Rittenhouse Nails: Manicure and Spa — Local services in Philadelphia

I like getting my mani/pedi as part of my self-care routine. I do it pretty regularly. I was first introduced to this place by my friend, Donna, who frequented this nail salon when she was still living in Philly. The 1st time I was there I was with my friend Donna who is white. I am a person of color.. The owner, a Korean guy, greeted us both nicely. I had a fairly good experience and it was good to have a “go to” spot that’s just around the corner from my office. Months later I had an event to go to & needed to get a mani/pedI and remembered this place. I greeted the owner and he was much more lukewarm and very curt towards me. I thought hmm he must be having a bad day. I always like to give a person the benefit of the doubt. Then, I noticed he was much more friendlier with white people than the people of color whoever walked in during those 2 hr period I was getting my mani/pedi. I thought is it me or am I seeing what i’m seeing?! Perhaps it was just me. But no, this happened frequently just about every time I came to get my mani/pedi with my gal (if she wasn’t so good I wouldn’t come back to this place because of the owner and the way he treats the workers). One time, I had a mani/pedi and a 20 minute massage and understandably the woman that was giving me the service took a longtime. I took a break to go to the ladies room and I noticed that the owner called the woman aside and was scolding her in front of everyone else in his stern Korean voice. The lady was in tears. I thought how can I bring justice to this situation. Just now, I wanted a mani/pedi and he was just as equally rude to me once again. I walked out and thought I’d finally make this public. Customer beware: This place is not a high-end spa. They charge $45 for a regular mani/pedi and throw in a 5-minute shoulder-neck massage for free. The owner could really use some soft skills and customer service training. You could tell because not a single worker in this place laughs or looks remotely happy. I will continue to get service from this place because I want to support the women and...

Spa Prices for bad service.

I walked in the evening before my actual services and scheduled an appointment for 9am the next day requesting to have my acrylic nails removed and a gel manicure. The woman closing looked over my nails and seemed confused, so I asked if that's something they could do. (Some places do not use acrylic). She asssured me that they could it and she was just wondering how long I'd had the acrylics on.

When I arrived for my appointment (8:55am), the woman at the front counter said she couldn't find my reservation, but they were able to accommodate in less than 5 minutes.

Literally, FIVE people came over to look at my nails and were confused how to proceed with removing the acrylics. They did this for like 10 minutes. They tried removing them with a business card! I should have left at this point, but I was attending a wedding in a few hours and really needed the manicure. I asked what was the confusion and it was explained to me that because I didn't have the acrylics on very long, it would be hard to take off(???). So, I said very clearly, "Are you able to remove the nails and give me a gel manicure? It's okay if this is a problem. I can get a refill on the acrylics or go somewhere else to have them removed. It really is okay." They assured me that they could do it.

Eventually, one woman used a drill (buffer??). I could feel on some nails that she was filing them too low, but she would stop when I said it hurt.

The gel manicure was nothing special. The polish was actually uneven on some nails (French mani), but not super noticeable. For $60, I expected better. There were no added services -not even cuticle trimming/pushback. I

Here I am, two months later and my nails are awful. They are so thin and brittle from the drill.

One star for the nail...

I am so pleased with the services here. I was a walk in at 6pm on a Friday evening and they were able to take me for a spa gel pedicure. It was absolutely what I needed after a day of shopping and museum exploring. The spa pedicure includes a scrub, wrap, the pedicure itself, then a very luxurious long foot massage and leg massage followed by a hot stone quick massage which further helped with relaxation. The service was long enough for me to have both massage preset routines in the massage chair (maybe even a third if I didn’t waste so much time with picking colors—so many gel options!!) and then she offered the complimentary 3 min massage and she not only applied ample pressure to work out the knots the machine couldn’t but she also stretched me to really get the kinks out. I wish I got my lady’s name but I was basically jello by the time I paid and walked out of there, every bit relaxed and wonderfully surprised. Totally recommend—treat yourself!

Oh I also want to mention the man at the front: I liked how clear and upfront he was about all the extra costs like gel and gel removal and overall was friendly in the interactions I had with him. I’ll be back and have already been...