Great Lakes Tattoo — Attraction in West Chicago Township

Their sign says, "don't judge what you don't understand." Yet, when I asked Matt for a tattoo of a tree, he said "it wouldn't look right." He did not say it could not be done, that would of been a different story. This was for a cover-up tattoo for two words. He convinced me during our consultation to get some leaves and twigs and flowers instead as a cover up. I originally agreed to it because he was so insistent. However, i was unsure and unhappy.

The day i was supposed to get the tattoo, he showed me the drawing he made of what I had forcefully agreed to and the drawing was a complete disappointment. It looked like something I could of drawn in 10 min and I am no artist per se, even though I paint. They refused to give me back my deposit of $100 even though Matt wouldn't tattoo what I actually wanted. I apologized for wasting his time and felt very bad about it. The day of the consultation, I was only there shortly so it is not like the whole experience was worth $100 of time.

Matt told me to reschedule and walked away, he did not even suggest we discuss the drawing. I had to ask if he could take me in to review my tattoo and he agreed but was so mad the whole time, I felt very uncomfortable and immediately regret even asking. I started to have a panic attack and had to ask my friend to pick me up because the entire experience was overwhelming with negativity. At this point, I rather lose $100 dollars than to come back to such a toxic environment.

Back story: I had previously gotten a tattoo at this location and Matt was all cherry and helpful. He even drew and did the tattoo the same day. I came back because of my originally experience. But the second time around, it was as if I was speaking to a different person. You would think they would treat better their...

My friend and I were in Chicago for the day and decided to get tattoos kind of on a whim. We saw how great of a reputation this place had online so we decide to make the trek up Grand Ave to see if they would fit us in (we were both getting small pieces). When we walked in the young man at the desk told us that they do take walk ins so we were pretty pleased 'and excited (this was my first tattoo). At the end of the day my artist was amazing (Eric) and he did exactly what I wanted, while listening to my many many comments and questions... so I really think this place deserves a great review... Thank you so much Eric. HOWEVER, the front desk person (receptionist? Office person? I'm not sure) - the young man at the front, whatever his position is... was HORRENDOUS. He made both me and my friend feel so uncomfortable that we were on the verge walking out until Eric, the artist, came to talk to us. He was miserable and had zero customer service skills. He dismissed our ideas when we were talking about our stencils and everything that came out of his mouth was extremely condescending. He took the drawing my friend made to give her artist an loose idea of what she wanted and literally scanned it and made it into the stencil that would be actually tattooed on her. When she asked why he was using that (he had told her before just to draw it and it didn't have to be pretty) he replied "well it should be pretty if it's going to go on your body." Regardless of that individual, we still love our tattoos and thank you to the amazing artists... as for the front desk guy... I want the owner to know that he almost lost two customers and would bet we won't be the last...

Honestly I’m a 58 yr old grandmother of 3 who got her first tattoo 29 years ago and seemingly every 5 years or so I go back for another. Mine are all hidden for the most part. They all have meaning to me and one was designed by my beautiful and incredibly talented daughter when she was 14. Another I share with both my daughters. When I decided to get another (my 5th) I realized that I needed to do my research. The number of incredibly bad and tacky tattoos I have seen in the past 10 years is mind boggling. I recently spent a weekend in the Dells (enough said). When I found Kevin I was just stopped in my tracks by his work. He is an artist in the truest sense of the word. My daughter called him “old school, traditional” and that is a perfect description. I sent him a picture of my old faded 80’s motley cruish rose tattoo and told him I wanted to redo it. What he designed was incredible and I could not be more in love with it! We also did a triskele on my wrist. . He was such a cool and relaxed guy and my daughter and he chatted away about art school in Rhode Island while he worked away. In no time I was done. I honestly smile ear to ear every time I look at them. Either you love tattoos or you don’t. There is no in between. If you love them…you know. And I could not be...