Such a great guy who runs this place! I've come here before to get shoes fixed and purses patched, and his prices are always very reasonable. He does a really good job too. Will definitely make this place my regular shoe repair place. read more

The bomb. I just dropped off a pair of men's shoes. Got the heel replaced same day. The shoes were in tough shape and they looked new when I got them back. It's the best shine I've ever had. Also, cost less than what I've seen at other places in the city. My grandfather was a cobbler and his father was a cobbler. This store is a gem. I will only go here for shoe repairs from here on out. read more

Really impressed with this place. They did a fantastic job putting soles on multiple pairs of boots for me and gave me detailed instructions on how to take care of my shoes. The prices are very reasonable. Their service is also incredibly fast. Once I was told I could pick up my shoes on the same day. read more

Shoe repair was so impressive! My shoes look better than new. Fast work, reasonable prices and excellent work. I will be a new regular to this shop. read more

Mad props to this guy who resoled two pairs of men's dress shoes, within 24 hrs. $25 to add a sole on top of my leather soles that had worn thin, and reconstruct parts at the front that had worn thin. They look fantastic. $35 to sole some driving shoes that had worn down. read more

So far I've brought 3 pairs of new shoes to get soles/tapped and a new battery for a sports watch. All shoes I brought them were from nice brands - Chloe, Manolo, Gucci. The work was flawless. I was most impressed by the sole they but on my pink snakeskin sandals - perfect and not a scratch or stain in sight. Also I asked them not to polish my shoes and they listened. Oh, the pricing is very fair. Great quality for great value. read more

They scuffed up my pair of patent heels pretty badly. Wouldn't recommend coming here, as they don't seem to be very careful with shoes.

Always great service! They have always done a great job everytime and I bring all my shoes to them to get repaired and resoled. To top everything off, the prices are really reasonable. This shop is totally out of the way for me, but I make the trip when I need something fixed. read more

I am no shoe expert but I was happy with re-soled boots that I had lost hope for... Have been here for re-heels on pumps as well. Not sure how much stretching was done on a pair of just barely too tight shoes, but I did want to pick them up next day so... Recommend for quick, inexpensive, and reliable work. read more

Went in with all the components to switch the band and replace the battery of my watch. The only reason I did not do this myself is that I did not have a screw driver that was small enough. Although I should of just bought one and saved myself some money. First he asked if I could come back in 2 hours, but I was not willing to so he did it in front of me. It took two minutes of his time which made me think, "why the fuck would I ever wait 2 hours and come back". I assumed since it took literally 2 minutes of his time (also I could of done the task myself if he just lent me the screw driver for 2 minutes) that it would of been a free fix. I even pulled out 5 dollars to tip him and as I handed it to him he handed it back and said, "no 10 dollars". What a scum bag! This guy doesn't deserve 10 dollars for the service he provided. If I bought the screw driver myself it would of costed less and I wouldn't have to deal with that out of date environment, or his gloomy personality. (10/2 = 5 5 * 60 = $300 per hour service, WHAT A RIP OFF!!!) Please just do not go there! I feel that I am partially compensated by the fact that they will hopefully have less business after people read this review and their yelp rating lowers. I wish I could give lower than 1 star because It was truly an upsetting experience. They will never see me again that is the only thing I can guarentee. read more

Painless ! In and out . Changed my watch battery quickly and efficiently. Would definitely come back next time .

I would give zero rating if there was. I brought more than 50 pairs of shoes to this place, and once I had one issue he treated me like garbage. He promised to change a zipper on the shoe but didn't do it, I paid in advance and after he came back saying the zipper was more expensive that he was just repairing the zipper. Who wants a non working zipper repaired? He then said he would give me my money back but proceeded to remove stitches from the zipper. So he basically was destroying my property! So petty and so unprofessional. There was another occasion where he also charged me twice for the same work, saying I had paid for something else. Buyer beware. read more

$40 got a pair of Oxfords re-heeled, patched, and reconditioned in two days. They were very clear about what needed to be done when I brought them in, got it done quickly, and at a reasonable price. read more

Best shoe repair place! 1. Doesn't smell like you're walking into a chemical factory, well ventilated. 2. Same day service. 3. Shoes and boot heels look brand new, best job I've seen done on any shoes I've had repaired. 4. Very reasonable prices by NYC standards read more

The search for a truly good cobbler goes on--it's a bit sad how difficult it is to find one in NY, of all places. Lots of the happiest reviews here appear to be from people who ruined their shoes and had them brought back to life. That's fine. Still, I always find cobblers show their real quality, or lack thereof, when you bring something to them for standard work that you'd like to see done as well as possible. I wanted rubber soles put on the bottoms of a very nice pair of Margiela oxfords and my wife's Lanvin flats to keep the leather from getting worn through--preventive work, in other words, to keep from ruining your shoes. Got them back quickly enough, but the work was somewhat sloppy. The black cementing glue got caked on the leather close to the sole--not blatantly visible, but not clean. The rubber soles were not lined up well on the shoes so that they're asymmetrical when the shoes are side by side, and a bit uneven. To make the line from the sole to the mid-sole clean, he sanded down the leather sole under the arch of the foot, which is bad form. Finally, he did not use Vibram or a similar quality rubber sole, which is the first time I've had a cobbler be cheap about a rubber sole. Pretty much all of the above also applies to his work on my wife's shoes. Caked glue, needlessly sanded down sole, second-rate rubber. Did he ruin the shoes? No. Was it excellent work? Far from it. If we want to discuss the word Awesome, Ilyau is not it. He's better than the rest of the terrible cobblers around, but it's a disservice to fellow Yelpers to hype him to a 4.5 star level. Save that for a first-rate cobbler with true attention to quality and detail. read more

A lil shop on 17th street - he changed my watch battery in a flash! I had an unusual watch which made it difficult in the beginning but he managed and $9 later my watch was new batteries! :D read more

I came here because all the reviews were high. I had taken my watch to get the battery changed somewhere else and they totally screwed it up. The arms-needles kept falling off the pivot. I needed a watch Doctor and thanks to Yelp I decided to come here and Voila***** fiiiiiiiiixed. It was painless and quick! Thank you! read more

I'm very sad. This place did a very bad job on two pairs of shoes of mine. He cut the heel of my boot so short, AN INCH too short, imagine that. I couldn't even walk in it. With the other pair, he put the totally wrong kind of heel on it and it didn't go with the sole at all. When I said it looked wrong, he got defensive and fought with me. Instead of a solution to the problem, he told me that he will pull the heels off that he made and I can go somewhere else. He said I was playing games and don't want to pay. I'm not broke and I'm not trying to get someone to work on my shoes for free. Sadly, I agree with the reviewer below who said it doesn't seem like a proper cobbler. They don't seem to know how to fix shoes. They know how to cut out rubber and how to glue and nail. But I had messed up heels that were shaved off too short and when he rested it on the counter, it wasn't even standing straight, it was leaning over diagonal. I couldn't walk in it. I took it to a cobbler in brooklyn who was amazed that it was that messed up and said it didn't look like the person who worked on them knew how to fix shoes. With all that, he kept my twenty dollar deposit, saying that was for the soles he put on the boots. He should have refunded me for destroying my shoes. read more

Had a pair of boots that were in need of new soles. They took them and said they would be ready by tomorrow, which was much quicker than I was expecting. The quality of their work is great. My boots look like new and the price was quite reasonable. I'm already planning to bring in my other shoes to be repaired. read more

I have had shoes repaired there before, a few years ago. He did a fine job. But when i went back in this time, his estimates were outrageous! $50 to resole and pair of flats and polish them. I about choked! read more

Pretty much basic service. Its not the type of deal where you need to expound on the service. He did a great job and I think I'd definitely return read more

This guy is a shoe/leather repair dream! I brought him a pair of Chanel ballet flats that had basically been through a war and many muddy walks... He literally made them into brand new shoes, even fixing the patent leather parts and building a new sole and heel... for $28. Also, my gray handbag's strap broke completely and he fixed it and it doesn't even look broken. I asked him what to do if it broke again, and he said he would fix it for free, but he promised it would last forever. read more

Afraid I can't agree with the reviews on here; in fact, I'm disappointed in yelp, since I went to Ilyau based on high recommendations here. I should have read Jessica L's review more closely. He ruined my shoes too. I took a pair of well-worn and well-loved black leather Camper boots to be reheeled and also have new leather placed on the inside heel, where it had worn down. Campers have rounded matte rubber heels that are integral to the soles. He put a heel of a different material (shiny) with a straight edge--but only to replace the part that had worn down. So I have soft rubber soles and shiny hard heels cut at an angle. The rest of the sole he left as is, so it looks tacked on. For the leather piece, he cut a messy strip of brown leather (the original leather was a kind of light pink) that didn't match and glued it in, leaving multiple pen marks the length of the inside heel outside of where the leather went and glue all over the inside of the shoe. When I complained he said, "who cares? no one will see it". No cobbler worth his salt would say that. I also had him reheel some low heels that needed new leather along the heel where it had gotten torn. On one, he glued back what was there and used brown shoe polish to fill in the rest. On the other, he left it as is--ripped, patchy leather. For such shoddy workmanship, the prices are really high as well. Not sure how it is that my experience of low quality, high prices and rudeness is so different from all the others. read more

Last week he repaired a pair of my son's shoes for $15. Before that, he sewed a shoe for me for $5. My son is happy and I am satisfied. The reason I took away a star is because I'm a little skeptical about my son's shoes staying repaired (there was a tear between the leather and the sole). However, if they continue to be acceptable, I will upgrade this store to 5 stars. read more

Updated to one star, because six weeks after getting the battery replaced it has quit working. And of course, because he didn't give me a receipt or write the date on the back of the battery (see previous review), I'm screwed. There are definitely better places to get a watch battery than here. read more

I went back recently to have the watch I purchased at the shop repaired (It broke when I ate it on rollerblades!). The owner would have fixed it on the spot had I been in a hurry, but I gave him the go ahead to fix by next day. He did an amazing job repairing it (the chain was all out of whack from my fall) and didn't charge me a cent since I had bought it from him! Talk about great customer service. Still haven't dropped off my grandma's clutch, but I will update this once I do so. read more

I've been wearing the same pair of Steve Madden boots for 2 years and it had come to a point where I couldn't wear them anymore because my foot was about to burst through the bottom. I needed a miracle or they were getting thrown out. Based on the other Yelp reviews I took them here and for $28 they replaced the soles and fixed a spot where the leather was breaking. I was amazed! These boots got a second chance at life. The bottoms look brand new and I can definitely squeeze another year out of them. I also gave them a leather bag to fix and it was a success. I would definitely recommend this place! read more

This place is the best! I bought a new pair of Tory Burch sandals where she didn't make the strap long enough to go around the ankle twice (and no I do not have cankles it's a design flaw). What Tory Burch got wrong they got right and I now have a new favorite pair of summer sandals. Thank you! read more

You did it again. Same JS loafers only this time for my little sister. She thought they were dead, but in 3 days(weekend) they are like new but better... Thanks again. I am a big fan. read more

I brought in my broken Sam Edelman sandal (the strap had come completely unattached from the sole of the shoe), which I thought was a goner until I read the reviews for Ilyau Express. Same-day service and my sandal was as good as new! Pretty cheap, too, considering the repairs were made in a matter of hours. Definitely will be bringing my leather boots here when the soles need replacing. read more

I went to get my boots weatherproofed, stretched and had rubber put on the soles and heel. I went to pick them up and they heel had not been done. They guy fought with me and said said that I didnt tell him to do it, even though I know i did. Ok, maybe this was my fault. I go back to pick them up and they stretched the wrong boot - i only wanted the right side, not the left. i KNOW i specified the right side. I dont even have the energy to go back and explain the situation because I dont want to deal with the guy at the front. read more

Friendly, fast and incredible workmanship. They turned my favorite (now torn apart) flats into a pair that looked brand new in just a day. Went back there to have a watch's size adjusted, and he was able to do it in under 10 minutes for $10. Strongly recommend. read more

My go-to shoe repair place. Fair prices, quick turnaround. They can fix anything! I've taken several pairs of shoes there multiple times over the years - each time, they come back almost like new. read more

I came here because of the reviews on yelp. These gentlemen here are awesome. I have brought several pairs of shoes to them in different states of disrepair and they've all been transformed to like new condition. The cost is a little more than other repair shops I've been too but they're definitely worth it. read more

Dropped off my watch to have the battery replaced and was in and out in no time. They were professional and quick, not to mention in-expensive. What more could I ask for. read more

It's like getting new shoes for a fraction of the price. He fixed a heel that was snapped in half and deemed unrepairable by other places. It is now like new. He stretched out a couple of pairs that were tight too. They now fit perfectly. And he's fairly priced and conveniently located. Great find. read more

I bought a pair of awesome vintage boots for $40 which is more than I usually like to spend but it's hard finding good vintage shoes in my size, so I jumped on the opportunity quickly. Short story long, my boots started coming apart the first day I wore them. Took them to Ilyau and he fixed them up oh-so-nice, glued them back together, for $14. They are now my most comfy pair of walking shoes. I even wear them to work. He's amazing! read more

I went here to replace two watch batteries and left 5 minutes later with fully working watches ($20) PLUS a fixed watch band. This probably could've been done for less elsewhere, but I'm happy to patronize a small business for quality work. Happy to return here again. read more

4.5 stars. Fixed my watch for free (put the back of watch back together). Shoe shines are $3. Service was great and very friendly.

Not the friendliest or chattiest place, but they are good at fixing shoes and for a reasonable price. I've had insoles glued down on a pair of Prada boots, and had the same boots stretched a bit (very thick leather). I've also had insoles glued down on a pair of patent leather Ferragamo heels. I've had bottom soles replaced/protected on other expensive dress heels. Everything turned out very satisfactory and I will continue to trust them with my shoes. I am pretty pleased with their quality of work, and they will not charge you an arm and a leg like some other places in Manhattan! read more