Grit N Glory — Local services in New York

I just finished flying to NYC from Oregon for two days, spending about 18 total hours including prep, getting a 1/2 sleeve at GNG, and am overwhelmed with how incredible the experience was.

When you first walk in, you're greeted with the ideal tattoo parlor experience, sort of an endearing indignance--everyone cares passionately about what they do, but they're cool enough that you'd never know it.

The walls are decorated with trinkets that could tell a thousand tales, the clothing racks fit the establishment perfectly, it's got a laid-back, tinny garage ambience with the proper mix of rock, punk, and metal getting pumped in to set the mood. There's a neighborhood feel to the place, with a constant stream of two- and four-legged guests with no agenda other than saying hello, sometimes dropping by for an hour or more.

Then there's the matriarch: Megan Massacre, badass-turned-businesswoman, who despite seeing a few magazine covers treats her staff with great humility and respect. Her art runs a premium that's more than worth it; if you're investing in something that's going to last your whole life, you'll be disappointed if you didn't pony up for the best.

The other artists are extremely talented as well, with varying styles to fit your preferences, but I went with Megan because her style was exactly what I was looking for. She took my jankily-photoshopped sketch and worked with me to change a few elements to make it a reality. After a few stencils, we were off to the races.

Day 1 seemed more like the "Glory" of Grit N Glory. There was quite a bit going on, clearly the business has grown considerably beyond the walls on Orchard street, each artist seems to be running their own business, talking about TV appearances and traveling to expos around the world. Their stories were interesting but we made some great progress on the tattoo even with a few breaks to take pictures and greet friends.

Day 2 was pure "Grit." Megan got cracking right when I got there at 1 PM, and I didn't end up leaving until after 11, including some time taking proper pictures, closing up, etc. Megan was clearly committed to finishing the piece properly and grinded out for hours on end with only one quick break for dinner. By the time we were done, everyone there made me feel at home in the studio 3000 miles from home. I could have been convinced into staying, provided they stopped stabbing my arm repeatedly.

One, ow. Two, the tattoo itself is absolutely stunning. The detail, the depth of color and shading...it looks like it's about to jump off my arm. My cell phone picture does it about 5% of the justice it deserves, Megan took the time to take some more professional photos which I'm ecstatic to see.

All in all, just wow. Start to finish, this experience was unforgettable (well, given it's on my arm, even if I wanted to forget it I probably couldn't, but luckily that's not the case). If you're thinking about it, do...

My artist at Grit N Glory was Cavan Infante, and my experience was extremely disappointing and disturbing. To begin, Mr. Infante was slow to respond and unprofessional in our initial email correspondence. I questioned whether he was really "interested" in the work (I should have listened to that gut feeling), but after many emails we finally set up an appointment. That consultation seemed to go well, but on the day of the tattoo session, Mr. Infante broke his promise to have multiple options/variations sketched out, and in fact he was still hastily sketching up a single tattoo option for me, which was not what was discussed and agreed upon. I wish wish wish I had simply gone home, but sadly I stayed. During the tattooing process, Mr. Infante made mildly disparaging, passive-aggressive comments about the tattoo. Continuing his unprepared, unprofessional approach, he also pressured me into making a hastily-prepared addition to the tattoo. This was my first tattoo, and though it is ultimately my "fault" for not listening to my gut, the mixture of pressure, excitement, naivete, and unfounded belief in Mr. Infante's talents led me to stay for this disappointing, disturbing tattoo experience that I still have shivers about. I felt zero empathy from this individual and do not believe he has the personality/temperament to work in the body modification field. By contrast, my experience with my piercer from another shop was nothing but positive and empathetic. Potential customers,...

Best tattoo shop I have ever dealt with!! I recently got my first tattoo at Grit N Glory and it was done by artist Joice Wang. I am from CT and was looking to get my tattoo done for a long time I did my research and looked up various artists all over CT and was not very pleased with anyone’s work and the artists I did contact did not seem very professional so I decided to look for professional artists in NYC that are amazing at what they do. I saw Grit N Glory and I looked through all of the artists work Joice Wangs art and work stuck out to me the most and the way she does tattoos just look so beautiful. When I contacted Joice it was very professional from the start and her booking assistant gave me so much information on everything that I didn’t really need to ask much questions. I was happy to be able to say exactly what I want through email and send pictures etc so I wouldn’t need to go for a consultation since it’s so far away. I’m so very happy I chose Joice for my first tattoo I couldn’t be happier with how it came out and she’s so nice and friendly in person too. I highly recommend to go to her for tattoos she is one of the best in the tattoo industry and she’s knows what she is doing and she’s amazing at it. Worth the money and worth the trip will definitely be getting more tattoos by her in the future. Thank you so...