AA STYLIST & BARBERSHOP — Local services in New York

My hair was bad. Very bad. Very, very bad. I was in terrible need of a haircut. My long-term barber retired, and the one with whom I begrudgingly replaced him had left his shop and moved to a very expensive one. $65/haircut? Wasn't happening.

Not satisfied with any of the local shops that I'd tried, my hair just kept getting longer and longer as I dragged my feet in deciding who to try next (and not in a beautiful, Fabio's golden locks kind of way, but more a troll-like "who's that trip-trapping across my bridge" kind of way).

I found myself passing by AA on my way home today and, disgusted with my hair and new-barber-decision inertia, decided to see if it didn't have terrible reviews. Hair does grow back after all.

I was pleasantly surprised by the very positive reviews, and the few negative ones tended to be about very specific complaints. So I rolled the dice and walked in. Place was empty, Alex was at the ready.

I apologized for the bad state of affairs that was my hair. He smiled slightly. The reviews that state this is not a bubbly, sunshiney, unicorns and rainbows kind of place are not inaccurate, but a) I don't need that, and b) Alex was totally pleasant enough.

I showed Alex my picture of "the best haircut I've ever gotten," and asked if we could get my head close to that as it truly was the best haircut I'd ever gotten, so much so that I'd taken a picture to keep, so that I could show future stylists what I considered the best hairc… well, you get it.

He looked for longer than I'd expected. 7 seconds? 10? Pretty long, right?

And then he proceeded to completely nail it. Completely. He matched the Best Haircut I'd Ever Gotten™ —first try. Excellent attention to detail. That little area by the cowlick towards the back of my head that presents a stumbling block to lesser barbers and always requires further instruction and tweaking… nailed it.

It's what prompted me to write a glowing review as soon as I got home. So there it is. One person's opinion on the quality of their AA Barber experience.

TL;DR: Excellent excellent work by Alex. Go for the cut, not the atmosphere or sparkling...

My experience with this place describes the absolute WORST I’ve had at barbershop ever! Just wanted to do a quick haircut before Christmas in Astoria and after reading the reviews here on the Google maps thought I’d check it out. Boy, was that a mistake! The reviewers here must be either friends of the owner of very undemanding clients.

First off, the place is dirty and raises questions about hygiene. Should’ve left it the moment I walked in. Then, I was appalled by total lack of professionalism of the guy who attempted to cut my hair. From what I understand this place is run by some Russian guy who barely speaks any English. He didn’t wash my hair although I told him I had product in it. Not only does he have no idea how to use scissor over comb, but also his use of clippers was iffy to say the least. As a result my hair was uneven and lacked any structure whatsoever. I felt my hair was completely ruined and after a couple of days I had to go to a decent place to have it fixed. And the question I got there was: Man, who did this to you?

But what totally shocked me was when he gave me some gel to use on my hair (never did it himself, let alone style it) and when I needed something to wipe off the product from my hands, he handed me a wet towel he'd used on a previous customer who had a shave (I actually saw him give that guy a shave and then throw that towel on a table)! I just couldn’t believe it!! I’ve never had anything like that in my entire life and it left me totally shocked and speechless!

So if you’re reading this, you might use this review as a...

Yeah so I'm sure this place is great, but I never even got to sit down. I walked in on a Sunday and was super excited because I saw the reviews! I began to try and sit down and wait my turn. The place was empty... The barber just had one person in the chair. He takes a look at me, stops cutting and just stares at me. I say, awkwardly still standing and smiling, "hello!"... He just stares.... I say "yes, I was just coming in for a clean up" as I motion to my face. A simple edge trim. My hair was already styled the way I wanted it.... It had just been a week and I needed it freshened up. He replies, "I don't do that." and goes back to cutting. Shocked but also immediately understanding the "situation" and not wanting to waste my time causing a scene, I just squint and say, "Oh... Ok 👌🏾 " and walk a few avenues back to my original barber. I know it's 2017... But it's feeling more and more like 1965...