Balam was my tattoo artist. The place was clean and alive with beautiful art work. I'm very happy with my tattoo cover up. Sad to see such bad reviews on here. It must be under new management because this place is legit the place you wanna get your artwork!! I was able to see the art work of another tattoo artist that I met there he also did great work. Didn't catch his name. Thank you Balam for being respectful, helpful, and patient with me! read more

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I went into this tattoo shop for their Friday the 13th special & from the moment I walked in myself and the person I was with were hit by the nastiest stench. We initially thought it was the girl helping out in the front but as we sat for a bit an older male came out from the back & past us leaving a trail of a smell I can't even describe. We left immediately after. If the people who work there can't be self aware enough to notice their smell, why would I or anyone get tatted there? Aside from this the shop was cool, sucks that the smell kept us from getting some nice work done. read more

My best friend and I decided randomly to go get tattoos at midnight, we found this 24hr tattoo shop and went inside. The guys here are great, super nice and accommodating. They helped us design our tattoos and we didn't feel rushed at all. Very chill atmosphere and cool art all over the walls. Everyone is very laid back and professional, def one of my new favorite go to spots for tattoos and piercings. I even went back to get my nose pierced and I love it so much. Thank you Movies and Alvaro for helping us out! read more

horrible service. all piercings unprofessionally done and immediately rejexcted within 5 min. rude owners. entitled. reeked of drugs. read more

Balam Tattoo Studio - botched piercings that she hole punched 4 TIMES AND RIPPED MY SKIN OUT WHEN it WAS REJECTING. - Tattoo Near Me - Los Angeles, California

yohualli is an unprofessional and untrained piercer. she spent over 30 min giving my dermals, and hole punched my back 4 times when i was screaming even with numbing not realizing its clearly rejecting. i paid almost 400$. within 10 minutes the dermal fell out, leaving me bleeding with a deep wound in my back. i told her this and she blamed me!!!!! i asked for my money back and she refused and threatened her legal team. not to mention she didnt sanitize the table, and told me its not a big wound or big deal. theres a open fresh hole in my back????? she refused to let me read the fine print which is on camera!!! i asked and she said no just sign. do not come here. calling bbb. read more

Shout to to Balam for an awesome job on my first tattoo. He suggested a bit bigger than I initially wanted and I took his advice and it turned out great. Couldn't be happier with the work he did on me :) Te salio chingon Balam! read more

Balam Tattoo Studio - Tattoo Near Me - Los Angeles, California

Made my appointment, made me feel like family and got some badass work donewill go back when paid

came here late because my friend needed something for her piercing. love that it's open late and not that expensive! service was awesome & i had a good laugh with the guy in the front. the place is also cute read more

I usually don't write bad reviews but I came in for a tattoo and it came out horrible nothing like the picture not the hair anything and the eyebrows nose and lips all look so messed up. WHICH WERE ALL DONE BY A STENCIL BTW. Going to a different shop to get this fixed!!!! Don't waste your time or money (this was 400!!!!!!). My artist was Rafael btw. read more

Balam Tattoo Studio - Tattoo Near Me - Los Angeles, California

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Very nice friendly and accommodating! Quality help, and went out of her way to make sure that I had the right jewelry. Will definitely be back, and recommend to anyone who is looking for excellent customer service. read more

Got a small tattoo on my hand of an anchor. It was poorly done. One side is bigger than the other and not shaded in properly.

Honestl.. only came here for a piercing and my piercer knew at most how to poke a needle through but not how to adjust or tighten jewelry. Still cool peoples... but definitely not worth the time or money if you can afford another piercer or tattoo artist go there. Update: a combination of the piercer's original negligence in piercing the site and putting in the jewlery incorrectly, and mine for replacing it and irritation the forming fistula, it became infected, and even though the wound was not making a keloid, I didn't want to take the risk on the rejection getting worse. Had to take out a piercing that cost me almost $55 dollars and another 5 to place new jewelry myself. Do not touch this place for piercings, and honestly maybe not tattoo's either if you can help it. If they're literally open 24/7, I wonder when it is that they actually sanitize the shop. read more

Superb customer service very friendly guys Alvaro and solano great people, I really recommend to new customers best 24hour tattoo shop. Would come back anytime. read more

overall experience i would give a negative zero, to start when i arrived i was greeted by some unprofessional kid who doesn't look a day over 12, i asked very basic questions which he was unable to answer without seeming lost or unable to respond clearly, which was red flag number 1. Came in for something small and simple which i assumed would be quick and easy but unfortunately it was not, red flag number 2. My tattoo came out to say "the very least and as nice as i can be" BOTCHED! Lastly it's been 2/3 weeks and i pretty much have no ink in my tattoo and i'm scarred! Can't blame him completely seeing how i didn't ask to see his previous work & could've avoided this to begin with. Red Flag 3 is the shop is just dirty with cob webs and cracked paint peeling, looks like it hasn't been remodeled since its opening. One tip i would give is make sure you checkout portfolios and they have licenses up to date because that shop seems like they're just letting anyone tattoo professional or not. Didn't want to have to leave a review but I've been calling the business back to talk to the owner to let them know about my horrible experience but every time i call that same kid answers and tells me he's not there. Definitely need to check the artists professional background there and make sure who ever is tattooing you is well experienced. read more

We decided to be spontaneous and get tattoos late at night. I found this establishment because they were open 24 hours. We called ahead to make sure they were available and that they took credit cards. After driving for an hour to get there, spending 20 minutes of going over a design, and agreeing to a price, we're told they did not take credit cards. We reminded him that we called to make sure are the cards were accepted before making the drive. Long story short, we drove 2 hours for nothing. read more

It pains me to leave a negative review for anybody but this is so important! I had an old tattoo partially touched up and it was infected within hours of leaving. My leg was literally oozing puss and ink, it became super swollen, and I couldn't walk for about a week. I tried reaching my artist "movies" about it immediately, he said to let it be and keep applying ointment for it to heal, said it was normal. (Unheard of oozing puss to be normal). I don't like to cause trouble but after a me giving him $300 (he also pierced my nose) which was also infected... I just wanted more options. I never signed anything, never received customer service or an offer of "I can have someone else look at it" simply "just wait, it will heal" it's been almost a year (yea I had my tattoo done during a lockdown) it was just opened so I went...but I should've know that the passing around of blunts and his very annoying guest that would not shut up the entire appointment was maybe affecting his work. He applied SO MUCH numbing ointment on top of my already open skin and I feel that ruined my leg. Today...almost a year later...my skin looks awful, I asked for SOME of my money back to have it touched up somewhere else and his only reply was "sorry no refunds, if you don't like my tattoo sorry" SO DONT GO TO HIM! Any good artist would at least try to figure out what went wrong) again, I let him know the next day that my leg was infected. He fucked up my leg and kept telling me it was my fault Bc I had a prec cover up (I've repeatedly told him that the area that was affected had never been "covered up" be he ignores me and thinks that's ok. So after a fucked up tattoo, and $300 down...I hope you consider another artist. Also, I messaged the OWNER and he had nothing to say either. Unbelievable. read more

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When my husband passed I wanted to get something to remind me of his life and our life together. I gave him the photo and he got it done. I never needed any retouching in any work he has done on me. I have gotten 3 large tattoos to complete my left sleeves. The detail, the quality of work are priceless and of course he does not have a heavy hand. I appreciate that we both share our cultura and honor it with all sacredness. I will be getting my back piece which will probably take me about 1 year to complete its a masterpiece in the making. If you are looking for a great, caring and honest tattoo artist he is the one to go to. I recommend all my friends and even my children to get their work done by Edgar Eagle. read more

I've had my tattoo for almost 8 years with no re-touch and constantly get complimented on the incredible amount of detail in the image. Balam is one of my favorite artist and getting tattooed by him is unlike anything else. If you're looking for a one of a kind piece and experience this is the place. They are professional and no waiting around for a response. They offer appointments to accommodate your schedule in a friendly environment. Thank you for making me part of the tribe, I'll be seeing you guys soon! Much love! read more

Balam Tattoo Studio - Los Angeles skyline with Hollywood in the background. - Tattoo Near Me - Los Angeles, California

awful. would never suggest this place to anyone. tattoo artists were drinking while doing the tattoos, were extremely unprofessional, then proceeded to be creepy towards the group of girls i came in with online afterwards. we thought it would be fine because we were getting tiny tattoos, not a lot of detail but even the small line drawing i gave them got blown out so quickly. don't even know how they're still open. read more

I was going through a crisis. Another tattoo shop (brown pride tattoo) pierced my frenulum and the ball came out as I was driving away. Naturally, I made a u turn, for out of my car and went back in. They turned me away even though I had just paid them and gotten it done less than 10 minutes ago. Balam was the gracious enough to give me a ball and be willing to fix the other shop's mistake. LOVE THEM! read more

Balam Tattoo Studio - Smiley frenulum - Tattoo Near Me - Los Angeles, California

UPDATE: I forgot i also called ahead and told Balam we would be there at 9:30 to 10:30 PM, he said he was FREE so we could stop on by and we made it there in that time frame. He then proceeded to actually tell us he was busy after we took busses from JTown and walked a dark street to come at the time we said we would. He told us to come back at 2AM. I ended up getting my tattoos a little before quarantine started where I said I would. They came out cute. ALSO Please don't personally message me on here to come at me for telling the truth again lol. read more

Balam Tattoo Studio - Zeke was sweet enough to straighten and make adjustments to my poor editing lol. He made the Ufos+astronauts the same size. - Tattoo Near Me - Los Angeles, California

Talk about price gouging!!!! Maybe it's because I look white , they thought they could come up on me. Went in for a tattoo for my birthday and for a very small ( about as long as my index finger ) was trying to charge me $300. I have lots of work and know for the size And style of what I wanted should've been about $150 read more

The tattoo artist was really nice and cool, he does an awesome job on creating a masterpiece

My husband and i got our tattoos here thinking it would be good due to various ratting but no. They have some terrible line work. My husband had lines that were wonky and some ends that didn't even connect. Please make sure you guys keep an eye out because they left my husband with some terrible line warm and shading. read more

I can't speak on the tattoos but if you are considering coming here for a septum piercing i suggest going to someone who knows what they are doing. My piercing was entirely too low hitting my lip and unflippable. read more

Went Friday 13 around noon to get tattoos and it was chill, did a "good enough" job, no complaints there. But we decided we wanted a piercing and we went back later that night... fuck that. Waited forever which would be fine but he didn't properly sanitize her face or take his time with placement, just 5 seconds worth of prep and guess what, charged us $40 for a nostril piercing -_- on Friday the 13th, earlier the day we were promised that same piercing for $15. I will say though everyone was super nice but damn. Really. Just be careful read more

Came here to support my friend with a nose piercing and ended up with a small finger tattoo. Plus 2 of my friends ended up with finger tattoos also. Jesus was our tattoo artist. He was really attentive and had a lot of patience. The shop is well taken care of and clean. We found this shop thru yelp just wanting to do a random thing. I would definitely come back! Maybe just to say hi lol. Idk a read more

Balam Tattoo Studio - Have faith in Jesus (tattoo artist) he's good and has patience! - Tattoo Near Me - Los Angeles, California

My tattoo was fine, but i was extremely overcharged for the tiniest tattoo. (pretty sure because i was with just girls that don't know much about tattoos) We also called ahead & got there on time, but were told to leave an come back in another hour after driving 40 mins. Take your business elsewhere! read more

Avoid this place!! Literally walked into a nightmare. So many red flags, the man named Javier didn't ID us or ask us to sign anything like any legit shop would. I specifically walked in there to get a RED TATTOO but apparently he didn't comprehend that and as he was already done he says "oh shit, you wanted it red right?" LIKE WHAT???? I look down and of course its in black ink.... he charged me $120 for two fucking words which is way too much, and all he said was "sorry i can do $100 now" UM??? IT SHOULDA BEEN FREE I DIDN'T WANT THIS. Not to mention he made us Zelle him which seems unprofessional. Hasn't even been a month yet and my tattoo is fading. As he was working on it he was obviously high and since the tattoo was close to my butt he kept flirting and mentioning my ass. There were dogs wandering around which seems unhygienic.. not to mention random people smoking god knows what in the back and us getting second hand smoke. Didn't even tell us how to care for it. Worst experience ever. read more

Jesus is the best! The studio was so friendly and welcoming! We walked in and they were quick to help us out! I am definitely coming back!!!

I really love the work and professionalism of Edgar Tagle. I really wanted to be tattooed by someone who I felt a connection with and could bring my design to life on my skin! I have recommended 5 folks to Edgar and they have all gotten tattoos with him :0) Edgar can work color as well as black and gray he is a true artist and loves what he does. read more

For many years considering a tattoo was only a thought. but Iguanas makes it all better, with his professionalism, and a warm feeling of being at home is at its best every time i walk in to his studio. Ive seen his endless history and awards he's received for his amazing work, people like myself that travel far ,& the Mega superstars that come from across the world to have work done by him. Great work. read more

Great shop. Got hooked up by the homie Rafa and he cleaned me up really well. Fun vibes. Happy vibes. Family vibes. A true LA experience when you get your work done at Balam and I'd highly recommend for your first piece or your hundredth read more

Truly awesome and chill place! Called to ask if we could walk in and they basically took us in right away. Movies (yep thats his name) took great care of us and i will definitely go to him again read more

Came in without an appointment and he accepted right away. He was really patient and very friendly. Great experience overall

This has got to be the most unprofessional and deceiving business man I've ever met in my extensive years as a consumer in all of Los Angeles. First off, this guy has apparently won several tattoo contests as he has them up as wallpaper in his studio walls. The guy's work is mediocre, not great. He definitely does not do state of the art work as he claims on his social media. I initially hired him because he really talks up a big game for himself on facebook, and posts his best work. I wanted a tattoo to represent my father and his Peruvian roots. My father ended up passing away in November, a month later, so then it became extreme priority for me to get this tattoo done. I told him way in advance that I needed it completely healed before my dads Celebration of Life memorial. He asked me to design my idea since I'm an artist myself and he's "really busy." I didn't want to at first and I thought it was odd that he seemed not to want to design it for me but then I ended up starting the design just to help speed up the process. When I told him I started it, he got upset claiming he had "already started it" and asked me to stop but to send him a picture so that he can get an "idea" of where I was going with it. Fast forward to my appointment, I arrive at 12pm. He was still designing my tattoo when I walked in after weeks of having this appointment scheduled! This tells me he hadn't started on it as he originally claimed! When he showed me the "finished peice" I see he used my design!!! After getting mad and telling me to stop!!! It was obviously an unfinished and imperfect piece because it was a rough draft and that's what he was going to put on my skin!!! Had he allowed me to finish it, I would have perfected it. I literally had to sit there with him and point out all the imperfections and defects that needed fixing. This was a tribal/abstract design and there were many visibly uneven and crooked lines, bad proportions, etc. I could not understand how as a "professional" artist, he did not have the eye for any of this. I literally had to guide him on how to finalize the design prior to it going permanently on my skin. We didn't start my tattoo until 5 pm!!! I was there since 12!!! Then 6 hours into my tattoo he says, "ok we're done for today. We'll do the 2nd round another day." He didn't even finish my tattoo. I ended up going to my dad's celebration with an incomplete tattoo representing my deceased father. I was so upset about this. Then he has the audacity to post a picture of my tattoo posing it as his own design and giving me zero credit for designing more than half of it. He only added about 2x2 inches of work! I did most of it! This is basic artist ethic....u give credit where credit is due, especially when it comes to people's creativity. He seemed to have missed the memo. On top of all of this, he is a lothario and a womanizer. Tries to sleep with all his female clients. I know this because he did it to me and I later found out he does this on a regular basis. The worst part of it all is that he poses as somekind of spiritual healer, all about positive energy in the "Mexica" culture yet he's a deceiving, lying, egotistical, charlatan phony who uses his "profession" as a means to lure women in. His work is mediocre because his true passion lies in women and not in the art. There is no true passion behind the art. Ladies, beware and don't be fooled. And now as a disgrace and disservice to my father, I am forced to hire a real artist to completely redo and cover up this clown's work. I wish I would have read something like this before choosing him as my tattoo artist. One star is the minimum required, otherwise he'd get a zero. read more