Rudy's Barbershop — Local services in Atlanta

My husband started going to Rudy's last year, and he's had very good experiences, but I just had my first appointment with them last month, and it was great!

I decided to visit Rudy's because I'm so tired of having to spend $70+ on a cut for my long white girl hair. I also haven't had a stylist I'm committed to, so why not just try the $45 long cut at Rudy's? I'm glad I did!

I called ahead because it was important to me to have a time slot during my lunch, and I wanted to make sure I got a barber who would be comfortable and competent with long girl hair. I got scheduled, but my stylist got changed when I arrived. I was a little worried, but everything ended up going really well!

I was paired with Penelope. She was excellent. I jived with her really quickly (which is such a relief - you know how interpersonal dynamics can be weird at the hair dresser's). She said, "You brought notes? I love notes!" I had indeed brought notes and pictures because I wanted to be as clear as possible to help me get the result I wanted. Turned out the extra time spent on those notes helped out a lot, and I highly recommend it.

I really appreciated the care Penelope used with my hair. She went not-as-short as I'd requested for a first go round, because, as you may have heard before, you can go shorter, but you can't go back. I did want to keep going shorter after the first round, and I was worried about asking for more because I didn't want to irritate her (past haircut baggage coming up right there, she had given me no reason to worry), but Penelope took it 100% in stride and went back at it.

She also made a very helpful suggestion about how to add in some extra trimming to help blend my bangs out while I'm growing out. I had originally said I didn't want my bangs to be messed with too because because I want them to grow, but I'm SO glad she asserted herself in this way, offering this suggestion. I felt comfortable saying yes or no, and I'm glad I said yes.

I did not get any additional styling or a blow out, by the way. I just got the $45 haircut with a rough-ish dry, which was nice enough for me to see how it looks and either wear it to work or put it up for the rest of the day. I appreciate having the option to forego the fancier styling.

Penelope was great, and I'll absolutely be coming back! The cashier staff and phone staff were also friendly during all my...

I first heard about Rudy's from a fellow trans friend in Nashville who had said that they advertise being trans friendly and giving money to trans youth. I went once at that location and a couple more times here in Atlanta. Each time I have received unwanted gendered comments on what type of hair style I should get. Do not go to Rudy's thinking that the staff gets any type of cursory sensitivity training about trans people or anything like that because they do not. The most recent time I came in I had a straight cut and I told the hairdresser that I wanted as little trimmed off as possible and I explained why talking about my hair texture. He was hung over and decided to cut off half of my hair (5+ inches) giving me extreme, stylized layers that are several inches shorter in front than in back and when he was finished he said he had "just straightened it up" then gave me a discount. I talked to the manager who tried to make it right and months have passed. This is a barber shop which means two things to me. One, the attitude is that you will take what you get, something which I wish I had realized. I have never had a more unwanted haircut and sometimes I wake up in the morning and cry when I feel my short hair touch my face because I feel like I will never feel comfortable in my own body and its just another thing out of my control. But I knew I was giving up that control when I got in that chair and that's on me for relaxing and thinking everything was taken care of! That's not the service I paid for for under $50. Second, this experience really illustrated the power a barber/barbershop has to project gender on someone else or demand a certain gender presentation from them, and the reason why it's important to have a LGBT friendly barber shop. I wish that they would give mandatory training to all Rudy's employees on how to approach issues of gender with customers as long as they continue to display prominent advertising that capitalizes off...

Probably a 3.5.

I've been here twice. I liked my cut the first time so I went back when it was time for a fresh cut. I don't remember who I got the first time but I'm going to find out so I can request her again. But I wasn't set on her specifically so when I went the second time I just went with whoever they set me with. I liked her, but I didn't like the cut.

I tried to be clear about what I wanted but in the end she didn't really listen. She had kind of a confident attitude was just like, "I'm gonna fix you up, it'll be great" as if I had never had a good haircut before. She cut it way too short so what am I going to do? There's not much to fix. Like it's not necessarily a terribly done cut, it's just not what I wanted. I know my hair and how it grows pretty well. Most stylists will stop at certain points and ask me how much I want off the top, or how I style it at the part, or how I like it blended and give me an opportunity to tell them. But she just jumped right in and then it was too late. And I'm not going to say anything at that point, it's too late. Like, she was really nice and all. Just wish I could have gotten then haircut I wanted.

I've been going to Vivid Salon for the last few years and it's been great. But this one is just around the corner so I figured I should try it. She was trying to upsell me on the product the whole time, which I get. It's probably a good product. But she got to the checkout and just started writing up the bill as if I was just going to buy it. But I didn't want it so I end up feeling stupid when I refused it.

Anyway, I'll probably be back and find out who cut my hair the first time and give it another shot. I'll update my...