'T MAKE HIM FOLLOW SAFETY PROCEDURES, all he needs is a license and it's up to the shop owner what he HAS to do. Thank god the woman who owns it makes him follow health guidelines, but he works at some other tattoo parlor where "all (he has) to do is show up on time and tattoo." YUCK!!!!!
Wow. Friday the 13th. My sister and I decided to get a couple tattoos and a piercing. They were advertising 13 dollar tatts and 13 dollar piercings. First off, my sister got her belly button done and it's CROOKED!!!! Then I get my 3 tattoos and they got away with printing smaller stencils than what they advertised on the print outs. RIP OFF! Then they said they had 4 sheets to choose from, however there was only 2. Not cool! And then they fail to tell you that the fill in costs more and  is not included in the 13 dolalr cost. The 13 dollars is only for the outline. WTF? You might as well get something you really want since you are paying a premium anyway. Lastly, I didn't find the people there to be very friendly anyway. I'll stick to Guru and Full Circle. Great work, fair pricing, and NICE! They are the best!
Review Source:Cathy (the owner) is really cool and she responds to emails and returns phone calls very quick
Got my tongue pierced by Fella
Got a couple ink work by Nick
Every Friday the 13th I'm there. My kids have a blast watching them work and looking at all the ink ideas on the wall and books that they have lying around.
Customer service each time i've been has always been great.
CON: Finding parking sucks when it's busy. I've had to park across the street where that strip club Cheetahs is at. But I guess it works out lol cause our boys try to sneak a peek inside (geez! haha i dunno where they learned it from)
Every Friday the 13th: $13 ink and piercings (you pick ink designs on 4 sheets of paper they have laid out....each one is $13)
DON'T FORGET TO TIP YOUR ARTIST!!
STOKED! I strolled in on a Tuesday on a whim with my daughter, 14 yr old, to get a piercing for her and potentially a new tat for me...I should know better that the minute I walk in, I'll be in the chair! I was greeted by Chris (Buddy) who was behind the front counter, I knew what I wanted but not a solid idea of how I wanted it...simply....I want 2 butterflies, one with the wings open for my daughter and one with a side view and smaller for her younger brother. Vetod the traditional pretty quickly, while I was filling out paper work he came back with some that he had done and they were amazing! He has great chairside manners, kept the conversation flowing, the guy next to him was hilarious ("I never bleed" - hahahaha), so it was easy to stay distracted from the potential discomforts. The coloring he did was OUTSTANDING and the price was great! I can't wait to go back and have him help me with a cover up piece for my current tramp stamp, hopefully in the next week or two, and build on it to connect with the butterflies. Chris is awesome!!!!! I will be returning and I have been referring to everyone - Absolute is great from the people who work there, the shop and the work that is delivered! The piercing that my daughter got was equally as good, I'm not sure of the name of the person who did it but he coached her through it well and gave her clear and concise directions for treatment. She's stoked for another one too!
Review Source:Got my first five tattoos done here by Fella. All the people who work here are very nice and helpful, all of them are very talented as well. The shop is very clean, free key-chains and bumper-stickers for customers, there's a Foosball table if your waiting.
Very professional people working here, nothing shady about this place, lot's of walk-ins, and of course everyone is certified. This place is highly underrated, forget about going down to one of the hundreds of shops in P.B and wasting your money, go here!
Overall, not a bad shop - a lot of flash, a lot of walk-ins, lots of artists...
As is true with anything, if you don't pick your artist well for the style of tattooing that you want and you don't have a good working relationship with that person, you won't be happy with your tattoo. I got one 'quick and easy' tattoo there, already had the print out - pretty much a copy and trace tattoo, very small - so I took the first artist available - a ton of fall out, weak lines, poor outline, some scarring. I went back for another piece of work, a big half sleeve - worked out the artist carefully and ended up with a really stunning piece of work.
They are a little pricey for tattoos, but since I get most of my work done on the east coast - everything in california seems steep! :) The shop is clean, the portfolios are thorough and they have a good little lounge area for waiting in. I can't speak on their piercings because I've never gotten any done at that shop.
For the most part, it was a friendly crowd, easy to work with. I will say, that privacy could easily be an issue for more 'personal' tattoo placement - its a large, open shop with multiple stations, relatively close to each other and it would take some work and lots of false walls to cover up what you may want to keep more private.
I've been going to Absolute for the past 10 years and would never go anywhere else. Â I tried other places and went with friends to other shops around town before but once I found Absolute that was it...no one is as professional and trustworthy as them. Â
I can only speak towards the tattoos, don't have piercings, but it's a clean shop, they use sterile equipment of course, have their certifications (bloodborne pathogens), someone always at the counter to help you out, and will offer help if you need it. Â The artists work with you and provide great ideas unlike some other places that may brush you off.
They have a good size waiting area with a couch in front and on the side, foosball table too if you want to play. Â The artists each have their own space. Â The walls are half-walls though, so anyone in the shop can see you getting worked on if that bothers you, but then again if you went with friends they can stand and watch too.
The entire staff is friendly. Â I personally would recommend either Nick Fish or Dennis Miller. Â Schedule an appt in advance to make life a bit easier vs. walking in, but walk-in's are welcome, no guarantee which artist you will get though. Â Parking can get a bit tight...I usually just snag a burger king spot. Â
Go to Absolute...it's "absolutely" a great shop har har corny but true!
The BEST tattoo shop in San Diego; without a doubt. Cathy, the owner, is a doll - and will always welcome you with a friendly word.
Nick Fish is brilliant - I wanted to do a half sleeve, but in stages with all sorts of oddities - he knew from the outset where to place things so that the end result would be just perfect.
I tried other places before settling here and now Nick has done all of my tattoos and I wouldn't go to anyone else. I"ve been going now for some 7 years and never been anything but extremely pleased with the results and my treatment. I've recommended Absolute to everyone who has ever asked where to go - and they have all come away just as happy.
While I will only go to Nick, I know Bud and Fella do amazing work from watching them and their clients leave.
In short - anyone can go to a shop and get a tattoo - but I found here they will talk you through the process and advise you if it's not going to look right or it would be better with a different colour, line, addition - something so permenant should be done the best possible, so the advice from the professionals is well worth listening to rather than having someone slap something on you that you'll later regret :)
I have gotten 3 tattoos from here, Quin and Denise are super nice and amazing and I highly recommend both of them!
I'm giving Absolute Tattoo 4 stars because of the bad attitude from Fella , He did a good job on my tattoo but he gave me a lot of attitude and treated me like i was an Idiot who didn't know what i was talking about ,and when i asked about a touch up on one of my tattoos he told me i would have to pay the minimum of $60 to get my back tattoo filled in with a little black ( ridiculous especially since it is rather small). Â
The manager of Absolute tattoo is very nice and responded to my problem fast so I raised up my review since I do love all of my tattoos :D I would definitely go to Absolute Tattoo and recommend talking to different artists to see which one you click with.
I went here with a buddy of mine to get a tattoo to remember a girl we went to boot camp with who died in Iraq. Dave was our artist.
He did a real nice job on both of our tattoos and we both walked away super happy. The guys at the shop were all really chill and we enjoyed talking with them while we go inked up.
Since we were military we got a really nice price ($175 for work that was worth at least $250). Defenitly a fan of this place.
Well after months of researching I decided on Absolute. I loved reading the reviews here, checked out their website and was given a personal recommendation.
What really stuck out was reading (on their site) that they had to go through the same Bloodborne Pathogens video I watched a million times while in nursing school. As a nurse this was VERY important to me.
So off for my very first tattoo. I showed up with a print out of what I wanted. The checkin process was effortless and thorough. I was in and out of there within 30mins.
Fella did a great job of making me feel more at ease and my very first tattoo looks amazing. I'm already planning on going back after this one heals.
I've already recommended Absolute to my friends.
Cool place. Cool people
I went there for their Friday the 13th $13 tattoo's.
The line was out the door, but was moving pretty quickly. We went around 7-ish,got out of there by 9. Everyone including mothers were getting one. They were very well organized considering the line was backed up to Burger king almost. I convince my g/f to get one although she was VERY scared. They made her feel comfortable and inked her up in no time! Â we both got matching 4 leaf clovers, they thought it was weird that I wanted mine done in red, but hey I like that color. All the artist were joking around w/us & eating donuts(don't ask) The guy who done mine(Asa) was cool as h*ll. It's a very clean and sterile place, go check it out biotch's.
This place looks small from the outside, but it's pretty big on the inside. Okay, well I'll cut to the chase.
The staff are very laidback, but at the same time very helpful. There's random art on the wall, but I can't remember too well since my first/last visit was over a month ago. Anyway, I got my ears pierced by Chris and he's really professional compared to the cheap employees at malls (i.e. Claire's). I got my ears pierced at Claire's before when I was 11 years old, but unfortunately the holes closed up about 8 months later. But I distinctly remember that the girl who pierced my ears did NOT wear gloves! All she did was sterilize my gun and my ears after marking them. Chris wore gloves and showed me the tools he would use, etc. Once again, very professional.
In addition, since Absolute Tattoo & Piercing is professional, they have rooms. When you get your ears pierced at the mall, anyone can see you. Some (or most) people might feel awkward about the chance that random people might see you get your ears pierced.
Lastly, he used a needle. Needles are a lot safer than the piercing guns, since they are sharper and often one-time one-use tools. The guns are usually just blunts that pierce your ears. It will cost more, but really you're paying for the service as well as the process. It hurt less than a shot on the arm (doesn't really hurt much anyway), but my ears bled quite a bit. Haha Chris told my boyfriend and my best friend, "yep, she's a bleeder."
Highly recommend and remember that these people are PROFESSIONALLY TRAINED and LICENSED.
see review from erin below...i am that friend...
i give this place 5 stars because they are absolutely wonderful!! the first time i went here was when they're location was on kearny villa rd/clairemont mesa blvd cross street by the arco. my mom got her tattoo here from Nick (Fish). he was super nice and super chill. the place was clean and wasn't scary...
so when it came time for me to get my tattoo, i went back to absolute and glen had done a design for me that was absolutely perfect...erin ended up using him as well and within a couple of years, my mom had her first tattoo retouched by nick and had another one done by him as well...
i went back a few weeks ago to get another one done....glen is no longer here but i do have a new artist...bud...i took another friend of mine to get her inked too and the service was just the same as in the past...perfect and very relaxed
absolute...you are absolutely amazing!! if i could give more stars i'd give you 7
I went to Absolute Tattoo for my one and only tattoo 7 years ago when I was 19, and the location was way down on Clairemont Mesa Blvd next door to a Christian Bookstore. Funny.
They've moved a little more west up on Clairemont Mesa Blvd, not far from the old location. Since then, they've been the go-to people for my family/friend's tattoo and piercing needs.
Yesterday we took the girl to get her belly button pierced. She's been in there numerous times for her other piercings, and both of her parents have been tatted by Absolute, so it was only natural.
They're very cool, but very professional. They make everyone fill out pre-typed forms on a computer set up for the customer. Type in your info, print the sheets, sign the papers, and you're ready.
Getting another tattoo crosses my mind everytime I go in there, but....nah. Â "Not today." - I've been saying that for 7 years.
Well, Keith is definitely one of the best tattoo artists I have ever been to. Meticulous and conscientious, it calms you right down when you see how fastidious he is in his space. He has done 2 of mine, and people ALWAYS compliment me on them. Further, he did one for a friend of mine IN MY ACTUAL handwriting. SO cool!!
I will go back soon for a back piece, I cannot wait!
The people here are so nice and friendly!!!
I came here to get a pricing on a tattoo that I want to get and the guy, I think his name was chris, was really really nice and straight up truthful with me.
They treat their customers with such respect and care, and this was just to get a pricing!!! I can't image what happens when I get my tattoo done!!!
Glen, Glen - He's our man! If he can't do it!
Well, you know how it goes.
Glen did my tattoo, and not only was he adorable, he was quite the artist. Â That was a couple years ago, so I am not sure who is still there and who isn't, but I can vouche for Glen and say he did an excellent job on my tattoo. Â It was my first one, and I was a little scared by the big burly guys in the place, but Glen had done a tat for a friend of mine that came out looking great, and I noticed he had a lot of urban art he had painted hanging on his wall that looked similar to the tat I was thinking of getting. Â He kept me at ease and designed and executed a nice-looking tattoo for me that turned out to be exactly what I wanted. Â I would have never walked into the place if I had not been referred, so I think it's my job to say, "It's all good, people. Â Go in!"
Tucked away in a strip mall in Kearny Mesa, you would never guess there was a really good tattoo/piercing place hiding out.
Nick is the standout tattoo artist in the shop. He has done 3 of my tattoos. He's easy to work with and is very good with working with what you want and turning it into something amazing.