Elm Street Tattoo — Local services in Dallas

I had only heard of the shop due to my girlfriend at the time, as well as Oliver Peck's fame from Ink Master. When entering in the shop, it was a mad house (this was a Saturday morning/afternoon) and eventually we got one of their "receptionists" to take our information. We were told that the artists' books were on the counter so to find a style we liked and we could pick that artist. My girlfriend used their gumball machine to randomize what she got and I found an artist that worked in some realism (I'm not a huge fan of American Traditional). Once I gave an idea of what I wanted (two D20 dice, one with critical success and one with critical failure, positioned on my hands), the "receptionist" ran over to talk to a few artists and returned to tell me that the artist might not be in, but there's another artist who could help me. The artist came over this time to talk to me, starting with, "What you want can't be done." I insisted that it could and there were tons of references (which I provided for him). He then responded with, "Okay well no one here can or will do that." I said that was fine and if he could keep my idea but do it in his style, or the style of the shop, that would be fine. After a while the receptionist came over and told me due to the location it would be $200-300 per hand, which may have been the most obscene pricing I've ever heard. But I agreed since my girlfriend was excited to be there. During the tattoo, the artist was nice enough, but everything he said contained a tone of arrogance and ego. Once he was completed, he took the photo and moved on.

I was waiting for my girlfriend to finish and she asked me to grab her phone from her bag. The artist she was working with told her he wasn't excited since she pulled something he had already tattooed several times. After grabbing her phone, we were discussing what we were going to do and he asked me to leave the area because I was disrupting him (apparently he can't tattoo while people talk to his subject?). Either way, I walked around the counter (2 feet away) and continued to talk to my girlfriend about contacting her family. When he finished, she told me he didn't really speak to her the entire time and spent more time flirting with the receptionists or talking about food than talking to her. She was however very happy with her tattoo. I on the other hand was not.

This shop is well known for it's traditions and reputation, but for $600 this artist tattooed my dice completely lopsided. Even amateur artists ask me if it's intentional to which I sadly have to say no. I wish I could remember his name and if I do recall it, I will add it to this review in post. Overall, I expected more from a shop of this reputation. The staff is careless, preoccupied, and even extremely rude at times. If you're going to overcharge, you should probably be polite about it and at least learn how to tattoo a straight line. I'm reminded of the episode where Oliver discussed doing what it takes to make the customer happy. It seems this lesson is not upheld at his store. Regardless, I will never go back and highly recommend you seek tattoos elsewhere.

EDIT: Tattoo artists' name was Barron of North Shore Tattoo who was...

I came in and asked for advice on an artist for a tattoo. They recommended David Nash and I reviewed some of his artwork and I was ok with it. I gave him a budget of $1000-$2000 for a tattoo that I anticipated would be a big chunk of my arm. When we met, he didn’t really have any original designs. He mostly printed images like flash art off of the computer. The tattoo was supposed to be black and grey in the background with a lot of color art in the foreground. He was aware of my budget but made a lot of suggestions on placement which made the tattoo area bigger. Personally, I don’t watch as the tattoo is going on my skin. I don’t mind the feeling but I don’t want to watch it. After a few hours, I looked down and all of the areas that should be color were completely blackened. He talked a lot about how he doesn’t care about what he is tattooing and that he just wants the money, which was very disappointing. After about 6 hours we stopped and he said the next session would be in 2 weeks. I started looking at what he had completed at home and found 6 obvious mistakes already. I sent him some additional images and he never replied to my emails for the 2nd session. I’ve now been to another tattoo shop. It’s going to costs me about $4000-$5000 to complete the tattoo because he spread the elements so far apart. He doesn’t care about the customer or the artwork. He only wants your money and he isn’t even trying very hard to get that, since he doesn’t schedule follow up appointments.

Pretty crummy experience and not what I expected considering how busy this shop was...

This place is a joke. I went there one evening to get consulted and apparently everyone was too busy and someone there suggested that I check back around 4pm-6pm...considering they are located outside of downtown, was it worth going back? NO! I decided to try again after emailing Linda about getting consulted. I stopped in and there was only one artist in there so I waited patiently while he tattooed a couple who got small tattoos. Keep in mind, I wanted to just get consulted. I knew I wasnt going to get a tattoo on the same time and day. The guy who was there says he was booked so I said I would wait for Linda. Linda arrives, and already had people waiting for her. I was told there was a two month wait with her. I waited and there is no one else around since this was around noon on a Friday. Even Linda did not acknowledge me or ask if I needed any help. After the guy who was the only artist in there before Linda, this guy ends up going to lunch! That was his definition of being booked and he couldnt spare 5 minutes to consult with me? WOW! This place was just an overall joke. Ridiculous customer service, cannot even acknowledge people who admire their work and want work done by them. I WOULD NOT RECOMMEND THIS PLACE....unless of course you are scheduled into their two month wait. ELM STREET TATTOO is not the place to go; stick to your local shops outside...