I wanted a couple of small heart outlines tattooed on my inner elbows, but most shops have $100 minimums and I just couldn't stomach paying $100 for such tiny pieces and I figured they'd be pretty hard for a tattoo artist to mess up, even one who wasn't top ranked. I was checking Yelp/calling shops non-stop. I finally called Tat2fiend and when I described what I wanted, Dave said he would do it for $40. Perfect!
When I arrived he was a little confused because when I called and said I wanted "two small heart tattoos", he thought I meant there were two of us getting matching heart tattoos and that's why he quoted $40, because he meant $40 each. He informed me the shop minimum was $50 so I was like whatever. $10 more. Go for it.
He was a very nice man, but the shop was a little different than I'm used to. And that's my fault. I'm used to places that have $100 minimums; they have a $50 minimum. This is a tattoo shop; I'm used to something more along the lines of a tattoo *boutique* (douchebag alert). Anyway, he was singing along with Journey the entire time he did my tattoo and it was amusing. He did get me a couple times quite painfully and I started bleeding more than I ever have before during a tattoo (I have several), but I didn't think anything of it. He finished. I paid him. The end.
After coming home and inspecting closer, I noticed the lines were a little janky but figured maybe it was the swelling or newness or something. They have since healed nicely, but the spots where he essentially got a little stabby with my skin have pretty much blown out and are blurry along the edges. The rest of the lines are a bit wobbly and one of the circular parts of the heart isn't even with the other; it's squared a bit.
Overall they're fine and look normal to the casual audience, but when you really inspect them you can see these flaws (and I'm OCD). I'm bummed, but not pissed by any means. I learned my lesson. I wanted these particular hearts on that particular day but didn't want to spend a lot for them because they were such simple and small tattoos. Thankfully, knowing that I was taking a risk with a shop I wasn't used to, I purposely decided to only do outlines instead of fully filled hearts. I figured if the artist messed them up I could just have one of my artists fix and fill them as part of another appointment for a larger piece. And, yeah, that's eventually what I'm going to do.
In the meantime, they're definitely passable tattoos and not very visible anyway. And it's not like I regularly have people with their eyes six inches away from my elbows. However I will be asking another artist to fix them and I won't be back. Sorry.
LOLOL, so i've been getting some pretty pissed off messages on Yelp the past two weeks..apparently my raw and honest reviews are not to peoples liking.
Well, screw you.
Not you though. :)
Okay, so about Tat2fiend. Yayyyy I like them! I had been researching for a week to find a piercer that I felt comfortable with to pierce a part of my body I'd rather not mention lol..it was fast, easy, inexpensive. The piercer was cool enough to talk to me about his own piercing experience, and was very fast and thorough.
I'd highly recommend, and will be back again in the next 10 years when I get my next piercing. :)
Chad had been doing my tattoos since I got to California. He's always reasonable with the price, does AMAZING work, and is a pretty cool dude! He's done three for me so far (if my sleeve can even really count as ont) and I look forward to seeing him every time I go! Tom is also AWESOME, I just have to stay loyal to Chad. But amazing work all around. And they're both pretty old school, which I definetly appreciate.
Review Source:I had the pleasure of spending part of my 28th birthday being worked on by Chad. Â This was my 6th tattoo and I can honestly say I've never had a better experience. Â Chad wasn't just giving me ink, he was creating art on me - and THAT is what makes a great tattoo experience. Â I'll definitely be returning and referring people to the great guys at this shop. Â Thanks so much.
Review Source:I met Tom years ago through a friend when I was looking for a new artist after a bad experience at another shop. I've been going to him ever since , and both of us have been going to him for years. His work is second to none, and as some of the other reviewers have indicated, he absolutely goes out of his way to make sure you are taken care of.
Tom comes from the east coast originally so he does things a little different than a some of the places I've been to over the years. He's straightforward and runs a real clean shop. If you've never been to  his shop, you will see what I mean if pay him a visit. If you're a first timer, then you will feel quite comfortable. I'd recommend this place to anyone.
On a side note, he commissioned several local artists, including Persue & Monstrinho, to paint an incredible mural on the side wall of the building where his shop is located at 30th and Monroe. It's definitely worth checking out.
.
Had my first tat done by the owner, Tom. Was recommended by a buddy and Tom hand drew what I wanted... after hours and hours of looking at pictures and making him re-draw it, my tat came out perfectly! He also fixed my belly button piercing after it was pierced in Lake Tahoe wrong! Def recommend this place!!!
Review Source:These guys are soo nice and attentive. Â Fix was willing to re-open my nose piercing at no cost and Tom went out of his way to make my friend's flat spiderman tattoo into a popping work of art. Â He incorporated white and orange into the classic blue & red spiderman. Â I love it when artists go beyond. Â It was fun to chill there while my friend got his tattoo done. Â They even noticed my body art and complimented the work. Â I'd recommend people here for sure!
Review Source:I had an awesome experience with this place.  I popped in after work one day, made an appointment and got the ink done a couple days later.  I was also able to watch a great movie during the process LOL.  Everyone was very friendly, professional and fun.  The prices are awesome too!  Highly recommended!!!  The tats look great!  Thanks Tom  =)  I'll be back. . . . .
Review Source:Went in for two for Tuesday piercing which is advertised on THEIR OWN WEBSITE and they told me that deal hadn't been offered for over a year. I wanted to get 2 piercings simultaneously and the guy said "I don't have 4 hands" very rude when a simple "no we can't do that" would have been a lot nicer. Their piercing price is good even @ the full price, but I chose to go elsewhere since staff were so rude to me.
Review Source:Went back and got a tattoo from Tom. Nothing big and fancy but I love it. I walked in not knowing exactly what I wanted. Looked around found one I liked and tweaked it a little bit. He also fixed the tattoo on my back that a previous tattoo artist had messed up on. All for $70 bucks. If I ever come back to SD and want a tattoo or a piercing you know where I'll be going...
Review Source:I had such a great experience at Tat2Fiend I specially made a yelp account too add my input on my experience there!
First off, you can't beat 25 dollars for a pricing (or two standard piercings for 40). Â Granted, I got my tongue pierced here so I was a bit sketched out on the price being so low because everywhere else charges $45-60: I was just a bit worried that I was going to get what I paid for. Â Thankfully, I looked up the reviews right here on Yelp and felt pretty comfortable going here.
I went in to the shop on Friday night, it good atmosphere, very clean so I immediately felt relaxed. Â I didn't have an appointment but I was taken right away. Â Bryan, my piercer was VERY friendly and informative and put me right at ease. Â I've always felt nervous about getting a tongue ring because of infection/pain etc but my fears were lifted as soon as I sat down in the chair. Â The process was very quick and painless (the clamp didn't even hurt like most people say), and within 7 minutes from entering the room we were done and I was sporting my new tongue ring. Â He did a wonderful job--it's COMPLETELY even, it looks great, and was an overall nice experience...minus me making a fool of myself from drooling and cracking up as he was piercing me.
I went here for a navel piercing.. I had it done quickly and efficiently by Bryan! Not to mention, it was a cheap $25! The pain was better than I had expected. I didn't have an appointment but I was helped out within minutes! Parking was kind of a hassle but I highly recommend this place for their great service!
Review Source:I honestly did not have a clue what I was getting myself into.
I literally decided to go get my nipples pierced and my cousin patronized me to go ahead and do it, and yep an hour later there we were at Tat2fiend, the guys are absolutely great and the service was great.
Brian my piercer answered all my questions re assured me of everything as was more than ecstatic to allow me to keep digging deeper with any question I had.
At the very end it looks great, and all for a super low price I mean you cant beat that!.
I will deff. keep them in mind and I will make sure to check them out in the future. As I will be getting more stuff done.
Thanks to YELP for helping me find this place!! I went to this shop about a week ago to get my belly button pierced and I couldn't have picked a better place to have it done. The price was VERY reasonable, shop was very clean, and the staff was amazing. I got my piercing done by Brian. He was very patient with me since I was intimidated with the needle (last time I got a piercing was 10 yrs ago). I highly recommend this place. $25 for any piercing. U can't beat that price!!!! :)
Review Source:"Yay! Â I'm a fan"...That's exactly what 4 stars means on Yelp. Â Now don't get me wrong, there was nothing bad about my experience here, I guess there was just nothing that warranted a "Whoohoo! Â As good as it gets!" Â I'm always willing and ready to bump my reviews up that final star if my next visit warrants it.
Picture this, the Padres just lost the last game in the 3 game series vs the Rockies and from the looks of it, the Giants are probably going to be beat the Dodgers. Â Things are becoming increasingly precarious in the last month of the regular season, but what can I say? Â I'm a diehard Friar fanatic. Â I drop off the bestie at home with explicit instructions from her not to go get a tattoo and yet I find myself at Studio 1904 on Adams Ave, the original place where I popped my ink cherry. Â Please read my review on how my experience this particular night at 1904 ended up less than stellar. Â After a no-win situation there, I stumble outside to call the other nearby shops, convinced I can barter down to $50 for such a simple job (the Padres SD logo on my side, mostly small-ish). Â It's about 8:30PM on a Wednesday and I get no answer from Avalon, discover Enigma is piercing only, and finally make connection with Chad at Tat2fiend. Â I attempt a verbal quote, but he convinces me to come down and I happily oblige. Â I believe the original quote started at $100 and although I wanted to pay $40, I was perfectly satisfied paying $60 ($80 including tip).
My Padres logo is BEAUTIFUL!! Â If a sports team logo on one's body can ever be considered "beautiful." Â I feel a bit like Mexican Dodger fan, but it's a part of me I won't give up now, whether I like it or not.
I dont have much to compare to, however, considering this was my first tatoo experience, it was a good one, and that's what matters. Â
Was down in SD for a show, and decided to spend the weekend down there w/ my friends, and ended up going in to Tat2Fiend on a whim to get inked. Â Was pretty nervous, but this is something that I'd been wanting to do, and I knew what I wanted. Â Chad was the guy that popped my tatoo cherry (:p) and he did a great job! Â Friends of mine got work done as well, and they were really happy w/ theirs as well - and they have a whole collection of tats, so they knew what's good and what's not. Â So over all, I highly recommend this place - they were friendly, clean, and reasonably priced. =)
If you are looking for a clean, professional, consistent tattoo shop, this is the place! Atmosphere is comfortable. Staff is friendly.
The owner, Tom Blessing is your go-to guy for custom tattooing. With over 15 years of experience, he never fails to amaze me with his artwork. My tattoos always turn out better than I had imagined myself. I have been going to him for a few years now and I will never let anyone else touch my skin.
I have been going to Tom for 8 years now. I have followed him from Big City to Body Marks and then he was like missing for a while and now I am at his new shop that he owns for himself. He knows me as the butterflies and skulls girl. He is really great with my ideas and it always comes out better then I imagined. Â He is a really great artist-you cant even imagine how some other tattoo artists do not know how to draw,just color in shit. So not too long ago I let a beginner give me a really big disgusting tattoo right on my chest. ( I thought-okay free tattoo...well you get what you pay for bitches) Â I was seriously so embrassed, it looked like he smeared dog shit on my chest. Â Then I went to Tom and he fixed it and now it looks great! I get so many compliments on the latest piece I just had done. Thank you Tom for giving me back my thunder and now I am able to wear inapporpirate shirts that show off my chest and tits again. You are amazing.
Review Source:Tom is the choice artist for myself as well as my husband. He has been doing all of my work for 12 years now, my husbands for 7 years. I recommend him highly.
He is very patient for you first timers and knows his stuff. The shop is very clean, his sanitation practices are top notch. He can conceptualize what ever it is you want done.
If you want a kick-butt Tattoo that is designed to what you want and excellent work...Well Tat2fiend is the place for you! After a recent bout with breast cancer and having many scars I was desperate to start putting it all behind me. Well scars are hard to tattoo over so I thought that I could do something around them so they would be disquised. Not only did Tom the owner design a tattoo to hide them, but he was able to tattoo over the scars as not to even notice I have them! Excellent work and a great price. Tom  IS not only great artist, but the shop is always clean and female friendly. There is alot of flash on the walls to get an ideal of what you might want and then Tom is always willing to draw something that fits your body and your vision of what the tattoo should be. I could gush over the work and the great people all day but I think you should go check it out for yourself!
Review Source:
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