World Famous Emporium of Tattoos

My second tattoo in this shop to be infected. I have only been to this shop two times. My infection could have been cuz the ink is old and cheap. Plus not a sterilized shop. The artist did not wash his hands every time he smoked a cig. My skin is scared and had to see a doc for very strong meds. I have lots of tattoos, this was a infection that was serious and the smell of my dying flesh and the hot heat from it can really make a person angry. I just got another tattoo from True in Hollywood and no infection. If i go into this shop again i may just loose my hole arm next time.

I was having the worst time of my life trying to find the right artist to finish my long-awaited arm sleeve project. I tried researching and speaking with the most qualified artists at all of the locally acclaimed tattoo shops (mostly in Hollywood)...and wiling to pay any price. All I got was pretentious attitudes, emails ignored and never responded to, and artists trying to talk me out of what I really had my heart set on.  

As an artist myself, as well as a service provider to the community, I understand fully what can and wont work...and so I was baffled as to why these artists gave me such a rigamarole and excuses as to why they couldn't give me what I wanted and had been planning, researching and saving for for years.

So I did a Yelp search for tattoo shops in MY area...the area of Van Nuys, and found this little hole in the wall shop not far from home.  I read Peter's review and instantly identified with his similar dilemma to find the right artist to patronize what would ultimately be upwards of over 1K worth of a project. I liked what I read, and on a whim, shot over to talk to Frankie Ray, the aforementioned artist with an amazing customer satisfaction background.

Immediately, after speaking with Frankie, and giving him my idea summary...I felt listened to, respected and appreciated as a prospective client.  He did research, and has been working on my sleeve ever since.  He's also done additional work elsewhere as I have a plethora of ideas. Frankie never tries to talk anyone out of what they want unless he feels its morally inappropriate and that they will regret it soon after. He has managed to provide me with the most amazing work, because he wasn't too lazy to incorporate the detail I so desired, which other artists' apparently didn't have the gumption nor the "time" to do.  There's no other artist I'd rather give my money to.

This place is reasonable, friendly, and feels like coming home...which is how you should feel when you're committed to sitting down and putting something permanent and sentimental on your body.

My man has wanted a second tattoo for the longest time but could not decide what to get and what would be meaningful. To make a long story short, he decided the most meaningful tattoo for him would be a tattoo celebrating the Kings' first Stanley Cup. He loved the patch on his jersey and wanted it turned into a "permanent patch".

We looked on Yelp and saw all the reviews of World Famous Emporium of Tattoos. People were right- Frankie is a tattoo god. He took the Stanley Cup patch, recreated it and made adjustments so that it would be suitable as a tattoo. When it as done, my man even showed it to Patrick O'Neal and Daryl Evans (FOX Sports TV announcers for the Kings) outside Staples Center before a Kings game, and they both took photos and tweeted it. Some people we met later who follow O'Neal's and Evans tweets recognized that was his tattoo and said "Hey, I saw your tattoo from (O'Neal's and Evans') tweets!" He's shown it to Kings fans and hockey and non-hockey fans who are all very impressed with the tattoo work. It's all Frankie's work, and he guarantees it for life!

We'll be coming back when we're ready for our next tats. We've recommended Frankie to others as well. He's a very professional and nice guy too! Check out the Kings Stanley Cup tattoo he did in the photos section.