Rock's Bar and Hair Shop — Local services in Durham

I was really hoping for this to be a good experience. The reviews were solid and it seemed like a place that could handle a traditional, tailored men's haircut. As a raging craft beer fan, the concept seemed right up my alley. What I ended up with was the 2nd worse haircut of my entire life. In fact, two separate folks at work and 3 of my clients have commented on my haircut. All wondered "what happened"? The request was simple enough, tapper the sides and back and leave the length on top to allow enough weight for the hair to lay properly. Tappering seems to be a forgotten art. The idea is that the hair is cut close to the neck and it gradually lengthens from the occipital bone to the crown. On this day it was translated as short sides and back all the way to the top at one length, removing a good chuck of one side to cut in an artificial part (eventhough I specified where it should go). Cut so short the hair just sticks up. When it is parted where it should be (natural part), numerous long strands hang over and it looks ridiculous. If an undercut was what I wanted, I would have asked for that. Now I get to endure some form of connected/disconnected top, multiple different lengths on the sides and back due to some very poor scissor over comb technique, and a crown cropped so short that it will be 2-3 months before it will have enough weight to lay down again. This is just an embarrassing mess.

Typically, I would give a new cutter a 2nd shot. I understand it is not always right on the money the first time. Unfortunately, this is just so bad, that courtesy will not be extended. So bad, that I may just have to have someone take clippers to the whole thing and go back to very short hair again. Very disappointing indeed. I might have let this go and not taken the time to write a review but when five different people notice just how bad it was, I was inclined to speak up. Approach this...

Good haircut in a really, really cool hip space. Availability of beer and friendly staff to hang out with make it worth the visit - if you have the time or can go at non-peak hours.

I do not remember the name of the person who cut my hair, but she did a great job and in good time. I do not typically let hair stylists use clippers because I have very thick hair and it has gone badly in the past. I took a risk and allowed their use for the sides on this visit and it turned out great.

The only real problem here seems to be that you will often have to wait - there are no reservations. This means that at peak times around lunch or after work you are going to be sitting a while, sometimes in excess of 30-45 minutes from what I understand. The only time I went I arrived only an hour before closing and only had to wait about 15 minutes. While waiting you can sit at the bar and try out some interesting craft beers. This and the opportunity to chat with the bartender make a wait of that length totally bearable.

The space is also really cool and well decorated. Lots of industrial-chic, manly stuff. For example, small tables made out of giant wire spools.

I was told over the phone that I could bring my dog in if he would be well-behaved. I did not end up bringing him, but the option is there and that's great.

At the end of my cut, because I was the last there, the staff had a cheese plate that they had been snacking on and they offered me some. Apparently the owner is connected to a creamery somehow. Just an indication that it's a small staff of friendly folks.

Another nice thing: they won't try to sell you on some new product and try to get you to buy from some cosmetics company that sponsors the salon. That's always kind of transparent and annoying from some of your typical hair salons.

The difficulty of scheduling and long wait means it does not get 5 stars. Otherwise, a really cool place that I will...

They cancelled my son’s appointment the day-of, and had no same-day alternatives available unless we were willing to pull him out of school. After explaining we really needed the cut today, the response was a verbal “shoulder shrug” and they told us to go to SportsClips. Coming from someone in another service industry, having a shortlist of barbers they could text to see if anyone’s around to cover a few cuts seems like an easy fix, but if they’d rather their customers go to SportsClips, then so be it.

Edit in Reply to Owner’s Response: That's a similar circle to what we were told this morning. Again, no one is suggesting people work while sick, or be denied time-off and compelled to work. Literally no one, at any point in this conversation, has ever suggested that. What is being suggested is the common service industry practice of seeing whether anyone can cover. If Rock’s uses an employee (rather than independent contractor) model, that’s fine, and options for voluntary last-minute coverage can come from those two pools in that order. If coverage still cannot be found, then all options have been exhausted and at least the customer can be informed of that. But just handwaving the customer away was not helpful. In any event, it is what it...