Forrest, the owner, has been my tattoo artist for over 3 years now.
When I go to a tattoo shop there are three things I'm looking for:
1. A trustworthy artist that cares about his work.
2. An artist that is talented and versatile.
3. A good positive vibe.
St. Hillix has all of this and Forrest is the Man!
I am not a tattoo fan. So Forrest, the owner and our artist had a challenge on his hands.
My husband had an unfinished tattoo that he has been dying to complete since we left Hawaii. We were referred to this shop and luckily found Forrest. He is extremely considerate and listens to what the customer wants, even though he is the artist.
I'm not too comfortable with the whole tattoo scene, but Forrest was extremely friendly and put me at ease. I was able to hang out, watch, ask questions and give input. The whole shop has a great atmosphere and welcome feeling. Surprisingly it was family friendly and for a pregnant wife it was nice to have a comfy couch to sit and not be blasted with loud music and cigarette smoke.
Although my husband's tattoo isn't finished yet, I'm very happy with the work and even more importantly so is he. Going to this tattoo shop is a great experience and I look forward to my husband getting this tattoo finished with Forrest and even getting more work done. Forrest does military discounts too.
So in conclusion, Forrest has made a believer out of me.
I don't recall the the artist's name who did my tattoo and their site isn't built or I'd try to warn you.
I can tell you that his station is right behind the reception desk. I was a walk in, and just wanted a doodle from my favorite artist (Audrey Kawasaki). I had met her, and when she signed a print, she drew me a cute feminine drawing that I wanted so I added it to my collection of tattoos.
All I can say is, thank goodness it's a doodle because I can blame the imperfections on the fact that it was hand drawn. The line quality goes in and out. The artist was biting and chewing his bottom lip really hard and pressing down with quite a heavy hand. His hands were shaky like he was coming down or needed a cigarette. I almost wanted to stop him mid tattoo because I was scared, but noticed he was getting it for the most part. It was quick and when he was done, I noticed his wobbly work on what was supposed to be a perfectly curved line (I couldn't tell the line quality until it completely healed). He admitted his fault and had me pay half. He then suggested that I come back after it heals so he could fix it. Get this.. he suggested that he'll use white to cover the black, and just round out the line he fucked up on.
Seriously.... putting white ink over black is going to fix it? I did have my other tattoos covered, so I'm assuming he thought I was an idiot since it was a small black outline tattoo on my arm. I just paid the money and got out. Never again.
Staff was rad. Came in here to get tattoos along with 2 friends. They hooked us up quickly and did an awesome job. In fact, my friend ended up getting two 'cuz it was so rad. We had simple designs done, investigate more for complicated art work.
Super chill atmosphere. Rad artists. Friendly conversation.
At St. Hillix Tattoo you will not be disappointed.  Forrest Lang is a premier artist. Bring him your design or idea and Sit with him for a consult.  He will help you determine the perfect tattoo that is right for you. All artists are first class.  No scratchers here only the best and most talented.  Each of the artists at St. Hillix  is well trained and have their clients satisfaction first in mind.
Review Source:I had my first tattoo here a few weeks ago done by Forrest, and it was such a great experience. Forrest was so gentle and understanding of how nervous I was. He was so relaxed and very understanding when I wanted to change the placement a few times. I love my tattoo so much and I had a great overall experience. I would highly recommend Forrest! Thanks for the great work, hopefully I'll be back for more soon!
Review Source:My husbands friend had his tattoos done by Jaime for quite sometime now. We were very pleased with his artwork. My husband was getting his first ever tattoo and I was getting my second one. Jaime pays close attention to detail and makes sure that you are pleased with his work before you leave. I would definitely recommend him to others.
Review Source:As soon as we walked in we were amazed at the friendly atmosphere! The place was clean and well kept and the owner Chad was really cool. My girlfriend came in with an unsure sketch of what she wanted and Bobby was there to the rescue, he sketched out exactly what she wanted and was super helpful. In my opinion this place should definitely be your first stop! Take a look at Bobby's site
<a href="/redir?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.bobbylaneta&s=2ac31b78cf849ce2ffc0996c72355be14238dce935e01e04833933c763e83b38" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://www.bobbylaneta</a>.... I will definitely be coming back with more work, as it's hard to find a good artist now a days....
So I got a really bad tattoo that everyone was always like  "Oh that's really cool, what is it?!?" lol So needless to say I didn't know what to do with it. So I was on my quest to find who was going to help me... Well the skies parted and a tattoo angel named Forrest Lang saved my hideous tattoo on my foot. He took his time with me and was so professional, never bad mouthing what I had and reassuring me that he would do his best to fix it. And boy did he have his work cut out for him. The lines were thick and blown out and the fish was so squat that it was unrecognizable. After talking to him for quite awhile I was completely reassured and gave him artistic freedom to do what he thought was best. But all the time asking questions and paying attention to my personality. He thought it was best to bring the tattoo up my leg and take away the attention from my cover-up and I must say I LOVE IT !!!!!! Now my leg is covered from the knee down. I literally get asked to see it every day and immediately get ohhh's and ahh's ... So needless to say i'm in love. We, well he finished up my foot last night so it's only fitting I give his shop a review. My foot looks awesome!! He covered up the fish and you could never tell that it was a cover-up it is perfect!!! Dude this man is magic!! And another thing I must say about the shop is now from spending so much time there is that they are so professional and it is such a warm and inviting place. Everyone there is so friendly and from what I have seen do spectacular work. Forrest always takes such good care of me asking how I am doing and always telling me we can stop if needed. If you know tattoo's the foot is one of thee worst area on your body to tattoo and he is always as gentle as possible.  From the incredible work he's done on me so many of my clients and friends have now gone to him and they are really happy also. I love this place!!!!!! Go check this shop out!!!
Review Source:This shop is perfectly located next to the place I get my hair cut. My stylist Rachel goes here for her tattoos and she ALWAYS raves about Forrest. He wasn't there, but I was more than happily satisfied with Jaime!!! He totally customized this simple tattoo I have been wanting for a while and made it JUST FOR ME. He was quick, efficient and didn't "dig into me"... AMAZING AMAZING JOB! I WILL BE BACK.
Review Source:Saint Hillix (formerly HD Tattoo) is a gem of a shop in San Diego. The shop is always very clean and the staff is very welcoming. Passerbys are greeted with hellos and casual friendly conversation. Friends of customers and employees pop in and out all day long and it helps maintain a relaxed atmosphere in a sometimes not-so-relaxing situation (having needles poking you).
I get all of my work done by the owner, Â Forrest Lang. Forrest has a wonderful eye and does amazing work with color, but I have seen many amazing pieces he's done varying from black/grey shading, to portraits, to vibrant colored pieces. What I appreciate the most about Forrest's technique is that he takes his time drawing the tattoo directly onto your skin and reshaping it to the contours of your body. He takes such pride in his work that he wants to make sure it looks perfect and unique on each customer he works on. Oh and an added bonus, he's one of the friendliest down to earth tattoo artists I've ever met so conversation with him is very effortless and enjoyable.
I've referred a handful of friends to Forrest and Saint Hillix and they have all loved the artwork produced. I even took my mother to get her first one at age 60 on Mother's Day and she couldn't be happier with the tattoo and her experience. I will forever recommend Saint Hillix Tattoo.
Came in right off the street and was greeted immediately. Couldnt get over how clean it was and the walls are kick ass cool! Everyone was hella nice and I got some great coverup work done!
Great location, really fun listening to everyone chat while I was getting tattooed. Hard to find a relaxed, unpretentious tattoo shop.
I got my tattoo done by Forrest, this time but last year. He did a paisley on my arm as a cover up on just some small red script. It took 4 and a half hours, $550 dollars later...
I thought about leaving up my good review just because I really enjoyed Forrest's company as a tattoo artist while getting my tattoo. But I would be misleading other people and that's not what Yelp is about.
So I was recommended to HD tattoo because my friend got inked by the shop owner, Chad, who unfortunately passed away recently. But I went in, Mando and Forrest were extremely helpful. Forrest came off very professional, I liked his style in his port and understood what I wanted. So out of 10 artist that I saw and consulted with, I chose to go with Forrest.
We had two different settings because he had a client coming in. So we cut mine shorter, when I came back he suggested that we did green around my paisley. For another $75.
When I left the shop, my red script was still showing through the purple ink and he never touched it up in the 2nd setting.
He kept taking smoke breaks for me to just sit there and he was actually charging me for. Which I didn't notice until it was time to pay.
I felt like I got ripped off because $550 is way too much for what I paid for my piece, and now I have to pay another $300 to get it touched up, have the blotchy lines fixed and shading redone.
Some lines are really strong, and some you can barely see it. Some bled out. The green outline is spotty. The circles are not in a uniform shape. He had a guide on my skin, but the circles look completely free handed in a bad way.
This was basically my first tattoo so I didn't know what to expect, but everyone tells me I paid way too much, and it never looked finished. What bothers me the most is that, it was what he called his finished work.
I really wanted to like his work but with what I have to look like on my arm every single day, makes me not. I would think he would want to do an AMAZING job on me because I had told him I would be a loyal returning customer...... And who doesn't want that?
I really should have went to tell him that I didn't like it, but right now I feel like it's still fixable, and I'd rather pay the $300 to fix it while I can, because why am I gonna go to someone to effed it up, to fix it? It just doesn't make sense. This isn't my hair, it doesn't grow back. It's my skin, on my forearm that everyone sees. And I wasn't gonna go ask for my money back or anything but I've chose to sit here a year later and hate this piece on my forearm. I want to be estatic everytime I see it.
So moral of my story: I'm so sorry for having to write this about you, Forrest but money is a big factor and I felt like you just wanted my money and not take pride in your work.
But now I have an appoinment next week to get it fixed, $550 later.
RIP Chad, you made HD tattoo the best tattoo place in my eyes!
Chad has done 8 of my 10 tats, stand up guy, great clean shop! He was not only my tat guy but he was nice and a good friend! Â You will be greatly missed bro!
HD TATTOO still is the place to go, the guys there are top notch and can help you out with anything you can dream of!
HD Tattoo was great. Chad had excellent ideas and helped put our ideas down on paper and then to skin. Awesome vibe, the place visually rocks!!! Â He worked on 6 of my cousins including me in one day. Â The guy gots skills and he'll give you an honest opinion on what will and will not work. I
will be back for more ink!!!! Â His pricing was good for our group. Thanks Chad......it was well worth the drive from Calexico, Ca.
I went to HD with a vague idea and Mando took it to a whole new level. Everyone there is extremely helpful and make the experience fun. They also do piercings which may not be as known. Tim has a wealth of knowledge and does anything from basic earlobe to micro-dermal implants.
Check out <a href="/redir?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.mandomedrano.com&s=770d59397cf08704630c12bd51ffa145b41e5cb075a9481c64e144d1e1a04eb4" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://www.mandomedrano.…</a>
I got a beautiful tattoo from Chad a few months ago. Â I'm so happy with it! This would be a normal "I love Chad" review if it weren't for the fact that I live in San Francisco...and I'm planning on only going to HD to get the rest of my tattoos. Â I don't trust anyone else with color as much as I do Chad. Â He's a fantastic artist!
Review Source:Check it....
I walked in at 5:30 pm on the 27th and asked if I could get me and my wife tatted up the same day. Â Now, for most, this would be a stupid request and they would probably ask to make an appointment and come back some other day. Â My new homie Mando quickly asked what we wanted and totally went for it. Â
(Insert shout out to Mando for stepping up his game). Â
He asked me to come back at 7:30 to start and get this going. Â
LEGIT. Â He not only did one tattoo, he did two (one me and one my chica), and totally last minute.
Props to him for really making our night! Â It was the only time we could do it and i am sure he was tired, he has a new repeat customer.
He kept it cool and fun the whole time, cant say enough about this vato.
Shop was clean, chill, and stayed open just for us. Â Thanks holmes, I will be back for a big time sleeve!
(Oh, and by the way, good thing he didn't play Social D or my girl would have kicked him in the nutz!)
The shop itself is very clean, and eccentrically decorated. It is definitely a very comfortable atmosphere to get tattoos and piercings. Â ALL of the guys in the shop are wonderful, skilled artists with amazing portfolios to back up their work. Â Prices are fair, and everyone is very friendly. Â What more could you ask for?
I have a sleeve in progress being done by Forrest. Â Incredible work! Â Can't wait to go back and get some work done!
I got a tattoo done from Mike at HD Tattoo yesterday and I just love it. It was a special design he and I created and he drew up. I had it put on my foot which was very painful but Mike was so patient with me and my sniveling. He is very detailed oriented and wanted it to be perfect. I will definitely recommend them to anyone who asks about my new foot tattoo.
Review Source:the guys in this shop are all wonderful artists!! Â they offer tattoos by appointment and piercing as well. Â the music is bumping and everyone is so friendly!! Â ive gotten a couple of tattoos here and recommend anyone in the area to stop in and check it out. Â they are located right next door to overload skate shop and a few doors down from bacchus house.
Review Source:
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