Our son has profound special needs and Lynn is the only stylist who cuts his hair. Our son has a…read moredifficult time having his hair touched/ washed, etc. Lynn is gentle and fast, making the experience tolerable for our guy. She is understanding when he swats away her hand, patient when he wiggles, and takes care to wipe away the cut hair from his iPad and chewlery. She is an absolute gem!

$27 for a children's haircut. I had a great experience with…read moreLinh. I took my baby here for his first real haircut. He was not happy and cried the entire time but Linh was not phased. She was so nice and efficient. She was gentle too and guided his head to the direction she wanted. His haircut looked great! My husband and parents were super impressed. We were in and out in 20 min. I would recommend making an appointment or going on a weekday. I showed up on a Saturday afternoon and there were a couple people waiting to get haircuts so I returned on a Thursday morning before noon and it was empty.

Miriam has been cutting my son's hair since he was a toddler and does an amazing job!read more

Miriam always gets my little dudes hair right and in a very short time, which is great for a…read moretoddler.

Curly haired folks, pay attention. :-)…read more Ly does wonders with cutting curly hair. I'm a red-headed curly guy who wears his hair relatively long and appreciates how hard it is to find someone who can work with curly hair. Typically, these people have been very good, but very expensive. Ly can work with curls, and she does is for a very reasonable price. Great location on Solano where you'll have no problem finding parking. And yes, it's a 'family' place where I know friends and family in the area young and old that all get their haircut by Ly. Please remember to bring cash, it's a cash only business.

9 year update! Ly has been cutting my hair since before anyone born after she started cutting my…read morehair has been alive. She is still the best. I will be a loyal customer as long as I have hair to cut (which, sadly, won't be much longer). I've said it before and I'll say it again: she does accept walk-ins when she can, but it's best to make an appointment because she gets busy. I would send all of my friends to her if I had any, but enough about me and my sad, lonely and nearly bald life. Another 5 stars for Ly and Family Hair Care!

I'd been in Berkeley for three weeks straight, about two weeks past my last haircut, and the…read moresituation was becoming untenable. I was not scheduled to return to LA for several more weeks. We were having an 87-degree day in West Berkeley, which -- for those unfamiliar -- is hot for West Berkeley, a neighborhood where the default setting is breezy and cloudy and lovely and sixty-three degrees, the kind of microclimate that lets you own one jacket and never think about it. Eighty-seven degrees in West Berkeley is an event. Eighty-seven degrees with hair that's two weeks past due is a crisis. I have Asian hair. I've written about this before. It is coarse and thick and grows outward like a porcupine asserting its personal space, and my coping mechanism in Los Angeles was to throw $85 at a hipster barbershop every three weeks to make it stop. This worked in the way that all expensive coping mechanisms work -- reliably, but at a cost that quietly compounds until one day you do the annual math and feel ill. 2026 being what it is, and a dollar these days being asked to do about a dollar forty's worth of work, I needed a new tack. I asked an AI assistant for a good cheap haircut in Berkeley and got several suggestions, which I then searched on Yelp -- yes, the very Yelp you are looking at, imagine that -- for reviews. One thing I noticed about La Petite was that people mentioned Asian women cutting hair there, and the photos confirmed it. I had a thought, the kind of thought that sounds reductive when you say it out loud but is grounded in lived experience: Asian women probably know how to deal with hair like mine. This is not a stereotype. This is pattern recognition developed over decades of watching non-Asian barbers stare at my head with the quiet bewilderment of someone asked to solve a math problem in a language they don't speak. No shade intended, just facts. So I gave La Petite a go. You watch closely when someone new is cutting your hair. You can't help it. You're tracking every snip in the mirror, reading their hands the way you'd read a stranger's driving in the first five minutes of a road trip -- are we safe here, does this person know what they're doing, should I have said something three turns ago. About halfway through, I watched her take volume out of my hair in a way that hadn't been done in years -- not just trimming the length but actually understanding the architecture of thick Asian hair, where the bulk lives, how it falls, how it will eventually grow out, where it needs to be thinned so it lies flat instead of projecting horizontally from your skull like it's staging a protest. She knew. I knew she knew. I had my new stylist. Twenty-eight dollars. Twenty-eight dollars, and I walked out with the best haircut I've had in longer than I'd like to admit. That's $57 left over from what I was paying in LA -- enough to buy groceries, or three martinis at happy hour, or a pizza at June's, or whatever you buy when you realize you've been dramatically overpaying for a basic human service because you confused a cool neighborhood and exposed brick with competence. La Petite has neither exposed brick nor a cocktail menu. What it has is someone who looked at my difficult hair and knew exactly what to do with it, which is the only thing that has ever mattered and the only thing I'm paying for from now on.

I went to get a haircut Friday afternoon for a special occasion and showed them exactly what I…read morewanted: a classic Ben Affleck Bruce Wayne-style haircut with regular-sized sideburns, just like the character. They asked me if I was graduating, and I said no, I was meeting my fiancée's mom the next day. Five minutes before the haircut was finished, the stylist took a big chunk off my right sideburn. She cut it too high, which ruined the whole haircut, especially since my face shape doesn't suit short sideburns. I told her I didn't like it. I didn't overreact or yell, I was just uncomfortable. The hairdresser said, "Too bad!" and tried to dismiss the issue. I told her again that she should have asked me about the length. She then took it personally and told her boss that I was making things up so I wouldn't pay, saying, "They do this so they don't pay." What do you mean by "they"? Not only did I feel dismissed and treated unprofessionally, but also disrespected. I was upset after the whole situation, but even then I was willing to pay and didn't want to leave without paying because I didn't want to prove her point. Plus, it's not that expensive. At the end, the stylist said she had 40 years of experience. Well, after this, it feels like you wasted 40 years and somehow skipped the basics of customer service. Not coming back, even after being offered a free haircut. I would rather pay three times what I paid today for a standard service where you're treated with basic courtesy.

Alex is a great stylist! Alex was very knowledgable and my haircut turned out beautiful! I can't…read morewait to go back for the next cut with Alex again!

This is the BEST salon I've ever been to. Nick is a miracle worker. I've never had better haircuts…read morein my entire life than the six months I lived in Berkeley. I've also never been a regular hair-cut getter, but Nick changed all of that. I got three haircuts in six months and every time it got better. He would cut my hair in such a way that it dried with perfect texture and layering, without any additional heat tools. I brought several friends to see Nick as well, and he did a fantastic job with each of their hair types and textures as well. Cannot recommend him enough!!!

Eric is the best at cut and color. Have been going to his salon for several years!…read more Chandra

Eric gave me the best haircut I've ever had. I'm not exaggerating. He's a master of his craft. The…read morecut framed my face so nicely and even made me look younger. Thank you, Eric!

The sweetest person you'll ever meet. Hospitality is top tier, on time service, client base is…read moreequally as kind. She really cares about all of her clients. Oh and the service is stellar. Clean and welcoming. I go once a week for my weekly silk press. Support this black own business that's been open for several decades.

This was my first big chop ever and when I tell you Glynis made me feel absolutely comfortable is…read morean understatement. She listened to what I wanted and went through each process step by step explaining everything. The vibe is amazing, very calm, welcoming and safe. Will definitely be back and highly recommend!!!!

They messed up my hair, and by they, I mean there was literally two people cutting my hair at the…read moresame time. I asked for a trim. One person (Jackie) cutting the right side told me she didn't have her cosmology degree. The left side was cut by (Maryanne) who apparently was trying to teach Jackie how to cut hair. This was not anything I had agreed to. They just sat me down in the chair and started in. They also were pretty boisterous and oddly insulting about my hair. I asked Jackie to stop cutting because I could see how horrid she was at cutting hair, but she wouldn't stop. But once you sit down and people have started cutting, it's not easy to stop them. The left side by Maryanne is okay. Although she cut more off than I asked, and she didn't stick just with a trim because she tried to do damage control for Jackie's mistakes. The right side by Jackie is hideous, with huge chunky layers cut into it. Maryanne, (the experienced hairdresser) admonished Jackie, (the one without a degree), saying to her "remember how good my side looked before I tried to fix your side". I knew some damage had been done but wasn't sure how much, because they styled my hair in a way that covered up the mistake. I was charged 75 dollars and had to tip two separate people on top of that. As I left I was told they could fix any problem, to just to come back. But when I came back the next day and tried to talk with them. Jackie was hostile and said I asked her to cut the right side that way, while Maryanne accused me of making a scene although I didn't even raise my voice. I then was bullied out of the door by a burly mean acting guy. Later that day I received a phone call from Maryanne (the experienced hairdresser who had done the left side). She appeared drunk or to be dealing with mental health issues. I tired to discuss my concerns with her, and she said something like "I'd rather talk about anything else than your hair, can we talk about the war in Syria?" Like seriously? No. Maryanne refused to see the problem with what had happened (they basically used my hair to teach somebody without a degree). To this Maryanne said "But I Love Jackie". And "you don't need a license to cut hair". She refused a refund, even partially. Kept saying she "had to go" but then kept talking. Just to get her off the phone I told her I'd consider having her cut it again in some random point in time, after the much-too- short pieces from Jackie's chop-job grow out. But honestly I am not planning on ever going back there, I don't see how I'd ever trust anybody from that shop near my hair in the future.

I cannot possibly express just how happy I am with my experience on Cuttin' Up on College. I made a…read morelast minute appointment for a haircut and perm and Maryanne got me in no problem. I had super long, straight, fine hair but wanted a bouncy 1980s perm. Maryanne spent all evening working my hair and making it perfect. I never dreamed I could have hair with such volume. I'm super picky about who I can trust with my hair and I can definitely say that I will be back to Cuttin up on College. Maryanne is amazing! I couldn't be happier.

Long over-due recommendation for Tito @Moonshadow. I see Tito several times a year for my Cezanne…read more(Formaldehyde-free) keratin smoothing treatment. He does a fantastic job that keeps me coming back (it's about 3 hrs for my long-ish, unruly frizzy hair) I also get a haircut (cool razor chop). The salon is clean and relaxing and Tito lets me zone out with a podcast, checking in when needed which I appreciate. I have recommended Tito to friends and family who all love the service.

Lhiza is a MAGICIAN with hair. If i felt more confident i'd upload a photo of my thinning (and…read morebalding) hair - but her EXPERTISE with COLOR and also CUT (a dry cut of curly hair) is NOTHING short of magnificent. I will upload my "after" photo instead. You'd never know what I'm going through (autoimmune hair loss) by looking at her WORK! No one knows. I ONLY get comments like "Why does your hair always look so pretty, healthy, fresh and exciting" to which i always say "She's at the Aveda Salon, Moonshadow, in Berkeley" - by the way, i have followed her EVERYWHERE she's been, to all the places before landing in Berkeley. She is worth it in every way. it's the BEST "me time" ever - SO fun to be with her, relaxing, laughs, and feeling AMAZING which is not easy for me!

Irina is such a perfectionist and really takes her time with every section, but somehow the whole…read moreappointment is so calming that I feel like I'm mediating. She understands thick and fine Asian hair incredibly well and knows how to shape mine so it goes from ratty and generally unkempt to polished (and so much lighter). It can be surprisingly hard to find someone to do this kind of haircut (long fine hair) in the East Bay, but Irina really listens to the look you're going for. Her recommendations are always specific to your hair type, and I leave feeling less like I always have bedhead and more like I could be an art gallery girl in west village (iykyk).

TL;DR: This place is great! Book with Mark--he's an *artist*!…read more Longer version: My hair stylist quit the biz a few years ago to pursue a career as a therapist (so fitting, right?!) I was stoked for her! But since then, I've been adrift and searching for my hair match, trying out a new stylist for each cut. (My hair is fine but wavy with a weird cowlick, so it needs just the right layers. I had some great cuts and some so-so cuts, but never the right combo of close enough, a decent amount of availability that I'm not waiting months or driving across the bay, AND a great cut.) I tried Mark at Maru on a random rec from a friend whose daughter works at the salon--and after one cut, I feel like my search is over! The salon is very well-run and had an opening within a couple weeks. I arrived on time, was offered herbal tea, and waited under five minutes. It's in a nice spot in Berkeley with plenty of street parking with pretty cheap meters--$4. Mark asked me what I was looking for, got it right away, and was of course fun to chat with. I walked out with a cut I love for a reasonable price. I will definitely be back!