Kitchen Nail Bar - Sunnyvale — Attraction in Sunnyvale

I’ve been doing artificial nails for 10 years, and this was hands down the WORST EXPERIENCE I’ve ever had. The nail tech was impatient from start and could not finish original agreed upon set. Front desk also proved utterly unhelpful in finding any solution, and charged full amount despite clear evidence that the original agreement was not achieved. Such a shame given previous good designs at this salon, but cannot justify returning after such a preposterous experience. Honestly at this point, one can only laugh looking at the result vs promised design, which apparently cannot be executed unless there’s zero movement in both hands for 2 hours 🤷🏻‍♀️

Vi was my nail tech. From the beginning, she was impatient and sharp. When I was choosing colors and communicating the design, she kept interrupting and rushing the process. This had opposite effect and prolonged it, as I had to restart every time she interrupted. I ended up diagraming out exactly what I wanted, finger by finger, and still did not succeed in end.

Next, in applying the base colors, she snapped every time I moved my free hand (aka the one she wasn’t actively working on). It usually takes 2+ hours to complete my design sets, and never in 10 years has a nail tech required both hands to be absolutely still for the duration of manicure. And again, I was going for water, not trying to do my taxes between coats…

Finally, after a coughing fit, I told her I have to use my free hand to take a sip of water. After that, she decided she could not finish the design and would stop with just the base coat. I don’t even know if my nails were completed, as she just said “sorry” and walked away. Literally walked away while my hand was in the LED lamp without telling me set was complete, much less asking if I was OK with end result 😹

I asked for a different tech to complete the set bc the colors chosen were based on the actual design, not standalone colors. Front desk host refused and charged me the full Gel X price, even tho I pointed out I would not have chosen those base colors without the design. Front desk kept repeating “you agreed to these colors.” This is factually incorrect. At no point did I agree to the standalone colors. She did not care and charged full amount.

In fact, this was such a bad experience bc majority of time was tech and front desk talking AT me (or complaining about me to others), not understanding my asks or addressing my questions directly. There was ZERO attempt to find a solution. If you’re ok with paying $75+ for this, then by all means this is the salon for you. Otherwise I recommend another place if you prefer to walk out with what you asked for (and they...

I’ve been here twice, and I will not be going back. At $90+ plus tip for a manicure, they are unable to execute designs you show them as inspiration but they will say they can and you won’t realize until you’re done that it ends up looking different. Then they gaslight you into thinking it’s exactly the same as the picture or say it’s super pretty to try to get you to like it. I left both times feeling a bit scammed and disappointed.

For my latest appointment, I booked the beauty and the beast manicure and asked for chrome nails and even showed them a picture. The nail technician took a picture of it with her phone for reference. We agreed on $20 extra for that chrome look but I ended up with a black sparkle. So I paid $20 extra but did not achieve the chrome look, I could have gotten that type of black sparkle look with regular gel. She said it was super pretty and I tried to get myself to like it, but I am disappointed. I had a hard time explaining this in person since I was in shock and was told it’s a nice color. A regular silver gel color would have been a better match to my inspiration photo. I paid $90 for a manicure which included $60 beauty and the beast with gel, $10 dipping take off, $20 chrome application which consisted of 1 minute per hand of dabbing on sparkle powder. They offered a free repair on the chrome nails but I rather cut ties with this salon.

The cheapest manicure is $45 ($60 with gel). They try to make it more luxurious but it’s just impossible in that environment where you’re packed in like sardines and everyone is talking to each other. They do a neck message as part of it but you really can’t relax in that environment which is hectic. I agree with other...

I've been going to Kitchen Nail in Sunnyvale for the past 2.5 years, probably around 15 times. I initially went mainly for pedicures and generally found the service to be good. However, one thing that always bothered me was feeling ignored during my visits. The staff would often speak to each other exclusively in Vietnamese, which made me feel excluded and uncomfortable.

In recent months, I also started getting powder manicures. I’ve repeatedly left a note mentioning that I don’t use UV due to a skin condition, that’s actually why I choose powder, even though it costs more. During one of my recent visits, I asked for an ombre manicure, but was told it required UV. I reluctantly agreed, but unfortunately, the manicure didn’t even last an hour and I had to return the next day to have it fixed. That time, I made it clear I couldn’t be exposed to UV again 2nd day in a row.

Just a week ago, I returned for another manicure, and within a few days, two of my nails had already chipped. I tried to speak to the manicurist about it several times, but she ignored me and kept speaking to her colleague in Vietnamese. Then, in the middle of their conversation, she suddenly said, “Oh, you’re the no-UV person,” and they started giggling and continued their conversation in Vietnamese.

I felt incredibly uncomfortable. It’s deeply unprofessional to mock a client in a language they don’t understand. As a foreigner myself, I would never treat someone that way. After being a loyal customer for 2.5 years, it’s really disappointing to be treated with...