Theresa is one of those rare and talented artists who can simply glance at a picture and give you exactly the hairstyle shown in it. Her haircuts are reasonably priced but they don't include any washes or blowouts. My hair always looks great after I wash and dry it myself after the cut. Theresa owns the salon and works alone, so it's strictly by appt only. You can text her on the phone number listed and she will get back to you very quickly. She's very knowledgeable about hair and makeup, and often dispenses very helpful advice. My daughter recently had her hair done for her high school senior ball. Theresa spent a long time on her and gave her a beautiful updo that looked elegant and kept its shape throughout the evening. We're beyond thrilled by her work. See enclosed pictures. read more

Gateway Beauty Salon - Senior ball updo - Hair Salons Near Me - Pleasanton, California

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Oh my goodness, I was treated SO rudely on the phone by a woman at this salon. Not spending a penny here, ever. My usual stylist is out of town, so I thought I'd just call somewhere new. I love a few different spots, but I have been so preachy about "Buy Local, Spend Local" that I wanted to practice what I preach, and spread a little love. I called yesterday, a Wednesday, and I wanted to get a blow out, anytime this week, just before 6:00pm this Saturday. Obviously I wasn't going to ask for a highlight, and color, etc. I politely asked if there was any availability, and this beast snapped in the wicked voice, " No, I am not available (Now practically hissing) you betta call someone else!!" She sounded offended, livid, and ready to fight me in the parking lot. WTactualF. I had my kids and a friend in the car and we laughed so hard. We laughed because of the absurdity. A potential customer is on the phone, and this makes you angry? Why do you hate me? Were you not hugged enough as a child? Now that I've read a few one star reviews, I realize that I'm not the only one. Gateway Salon? More like HATEway Salon. read more

Gateway Beauty Salon - Hair Salons Near Me - Pleasanton, California

I went in again today and I had a wonderful time with my haircut. She checks your temperature and sanitizes before you come in. Only one person in the salon at a time. She the only person I will come to from now on- recommending all of my friends! read more

She is amazing!!! You should book by appointment, and Theresa has always been so nice to us. She always knows what she's doing and I have always left the salon satisfied with my haircuts. read more

Theresa is soo nice!!!! I love coming here to just get a trim or anything, I also recommended this place to my brother. She really takes her time on cutting your hair, super detailed and honestly she is just such a sweet person! I would come back here 100000x! I got my hair cut into layers after a long time of just having straight, mundane hair, and honestly I loved it so much after! read more

I've been a customer of this salon for over 8 years. They have always been wonderful and I'm confident my hair will always look good. The owner has a lot of knowledge and understanding about hair styling and how to take care of hair. She does one customer in the salon at a time, so I'm comfortable to bring my kids with me especially because of the pandemic. She's really kind and a good conversationalist, too. read more

It is okay place to get haircut because of the price that is not too expensive. Other than that, nothing special. She is friendly, but talked too much. She could focus on her job than talking. Also, she has never picked up the phone. Only text. Inconvenient and unprofessional. read more

4 stars - I'm subtracting 1 star only because it's not a high-end salon with "the works".... but it suits me just fine. I find myself hesitating prior to handing out a rating for a beauty salon, only because how good of a hairstylist a person is will REALLY depend on the haircut you are wanting, your own taste, and the stylist's talent at that particular cut. What works for me may not necessarily work for another girl.... so bear that in mind. My hair is layered and has usually been long over the years, but also short from time to time, and for me, this place has always been great. That said, Chong, who owns Gateway, has been doing my hair now for perhaps 7-8 years, and I love going here. I have frequented only Gateway (close to home) and one other salon closer to my old job, and have loved both. She also colors hair like a MASTER..... I tell her what I want in color, and that is exactly what I walk out with - it never fails. I also tend to do my own hair a lot, and admittedly, once in awhile, I create a disaster on my head, and run to Chong at all hours of the day and night for a cure. "HELP ME!" I scream, as I run in, seat myself, and I need not say another word (as the catastrophe is usually quite obvious when I walk in, be it chopped off hair, or blazingly bright or even pitch black in color, permed to put most naturally curly-haired people in awe, etc.) before she gets to it immediately. She then works her magic on my hair to somehow fix my enormous accident into a rather acceptable "do" in no time flat. Chong is fluent in English and is always welcoming. I'd call to make a reservation first, though walk-ins are welcomed also. I usually call on my way there to tell her I'm on my way and have never had to wait more than a few minutes before she will see me. There is also an aesthetician (or is that the wrong title.... don't quote me on that) named Ginger, who does great facials and microdermabrasion. While I don't peruse Ginger's services these days due to living an hour away from here, I did often when I lived in this area, and would highly recommend her. A cut and color will include a glorious hairwashing and styling to follow the cut/color, and in total, will cost 70-80 dollars, plus tip. It's money well-spent, in my opinion, and I'd recommend giving Gateway Beauty Salon a try if you live in the area, and are looking for a stylist of your own. Location is easy to find at Hopyard and Stoneridge, parking is generally simple except perhaps during lunchtime. She also does men's and children's hair. I believe haircuts for them are significantly cheaper than that for women.... +/- $20 or so. (Sorry that I cannot report exact prices.... what can I say, when a girl is happy with her hair, she just pays whatever is asked!!) UPDATED Oct 2007: Chong has sold the salon to her associate, Theresa. I believe her to also be a very good stylist. To further edit my original review - Ginger, the aesthetician, no longer works at Gateway. Otherwise, everything remains the same. I believe you can still contact the same number to make reservations w/ Chong. FYI - she no longer accepts credit cards. Cash and personal checks only! read more

I've been coming to Theresa for over 10 years. She does great job every single time. She knows exactly what is the best style for me at the time, even when I am not sure : ) I highly recommendTherasa at Gateway Beauty Salon!! It's amazing how she keeps up with current trends and continues to learn different haircut, perms, blow drying, and other styling techniques. I am a stickler about not damaging my hair with perms, and Therasa is wonderful to ensure my hair is kept healthy. That's why I still keep coming to her year after year. To Yelp, why is there so many $ signs? Compare to other places her service charge is reasonable and not expensive. read more

Theresa know how to get things done. I have been coming this shop more than 5 years, not only myself but all of my family, teenager daughter and son and wife. We all are satisfied with style Theresa give us. I highly recommend this Theresa regardless of gender, age and style. She does really good job!! read more

Theresa is a life saver! My mother in law and I needed an updo and style for a wedding last minute. Theresa was very quick and made both us look beautiful! She's a very sweet lady and knows what she's doing-- which is the most important. She's also not that expensive... Not sure of the $$$$?? read more

The sign on the door says "walk-ins welcome". When I walked in, there was one lady working, and she looked at me like I was from a different planet. She then proceeded to tell me they don't do walk-ins. They lost my business forever. read more

5 stars. I've been to almost every high end hair salon in the area and after jumping around, I found myself going to Gateway Beauty Salon for the past year or two. Theresa the owner is the best. The salon itself is modest but that's not why i go there. I go there for the cut. Theresa really knows how to cut hair. She's friendly, fast, and very good at what she does. If you are having a hard time finding a good hairstylist, try Gateway Beauty Salon. I used to go down the line on yelp and each month or so it was a new salon and an ok experience. Then, one day someone recommended Theresa to me and the rest is history. Now my whole family pretty much see's her on a regular basis. I highly recommend you give her a try. read more

I will start my review by saying honestly that the hair stylist Theresa does have good style and knows what she's doing with your hair. But the only thing I didn't like was her attitude... read more

I don't like the way she looks at me. Like I'm an alien or something. It's not like she's any better... Anyways, she is very cold. Up selling me for options I don't need (I'm a guy for crying out loud. I just need a good fade.) I just don't think she's customer focused. And frankly unless you're Korean she doesn't really care. Could have been so nice. But I'm going to find another place. read more

I'm very busy and don't like to spend hours in a hair salon or like to make appointments in advance. Thankfully, I found a salon that could take me the same day and during my lunch hour. I am in my 50s, have greying hair that is thick and shoulder length. The salon is very unassuming and plain, which is perfect! (I dislike going to salons that give the impression that you are going to a fancy spa when all I want is a good haircut.) My hairdresser Chong is very personable, and knows how to cut hair! She textured my thick hair and gave me terrific cut that got raves when I went back to the office. Her prices are reasonable too. I will definitely be back for my next cut and color. read more

This place is a real find! I am really picky about my hair and have been going to San Jose to get my hair done before I came here. This lady is amazing! I have gotten my hair colored and gotten my Brazilian blowout hair here among other things for the past year or two. She's quick and has amazing technique. She has been doing this for decades and I can tell you that I won't be going anywhere else to get my hair done! read more

I have been going to this salon once a week for six months now and on each visit I have been extremely pleased with the expertise and consistency of the service. I would recommend this salon without reservation. Theresa deserves 10 Stars!!!! read more

Having been to mostly "Asian" salons for all of my life, I'm accustomed to having to wait up to 30 minutes past my appointment time simply because the stylists are running past schedule. This time I decided to make an appointment earlier in the morning to avoid running into that problem. This was my first time at this salon. I believe it is because I am Korean and spoke Korean with Theresa that she saw me less as a customer and more as just as a younger person and had me wait ONE HOUR for my appointment to begin. By then I was just tired (I woke up early during my vacation just to get my hair cut!) and thought the whole thing was very rude. Just because we speak the same language does not make it OK for her to have said "Ok, honey, I'll be with you in 10 minutes" and make me wait an entire hour for my appointment. That is just unclassy. I went in to get my hair colored and cut. I had been looking at many many pictures and wanted to get the perfect "chocolate brown" color. My hair is a natural jet black. I found the picture and showed it to Theresa. She was very good at explaining how the color dye would work, and different kinds of options for me. She explained that since my hair was so black, it would be difficult to get the chocolate brown in with a dark dye (which makes sense because my black hair needs lighter dye to get it to the same place blonde hair would need dark dye for). She pointed out a color that looked too auburn/red for me and said this would be the best. I told her I wanted the chocolate-y color but she kind of brushed me off. For my cut, I showed Theresa a picture of a girl with a very cute bob, which is what I was going for. I liked the blunt cut the girl in the photo had and the way it shaped around her head. Theresa didn't cut any layers in the back, which is what I thought she would do (without me asking her because it was in the picture), but I guess I'll have to be more verbal and direct about what I want next time. Additionally, I should have stressed that I wanted my hair to look like the CUT not the STYLE. What I mean by this is that Theresa spent a good chunk of time styling my hair: blowdrying, styling cream, hairspray, and straightening. I am a low maintenance girl; I want to roll out of bed, give my hair a quick brush through, pump some straightening cream in it, and go! The end result was that my hair looked like the girl in the photo's (plus) but it would have taken me about 30-45 minutes every morning to get it to look like it (negative). I realize my expectations were high and next time I'll be sure to emphasize I want the cut and not the photo's style. I'm not sure how it works at this salon, but every other salon I've gone to will tell me how much each thing is: cut and dye. My bill came out to be more than $100 and I was simply aghast. I had gone in because my friend recommended how great the prices were; she had never paid more than $20 for a cut! I found afterwards while talking with her that I probably paid extra for the "styling" because it wasn't included as a service. I felt jipped because I gave Theresa a 15% tip thinking that the styling was a free service she was giving me and not something I was paying for. 1) Didn't get the color I wanted- her bad 2) Didn't get the cut I wanted- my bad 3) No explanation of fees and charges- her bad I don't know why, but I'll be going back next week to give her another try because the friend who initially recommended me to her came back from Thanksgiving break with a great cut with cute layers and bangs. Here's to hoping I'll learn from my mistakes. read more