Quality tattoo shop. Always have the best artists with excellent portfolios and always CLEAN. I got my first tattoo here years ago and have recommended them to as many people as I possibly can. If you are looking for a great clean shop, with excellent artists you don't have to look any further than Tomato.
Review Source:I'm crestfallen to write this review and I really hope it was just an "off" day, but I'm a little miffed about my experiences with Tomato Tattoo this afternoon.
Let me preface this to say that I have experience with body piercing and tattoos, much to the revulsion of my mother. She's come around over the years, and when she decided to get her ears pierced again, she came to me with advice on what to do. She decided that for her birthday, we'd get her ears pierced.
Enter Tomato Tattoo! I'd chosen the parlor in part because of its sterling reputation (and the reviews of you lovely Yelpers) and in part because of a conversation I'd had with Jason, the piercing guy. He was then and today bright, funny, personable and very talented. Just the guy to put my poor mum at ease, I thought!
But when we went in, the gentleman I spoke to (NOT Jason, by the way) was very dismissive and, how to put it politely... spacey. I'd explained what I'd like to do, and he said "Well, to do it here, it'd be very expensive." I said I don't care what the cost, I want my mother in the best hands. He shot me a look and went on to say, "For what you want, I'd tell you to just go to Claire's and have a teenager do it."
...
WHAT.
You've got to be fucking kidding me.
I would rather be gored by an angry bull than let my mother go anywhere near a teenager with a piercing gun. There's a litany of reasons why, but basically the machine is unchanged from what's used to tag the ears of cattle, which is to say it shoots a rod of metal through the ear with an impact similar to blunt force trauma. It leads to possible splintering of the metal and an increased rate of infection. Worst of all, certain parts of the machine cannot properly be sterilized in an autoclave. So no thanks, I'd rather not have my mom get a mini bullet shot through her ears by a teenager with five minutes of orientation.
Worst still when I'd asked him when the last spore test was done for the autoclave, he didn't even know what a spore test was.
I'm really hoping he was joking and I just didn't get it. Or maybe he was having a rough day. But when I went to another nearby parlor, when I even mentioned this story to the owner, she pulled out a giant binder with records from every spore test they'd ever had, performed each month, before I even asked.
Hope this was a one-off, rare experience. But dude... Learn the fucking sterilization process.
Why isn't 0 stars a choice? Â I would choose 0 in a heartbeat if I could because that is the level of service I got from Tomato Tattoo. Â I went in seeking a tattoo to cover an old tribal I have on my thigh about a year ago. Â I talked to a guy who was working up front. Â He stopped working on someone's tattoo to ask me what I wanted. Â As I was describing it to him he went back to working on the tattoo. Â Not only was he not paying attention to me...he was half-@ss paying attention to his work. Â I explained I wanted a tree design that went up my hip and branched a bit onto my stomach. Â This would have been a high price piece! Â He kept trying to convince me to do a realistic tree and that wasn't what I was looking for. Â When I told him what I wanted he smirked at me and said "whatever" in a tone that made me immediately decide never to get work done there. Â They should change the name to Rotten Tomato Tattoo. Â What a joke. Â Pathetic.
Review Source:I came in here not too long ago to get a new belly button ring. And I'd read in other reviews that some of their staff members are rude but others are nice. So I decided to check it out for myself. When I went in most of the artists were busy with tattoos except for one man. Even though the doorbell rang when I walked in no one greeted me and they barely acknowledged my presence. They didn't have a good selection of body jewelry and I wasn't gonna wait ten minutes to be spoken to. Never going there again!
Review Source:I was looking to add to the tattoo on my back. with the recommendations of the crew on Yelp!, I decided to visit Tomato and ask for Noodles. But when I got there, I saw the portfolio for Angela and they blew me away. We made an appointment and she showed me her design and I was very pleased. Then on the day of the inking, she showed me a modified version and made some adjustments on the on the spot; and I have to say it was awesome!! She even touched up the old tattoo.
Thanks Angela!
Guys, don't get discouraged when they tell you there's a 4 week wait. Every one at Tomato has a appointment list that long. But it will be worth the wait because they are all PROFESSIONALS.
Oh, and they played the coolest movies. :D
(Killer Clowns from Outer Space was quite entertaining)
I had waited until right before my 29th birthday to get my first tattoo. I had always wanted one, but had always thought of a reason not to. Then one day I stopped at Tomato Tattoo on the way home from work, in full business suite.
I went in one day an spoke to Mike. Who looked at my simple print outs I wanted to make a tattoo out of. He said that they would work wonderfully and could get me in two days later, which was wonderful.
While Mike was tattooing me he told me that tattoos were addicting, Well a few weeks past and I was back to add more tattoos to my back. After a few brain bashing sessions and perfecting the final drawings I ended up covering most of my upper back with tattoos. I love them all.
I sat for multiple sessions because I wanted a multidimensional colors over large areas, Also I can only handle sitting still for about 3 to 4 hours at a time. Mike accommodated this very well. Also one time I was there for a longer session we took a dinner break, that was fab!
Place is always clean. People are interesting to talk with. This was something always interesting on TV. Also they were willing to change the station for me when no one else was watching..... that was wonderful!
Came here in spring to look at some artist books and  flash. The flash is good, comprehensive designs to suit all tastes and of all sizes too.
The place is neat and clean. Two walls are replete with flash, the two counters up front have artist books. Beyond the counters is the studio where the artists work. A back room has a computer where they look up designs and work on things. They do tattoos and a little bit of piercing.
South Park DVDs were playing on the flat screen TV on the afternoon I went, getting everyone to chuckle every once in a while as they waited, worked, or were being  worked on.
I picked an artist, Lerc, because I liked his work samples book, particularly the color and composition. We began discussing by phone and email, but as schedules got a little too complicated, we didn't get back on track until about 2-3 months later. Glad we did tho, because I finally got an amazing tattoo (my first one). Â A green vine and an orangey trumpeter flower with white accents on the inside of my left wrist.
He's a pro and has excellent tattoo chair side manner, putting me at ease, explaining the entire process before, during, and after. He wants to make sure he gets the design exactly how you like it, providing excellent expert feedback when required. He also wants to make sure the location is exactly where you want it, while providing some advice for where or how it might look better. Before he begins he confirms the design yet again, the location, and the rules/process.
Lerc's work made it all worthwhile. I will be back later sometime to work on a possible second tattoo design we already started discussing.
Laid back, clean, great work, easy access, and private parking.
This is the beauty of Yelp.
Thanks to the previous Yelpers for getting me in the door to see Jason for my nose piercing. Â Tomato Tattoo is a great place. It is very clean, and everyone works together to maintain a low-key, relaxed environment. Â
I am a little apprehensive about pain, but the piercing was quick and sweet, just like ripping off a band-aid. Â The piercing jewelry is pretty nice looking, so I don't have to worry about wearing dorky jewelry until the piercing is healed. Â The pricing was pretty competitive ($60), they let me relax afterwards, and I even got some candy in the deal. Â
Everyone was very friendly to me, and made me feel very comfortable and confident in my decision, and I'm very happy with the result! Â I would definitely recommend Tomato for a clean, reputable piercing shop.
By the way, piercings are quick so appointments aren't always needed, but you'll want to call ahead to make sure that Jason is working and in shop that day, and isn't totally slammed with tattoo appointments.
On the recommendation of a friend, I went to see Angela for a large addition/touch-up to something I already had. Â Angela rocks! Â She did an awesome job. Â I brought in only one picture of what I kinda wanted to give her an idea, and she captured what I was going for perfectly. Â She is a great artist. Â She also put up with my oh-so-many bathroom breaks during my 7 hour session (hey I have a small bladder) - which I really appreciated. Â I'll definitely be going back to her!
And for those people complaining about being "ignored" or having to wait - look, that's how tattoo shops are. Â You can't expect an artist to drop everything they are doing the second you walk in the door. Â And if you were the one getting tattooed, you wouldn't want them to either!
I have a lot of friends who go here.
Many go to Angela, some to Noodles, and some to Jason.
I personally went to Jason and am very happy with my tattoo. Its a large back piece and was my first. Jason was actually pretty fast considering the size and was entertaining throughout both sessions.
Though it was somewhat hard to get ahold of him to set up the second session.
I'm very happy with my tattoo (both with the price and work) and will definitely be recommending the Tomato to friends.
If you're considering going there I'd research the artists a little and maybe check out their in shop portfolios since I think they have better work showcased there than on their web page. Once you decide on the artist its best to make an appointment because the artists there can get pretty busy making it hard to take customers.
I'd give Tomato Tattoo no stars if I could. Â First off, I walk in with my fiancee. Â No one acknowledges us. Â Yay. Â Finally Noodles comes up front to talk to us. Â I talk to him about touching up an old tattoo and adding some new stuff to it. Â Now, I don't know if maybe I wasn't cool enough, but Noodles was completely uninterested in what I was saying. Â My fiancee then tried to bounce some ideas off of him. Â She got the same treatment. We took his card and left knowing that we wouldn't be coming back. Let me note that neither of us are new to tattoos. Â We both have several. Â We had just moved into the area and were looking for a good shop and Tomato seemed like it might be better than other around the area. Â Wrong.
If you want some generic flash tattooed by pretentious art school dropouts, by all means go to Tomato. Â Please note that there are much better places to get tattoos done in the Chicago area. Â Places that have real artists who are actually nice! Â I know it sounds crazy, but being a pretentious jerk doesn't make you a good artist. Â
I recommend Gallery of Ink in Chicago. Â They're artists first, tattoo artists second. Â Plus, they're all super friendly and a blast to be around!
I have been going to tomato tattoo for several years. All of my tattooed and pierced friends also go to tomato. Angela is my tattoo artist. Noodles is my piercer. This place is the best tattoo shop all around. I've been getting tattooed for about 12 years and now that I've found tomato, I'll never go anywhere else. The staff is very knowledgeable, super helpful and they are all very friendly. I feel very safe here because I know they take great care of me when I'm there and they practice stringent cleaning habits which is definitely something you want to see when you're getting tattooed.. Getting tattooed can be painful and scary but all of the staff is very understanding and caters to the customers needs, I've done my fair share of whining and complaining when Angela tattoos over a sore spot, but she takes it in stride, smiles and pauses so I can relax. She's very sweet and personable, which is pretty important to me because I have had sessions with her that go for 5 or 6 hours. I could never sit that long with someone i was uncomfortable with or couldn't talk to.. And the way she tattoos color is incredible.. I have a VERY brightly colored half-sleeve that she did and i get complimented on it all the time.. I have referred family, coworkers and friends all to tomato and every time I get great feedback. Each of the artists is skillful in their own way, and I love that they each have their own styles and areas of specialty - yet they are all highly adaptable to what the customer wants. I cant think of a negative thing to say about this shop and it's staff.
Review Source:I had my last tattoo done at Downers Grove Tattoo - and was kind of looking for a nicer place, so I dropped in to Tomato to see what they were about. Â I came straight from work so I was wearing business casual clothes - I opened the door, the bell dinged, all three tattoo artists stopped inking and looked up at me - and then immediately began tattooing their clients again without addressing me - totally snubbed.
Ok I think - they're busy, don't want to mess up their flow, I'll wait patiently.
Two people were waiting in chairs, so after standing around like an idiot for about five minutes looking at the wall - I loudly ask them if they've been helped yet - in the hopes one of the people working there will ask why I came into their shop.
The couple say they've been helped and are waiting - so I stand around for another ten minutes, feeling really out of place and uncomfortable because I'm dressed like a tool and everyone's wearing Hot Topic attire - at the end of that 15 minutes, after no employee asked what the hell I wanted - I loudly cursed and left. Â
Hey Tomato Tattoo - You guys are a bunch of jerks, sorry to inconvenience you with a possible sale - I'm going back to Downers Grove Tattoo
I had my most recent tattoo done here by Jeremy about four months ago and had a fantastic experience! I was there for a memorial tattoo for my labrador retriever,and he did an amazing job at turning a simple pawprint into something special and artistic....so much more than I had ever expected when I wandered in with just a pawprint on printer paper. Not to mention, he seamlessly worked it into some existing tattoos. I will definitely be back to see him!
Review Source:I had my nose pierced here. Jason was reassuring, entertaining, and didn't screw it up. The shop was clean and tidy, I was in and out quickly- what more could a girl ask for?
When I encountered some minor complications (my own damn fault, not theirs), Noodles was kind enough to take a quick peek and give me suggestions on how to fix it. It looks fantastic now.
All in all, service was grand, the end result is lovely, and the shop is the sort of place that makes me want to take up getting tattooed as a hobby so I can hang out there. A little pricey at $60 for the piercing, but I can't really complain as I'm willing to pay more to have my face look decent.
I've had two tattoos done at Tomato and I have mixed feelings about this place. Â My first experience wasn't that great. I can't remember the name of the guy who tattooed me, but he was rather unfriendly and I wasn't that pleased with the quality of the tattoo - it faded and needed a touch-up within 4 months. Â However, I got my second tattoo done a few months later by Angela (who was recommended by a friend) and she is FANTASTIC. Â She does great work and I couldn't be more pleased with the tattoo. Â
I have to say that, overall, the folks who work there could stand to work on their customer relations skills. Â Both times that I went in to make my appointment, the guys I spoke to were gruff and indifferent and acted like me bringing my business there was a hassle for them. Â Kind of a turn-off. Â
On the plus side, the place is VERY clean and they follow strict hygienic standards, and I like that you can come back for a free-touch up if you ever need it. Â And, as I said before, Angela is awesome.
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