1. Mainstay Tattoo

1. Mainstay Tattoo

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Austin, TX

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Mainstay Tattoo

4.9 (34 reviews)
ModerateTattoo
Closed 11:00 am - 6:00 pm

Mainstay Tattoo Photos

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Zach is the man!! Cannot recommend enough. Talented and professional, you won't walk away disappointed.

mando ruined my life. before i was tattooed by mando i could walk down the street and not be bothered, but now as soon as i step foot outside of my home, every man and woman throws themselves at me and on top of that i have to deal with people constantly approaching me to ask where i got my tattoos from and tell me how cool they are. beautiful tattoos, but at what cost? :/

I walked in one day wanting one tattoo. Mando has now done both of my arms and leg. He is and incredibly personable man with insane talent. The vibe at mainstay is fantastic. You won't find a better traditional tattoo shop in Austin

Robin A.

I bought my son his first Tattoo for Christmas and I could not be happier with his choice in choosing Mainstay Tattoo and the artist Zach Nelligan . It is such a beautiful studio and Zach was so incredible with the care and professionalism he used from start to finish.We are loyal fans and when it is time for another Zach and Mainstay will be our choice. Thank you!!!!

Caroline P.

Cory Schofield was my artist and he did an awesome job it was an intense tattoo since it was for straight down my spine but he helped me stay calm and his light hand helped. The vibe of the store is super chill you just want to stay and hangout type of place. All the artists were friendly and rapidly working away. I will definitely be back for more art keep doing y'alls thing!

Zach N. Killed this cross and rose!
Jose G.

I had the pleasure of getting tattooed by Zach while on a business trip in May. He was super friendly and flexible. I was embarrassed because I did have a budget in mind, and he treated me with the best professionalism about it. He was funny, kind and welcoming during the session. In the end he gave me an incredible tattoo, that was made just for me (I was gonna do flash off the wall). Next time or everytime I am in Austin, I will make sure to visit Mainstay and Zach!

Eyeball mandala on my left elbow done by Ivan Antonychev.
Darin E.

Looking for your next traditional tattoo? Look no further; this place is a dream. This parlor has such a homey feel to it and the walls are adorned with innumerable panels featuring bold and original flash design, the quality of which assures that you are in good hands. Ivan gave me one of the better tattoo experiences I've had here in Austin, and I am immensely satisfied with the level of work and customer care he displayed in the 3+ hours I sat with him. He's so booked up already I'd like to be selfish and keep him for myself, but I have to give credit where credit is due... dude is a wizard. Will definitely be returning soon.

Was fortunate to find Mainstay for my first tattoo. Loved the shop, loved the vibe. Cory Schofield (@c_schofield_tattoo on instagram) did a great job drawing it up for me and helping w/placement. Great work, super clean environment, couldn't have asked for a better experience, I will definitely be coming back to have him add on to what I got.

During the outlining.
Andrew T.

Mainstay is a great place! Zach was an awesome artist who walked me through the whole process. It was my first tattoo, and I absolutely love it. Very clean and professional, and talented artists! Couldn't be happier, will be back for my second soon! - Andrew

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1 year ago

Great shop with great artist. My only regret is that one day I will run out of space on my body to have Zach tattoo.

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1 year ago

Mando is the man, got sleeves and both my arms and always listened to my ideas and suggestions

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Ask the Community - Mainstay Tattoo

Review Highlights - Mainstay Tattoo

Zach started tattooing me 2011 and his friendliness, relatability and craft turned me into a tattoo collector.

Mentioned in 12 reviews

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All Saints Tattoo - Tattoo by Gio El Camino

All Saints Tattoo

4.3(206 reviews)
4.1 miEast Austin
$$

My artist Frank was excellent. It was my first tattoo at age 56 and he made me feel at ease and…read morecomfortable. The design was simple and exactly what I wanted.

After a failed attempt at another walk-in space, my best friend and I ended up at All Saints on…read more6th. Parking was an absolute nightmare so I would recommend taking a rideshare to get to this location.    When someone talks about tattoo shops in Austin, All Saints is definitely one of those mentioned almost every time. The tattoo/piercing shop has wonderful reviews and a ton of happy patrons. The vibe in this space is very lowkey and homey. We were the first ones in for the day.   My best friend and I wanted to get complementary tattoos. We only wanted three words in Seagram each with my best friend getting hers in black and me getting mine in red. We were told it would cost extra for red ink. Fine.   After the woman working the front took the stencil print-outs to the artists, she came back and quoted us $200 each. What? We were shocked. I knew the tattoo wouldn't take more than 20-30 minutes and did not understand how my friend was quoted the same as me if "red is extra." Thus, I came to my own conclusion that pricing is completely random and up to the artist. I guess it's a game of luck?   That being said, Carlos did a wonderful job on my tattoo and Hannah did a great job on my friend's. Carlos and I had a lot to talk about as we were raised in the same city and he went to my highschool while I was also in attendance. Wild stuff!   Still, for what we got, I wouldn't have paid more than $150 + tip for this tattoo. There needs to be a length requirement or some rules and regulations for pricing (I know this is not easy). Just know you're getting very talented artists when you walk-in!   Bring your wallet!

Photos
All Saints Tattoo - ALL SAINTS TATTOO AUSTIN TEXAS #TATTOOSHOPSNEARME #BESTTATTOOSAUSTIN

ALL SAINTS TATTOO AUSTIN TEXAS #TATTOOSHOPSNEARME #BESTTATTOOSAUSTIN

All Saints Tattoo - Interior of All Saints Tattoo & Piercing East Side ATX location

Interior of All Saints Tattoo & Piercing East Side ATX location

All Saints Tattoo - CARLOS YBARRA ALL SAINTS TATTOO #hummingbirdtattoo #lilytattoo #stargazerlilytattoo

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CARLOS YBARRA ALL SAINTS TATTOO #hummingbirdtattoo #lilytattoo #stargazerlilytattoo

Mom's Tattoos - Our individual look on the same tattoo.

Mom's Tattoos

4.8(190 reviews)
5.1 mi78704 (South Austin), South Lamar District, Bouldin Creek
$$

I knew I wanted to get a new tattoo while visiting Austin, but I wasn't sure where to go. I'm much…read moremore comfortable with laid-back tattooists than I am with the super-intense ones who can often be intimidating. The tattoos I generally seek are quirky, one-off designs that are deeply personal, but not the full-sleeve or intricate Japanese work that a lot of shops specialize in. After looking at a lot of websites and reading a lot of reviews, I chose Mom's Tattoos and I'm glad I did. It's exactly the kind of place I like, with a relaxed vibe and incredibly friendly artists. I had a specific drawing I wanted replicated that looked deceptively simple but was in fact very challenging. I couldn't have asked for a better result than the tattoo I received by Roach. His artistry is top-level. On top of that, he's an incredibly nice guy. I wholeheartedly recommend him, and Mom's, for anyone looking for a welcoming, top-quality experience.

They don't do EVERYTHING to do with tattoos; specifically, they refuse to do anything to do with…read morewhite ink tattoos. I came in with a basic fine line design i'd drawn (a "salt infinity" or an infinity symbol in dotted white ink), explained I was very familiar with white ink and wanted this tattoo in white ink and have for decades - they said absolutely not and gave me the same tired lecture I get whenever i want something inked in white: it will fade, it wont last, it will look like a scar. I have been thinking of this tattoo for as long as these guys have been alive. I know my skin and how it heals better than they do. I know what I want better than they do. It was very disappointing. As an artist myself, I understand an artist needs to enjoy their work and want their name on their work, but tattoos are mostly highly personal to the customer and you're doing a service for a customer - that's why tattooists get paid and don't pay the customer to ink their favorite designs on the customers body. Why is writing a name in black ink better than giving someone a super meaningful, deeply personal white ink design? I wasn't requesting a hate symbol, I wanted a reminder to trust myself - salt is known for purifying and protecting, infinity is eternal. Having a tattoo no one but me knows is there still serves its purpose for me. I'm still looking for someone who will work with me on this tattoo before I consider others. It was the first tattoo I ever wanted and I'm not doing any others until this one is done. The final insult: "come back when you really know what you want, we'll get it done".... Man I've wanted this since I was 9, I know EXACTLY what I want. Its been like 3 decades and hasn't changed. Other than that, the place had a cool vibe, was clean and the work looked well-done.

Photos
Mom's Tattoos - Basil tattoo

Basil tattoo

Mom's Tattoos - 8 bit ninja gaiden ryu hyabusa

8 bit ninja gaiden ryu hyabusa

Mom's Tattoos

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Zulu Tattoo

Zulu Tattoo

4.8(18 reviews)
5.4 miTravis Heights, 78704 (South Austin)
$$$

This review is way past due. Last year, I was absolutely devastated over the loss of Prince, and I…read moreneeded something to help me heal... something permanent... a tattoo! I wanted to have "him" with me in some way for the rest of my life... enter ZULU. I am a hairdresser, and a wonderful client of mine said to me one day as we were discussing tattoos, "there's nobody on earth I'd let tattoo me other than Zulu". This is HIGH praise coming from this particular woman, so I looked him up. As soon as I went to his website, I felt an energy that I can only describe as "this is it, this is my guy", I knew it immediately. Browsing through his work, I was blown away. His meticulous attention to detail is unmatched. He is an ARTIST of the highest degree. His website images don't do justice to the work- I don't think any picture of his work can do his art justice. You *have* to see it to believe it. I had a consultation with him, and shared with him images of things I liked, and things I'm drawn to, but mostly I wanted him to create it. Several days later, he sent me an image of what he came up with, and it was a slam dunk, just as I knew it would be. It took 3 sessions to complete, and it is a MASTERPIECE. I love the art on my forearm so much it's stupid. I get so much attention because it's so incredible. I even met Prince's band The Revolution, and they were blown away! Wendy and Lisa couldn't stop touching it! Anyway, you get my point, right? So here's another thing... Zulu himself is an amazing human being. He and I had the most wonderful conversations and now he's my friend forever. Choose Zulu as your artist and you'll have more than just a tattoo, you'll have a masterpiece.

So this past weekend was my first experience directly under the hand of Zulu. Since we visited a…read morefew months ago for him to work on my wife's back, he and I have been in contact about what I've had planned for the remainder of the sleeve on my right arm. Because I travel for 6 months of the year the remainder of our conversations have been via email and also a 30 minute FaceTime consultation while I was overseas in place of a telephone call. Khani (shop mgr/wife) has done a wonderful job throughout of keeping the flow going and making sure that Zulu was available to discuss issues with me as needed. Zulu spent a considerable amount of time prepping for our arrival this trip as I had provided a number of different pieces of Tibetan art work to use for reference on my arm. After the FaceTime consult he fully understood what I wanted and that he was also given full artistic license to do what looked right and would flow with what I already had on my arm. He is only the second artist I've aver talked to that immediately got my concept and was genuinely excited about doing the work I was requesting. This was first obvious to me when we originally visited, but once we had talked and he started the work on the final design, the true light came out in Zulu. I arrived about 15 minutes early to the studio and just sat while he continued to collect his thoughts and worked to get the various pieces setup. We started with a fitting of the largest piece that would be done which was a full incarnation of Mara in demon form. Zulu only needed to resize it once and then worked on the angle and layout on my forearm (which is not big in any way) however, he laid it out to allow for the rest of the piece around and on the back of my arm. Once we had it fully laid out he applied the initial stencil for Mara and then he got to work. Zulu uses a rotary gun to apply his tattoos (as does Pinky which makes for a soothing sound in the small space). The beauty of this style of application is that unlike a normal gun that basically hammers you throughout the process, the rotary is more like a smooth flowing motion. When you add this to the extremely delicate touch that Zulu has while tattooing it makes for the absolute most pleasurable experience I've had to date. There was literally no pain until about the last 10 minutes of the session. We took a total of 4.5 hours to do all of the outline work for my arm, the detail in person looks unlike any I previously thought possible from a tattoo. His classical art training comes out when he works and his chair side manor is beyond reproach. The music in the studio is also spot on allowing Zulu to get into his groove and produce the beginnings of a masterpiece. I say beginnings because I can't wait to come back to finish the color and shading in November. Bottom line: if you want something that is truly a masterpiece on you as the canvas...than Zulu is the person to do it for you. There is no longer a need for me to search out an artist for my other projects, Zulu has a client for life.

Photos
Zulu Tattoo
Zulu Tattoo
Zulu Tattoo

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Mainstay Tattoo - tattoo - Updated July 2026

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