Lewis had done a great tattoo for me, some years ago. So naturally, I went back. He is so busy these days, he was unable to get me in and recommended his colleague, Regina Ruiz. Omg! She is so wonderful at her job!! I needed a coverup. I really didn't have much hope. All dark black letters. Her tattooing had left me with NO REMINDER of the old tattoo! She was so personable, kind, gentle and so willing to be honest with me abt my ideas. So glad she had better ideas! She is a true professional! I recommend her to everyone! read more

Monsters Ink - There are dark black letters under those leaves. Or is there Regina Ruiz, amazing job! - Tattoo Near Me - Albany, California

I'm so glad that I came here & got my eyebrow repierced. I only had pain for like a day. No swelling either. Strongly recommend. read more

Monsters Ink - I got my eyebrow repierced. It only hurt for like a day & after that I didn't feel anything. No swelling or nothing. - Tattoo Near Me - Albany, California

For piercing by Candy. Best piercing I have ever had. No pain, healed quickly, reasonable price. I know there are some really popular piercing places in Berkeley but they will charge much more and I doubt the quality could be better. Check on the hours before coming - I think Candy is only there a couple days a week. read more

10/10 100% recommend candy for all your piercing needs, shes quick super easy to chat with, I went in and got my septum done totally expecting it to hurt like hell but with her I felt no pain what so ever. Definitely going to be my go to for any and all piercings in the future. Thank you candy read more

Monsters Ink - Tattoo Near Me - Albany, California

i've been coming to monster's ink for around 3 years. I've been tattooed by a most of the artists here and pierced by Candy the piercer. Everyone is amazing and coming here is always such a experience. I've been tattooed and pierced at other shops in the bay and plenty of states (I've only lived in Cali for a few years) and I think the work and prices and atmosphere here are so great. Here are some tattoos and piercings I've gotten here. All these photos are my own and I will continue to go there for all of my body modification needs. read more

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Mike was FANTASTIC! I met him through a friend while visiting from Seattle and I have decided after this visit that he will finish my sleeve. The location is very easy to get to and there is plenty of parking on the street and surrounding streets. Once you walk in, your immediately welcomed by the clean and orderly front room where there are comfy chairs for waiting and lookbooks to browse through. Behind the counter is their drawing area and the high ceilings and hugs walls allow their artwork to shine. I wanted my tattoo inverted and a little larger and it only took maybe 10 minutes for him to sketch up a new one. I had previously sent him the image a day or two before. The back room where the tattooing ensued was just as clean and large as the front of the establishment. I'm always impressed with cleanliness and order. Mike was relaxed, easy going and very detail oriented. I couldn't be more pleased with the addition to my sleeve and especially the price he quoted me at. Compared to Seattle prices, I will DEFINITELY spend the airfare to visit this guy again. read more

Monsters Ink - Tattoo Near Me - Albany, California

As a first and last time customer of this establishment! Extremely disappointed in the lack of customer service. I stood at the counter for five minutes awaiting assistance. I made contact with the employee, eating with no acknowledgment at all. HORRIBLE! No greeting what so ever! read more

Shout out to nick he a wonderful job and was quick the staff there is great I will be going back for my next tattoo read more

Monsters Ink - Nick did a wonderful job - Tattoo Near Me - Albany, California

Nick did my awesome tattoo last night. The entire experience was great. -discussed concept on Sunday and he booked my appointment for the following Tuesday -he clearly communicated how he would artistically alter my desired image so that it would fit my wrist better (it is better than I had imagined) -he took the extra time to do a lot of single needle details so that it had the 'sketched' look that I wanted -very clean and friendly environment -fair price for the work that was done If I decide on another tattoo I will definitely be coming back to Nick. read more

Monsters Ink - Awesome wrist tattoo done by Nick - Tattoo Near Me - Albany, California

I had a couple of fabulous experiences at Monsters Ink for a piercing and a pierce removal. Ms. Candy is the piercing artist at Monsters Ink, and she is truly awesome: down to earth and yet super professional. I had a several of piercings on my face before I visited Monsters Ink. So I was not nervous or scared about piercing. But even if a person is new to piercing, Ms. Candy's demeanor makes you feeling calm, and she definitely helps you getting rid of any fears. With a 100% confidence, I recommend her to anyone who is seeking a piercing. read more

Candy is definitely the best piercer out! I had came to her with a infected dermal (in which I got pierced somewhere else) & she removed the dermal & answered any questions I had! She also pierced my tongue a while back! I 110% recommend her! read more

First professional piercing! Candy did an amazing job!!! If you are looking for someone who is very professional and knows a lot about piercing then look no further! read more

Monsters Ink - First professional piercing! Candy did an amazing job!!!! Don't go anywhere else! - Tattoo Near Me - Albany, California

Studio- The vibe in studio is amazing. Of the times I have been there, not once have I felt unwelcomed by anyone in this studio. All the artists there have amazing talent and each a unique skill and style. Whatever you need, there is an artist for you here. Tattoo-My artist Jose made me a custom piece and his skills are fire!I came in ready to get the best work done and that's what I got. He took a whole bunch of ideas and images I threw out and made it happen. What I like about him is he won't let you be basic unless you really want to! Definitely put my trust in his work! Piercing-My piercer Candy guided me through what she was doing when she did my piercing which definitely helped know what to expect. She also made sure I understood the importance of the piercing getting proper aftercare and so far has been healing great! Getting my piercings with her were painless compared to my previous experience for a different piercing at another shop. Can't wait to get the rest. Keep up the good work guys! read more

Went for a tattoo & started to get an allergic reaction from it. Didn't receive any aftercare instructions. This was from 2 small $40 tattoos a month or so ago. I'm honestly a little nervous to get tattoo now because of the experience. It was a little scary to deal with. And this was during my healing process so keeping it moisturized was hard because my arm & leg would be itching & reacting. read more

I was emailing back and forth to Miguel to do some work for me and all of a sudden he quit responding so I assumed he didn't want to do the work or need the business read more

Hubby and I brought out seven month old in to get her ears pierced with Candy. The overall experience was a good one. Candy was very patient and gentle with our daughter. The process was explained and we were able to pick out the earrings our daughter would get (I only wish there had been more options). Once the earrings we chose went through the autoclave to get sterilized (about 15 minutes) we were brought to the back where Candy used a pen to mark the location for the piercings. She had us both check to make sure they were straight and even. It's been just over a week now since we came in and both of our daughters ears are healing great. We will definitely be back to Candy in the future if we have any more daughters. read more

So i work close by this shop and i always drive by it so i decided to go in and say fuck it let me check this place out i wanted a traditional butterfly on my hand workers there are nice and the guy who tat me well his name is Luis or lewis some like that lol and he was very nice he did my tattoo and it came out beautiful i love it ill be back forsure thanks read more

Great service. Quick and virtually pain free. I definitely recommend their piercing services.

Ok guys, this is a review I really don't want to write, but I feel like I definitely need to. I appreciate what it takes to do this job, but my experience was not the best. I've only been pierced here, so I can't speak to their tattoo business. I got pierced by Lewis. He was super cool and patient. I got my second ear holes and a monroe done here, and it was kind of a drag. Their jewelery selection is quite small, which is fine, just be forewarned. I picked out my jewelery, and Lewis pulled them out with his bare hands. This is fine if they soak them in sterilizing solution/run them through an autoclave, which he certainly did not. I have been getting pierced for the better part of 15 years, and I should have said something, but I gave him the benefit of the doubt. In doing so, I took a gamble with my health and I am still paying for it. Nothing got properly sterilized, which is down right terrifying. I know my body and how to take care of my piercings. I heal quickly, but everything I got done at Monster's Ink is still in pain/going through bouts of inflammation/infection. I had to take my Monroe out because it just refused to heal. About 3 months on, and my ears are still crusty and painful. I've been doing salt soaks to no avail. You guys, please please please don't get pierced here. I know the price is really appealing, but there's a good reason for that. Good work ain't cheap. Don't gamble with your body. read more

I recommend Monsters Ink to anyone in the Bay Area looking to get a very good tattoo at a very good price. I specifically very, very highly recommend Joey, so look up joey_hella on Instagram, because he is the only artist at Monsters Ink that has done work on me. I can say confidently though that the other artists do solid work from everything I have seen, which has been 6 sessions I believe at this point with Joey, so I have seen lots of other pieces being done by the other artists over the dozens of hours I have spent in the shop over the past 5 months. I started a sleeve at a place in San Francisco that is pretty highly rated and significantly more costly, but I personally had a terrible experience with the artist in every aspect, from his professionalism to the quality of the work he did on the first piece of my sleeve. Afterwards, I decided to find another artist and went to a couple places around the area. I live in East Bay and work in Outer Richmond district of SF, so I checked out lots of places online, and several in person. I had a consultation set up with another artist at a place in Crockett, but had been meaning to check out Monsters Ink, so decided to go ahead and walk in and take a look. I browsed the portfolios of the two artists that were there at the time, Joey and Lewis, and Joey's work overall seemed to be more my style in general (though I'm sure Lewis would do a fine job too). So, I talked to Joey for a minute and explained what I was trying to do, and whereas other artists either didn't really listen to me and kind of was like "give me a deposit and we'll talk about it later", or were like "that's not really my style...maybe talk to so and so..." Joey said "it's my job as the artist to take your idea and make it work in a way that will look good," which was great to hear. I mean, I do appreciate an artist saying they may not be the best person for me to work with, but I feel a lot of "artists" in the Bay Area feel like only clients that are looking for their exact style of tattooing are worth their time, because I think a lot are tattooers and not artists. But I digress. I just had a good feeling after talking to Joey, so I cancelled my other consultation. I have gotten 4 main pieces so far from Joey, two involving cover-ups (something else many tattooers are afraid to tackle), and with each one, he has taken my concept and improved upon it, either in the design, or in the application as he is doing the piece. Joey is a real artist. He is a very good tattooer, but he also will see ways to improve the tattoo as he is doing it, so you can trust him to pay attention to details. He doesn't just put a stencil on and trace it with a tattoo machine. He usually will put a stencil on you, add some free-hand touches to the stencil, and if you are cool with it, he will get started. If he sees things he can do to improve the design as he is applying it (because sometimes I feel like you don't know exactly what a tattoo is going to need until you can see it starting to come together on the body), he can make tweaks to it to make it even better. With me, I have gotten to the point that I tell him to do whatever he sees, don't even bother running a small change by me. He isn't the fastest guy though, so don't expect to be in and out in an hour and a half. He takes his time getting the design drawn right, he takes his time setting up his workstation, he wants you to be comfortable in the chair, etc., and he tattoos slower than some guys I have been to, but this is not a bad thing in my opinion. As of right now, Joey (I assume it's the same for the other artists?) charges for the piece and not by the hour, so I am perfectly fine with a tattoo taking 5 hours with Joey that will look better than expected, instead of 2.5 or 3 hours with a guy that is charging (too much) by the hour and not putting time and effort into making it something that exceeds your expectations. They say you get what you pay for, you also get what you invest. Whether that is time, money, effort, etc. My advice to anyone in the East Bay (at least) is to consider going by Monsters Ink and talking to Joey if he is there, and one of the other artists if he is not, and see what kind of vibe you get before committing to paying some self-satisfied tattoer in Oakland or SF exorbitant fees to do a piece they may or may not put more than the minimal effort in. Joey is very good, very easy to work with, but very quiet and seemingly shy (or maybe he just doesn't like talking to me...entirely possible), so I'd go see him before he blows up and charges the rates he could be for the quality he is giving. read more

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Two days after Nick hooked me up with my dream tattoo and I am loving it even more. Nick took the picture of the butterfly I sent him and nailed it down to the last detail... If you are looking to get tatted go see Nick at Monster Ink! read more

Monsters Ink - Tattoo Near Me - Albany, California

After reading some reviews I decided to go check this place out. I was looking to get my first tattoo, and I wasn't exactly sure what I wanted it to look like. I worked with Lewis, who really had me think about my tattoo and what else I would want to do in the future. I was quoted, made and appointment, and left a deposit. It was all straightforward and easy. When I came in with a final design, we were able to do all of it in one session. Lewis was considerate and helpful as I asked questions, and he didn't mind talking while working. After a few hours, I ended up very excited about the piece I have. I'm super happy with my experience and I would recommend :) read more

There are quite a few talented tattoo artists in the east bay. I've had work done by several of them. Talent and being a jerk seem to sometimes come together. I recently went into Monsters Ink to have a look because I had been thinking about getting a new piece for a while, and it is near my house. I talked to the guy at the counter, his name is Jaime, cool guy, great attitude, all around positive vibe from the dude. They were getting ready to close but we went through a few ideas anyway. He sketched a few out (after closing) and I really liked what I saw. I asked him to change it like four times and he never even blinked. In fact he kept assuring me he didn't mind and wanted it done the way I wanted it. I was really pumped when he said he was willing to do it that night. Piece came out perfect, just what I wanted. Clean shop too! Thanks Jaime, I'll be back! read more

I've been tattooed by both Joey and Lewis both great artist. Very clean shop everyone is very nice and is the only place I now go to for tattoos and piercings. read more

Monsters Ink - My beautiful portrait done by Lewis - Tattoo Near Me - Albany, California

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I took my two daughters to get their ears pierced, one of them is 13 and the other is 4 months old and we had Candy pierce their ears and she was so nice and very approachable. She told us she'd do it with the needle and to be honest we were a but concerned but my 4 month old daughter barely cried. She gave us so many advice and was so kind and everything went smooth with her. Thank you so much for this experience Candy, the best. read more

Go see candy! She's the best by far. Wouldn't go to any other piercer. Everything is clean and she always does a fabulous job on all of my piercings read more

Lewis is amazing. He does some of the best work I've ever seen. He's been my tattooer and friend for some time now and I wouldn't go to anyone else. I recommend him to everyone I know and they fall in love with his work too. read more

Monsters Ink - Tattoo Near Me - Albany, California

So I found this place from my sister I went in and got Nick for my first Tattoo then a month later today I got my big piece rose and pearls he did great work I love Nick's work. read more

Monsters Ink - Sisterhood infinity Symbol done by Nick - Tattoo Near Me - Albany, California

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Cool spot , I got my penis pierced there, tha lady that did it was very nice and gentle, came out good , I'm glad she was working cuz I will not let no guy do it , lol but damm that shit hurt like fuck read more

Lewis pierced my forward helix almost two weeks ago now. I am SO pleased with the experience. Highlights... -Lewis is SO nice, patient, easy to work with -the price was very reasonable, $35 included basic jewelry -location! It's not in Berkeley! Meaning you can park! I'm totally working on my next tattoo idea. I'm going to see Lewis because of how awesome he was! Thanks Monsters Ink. read more

Monster's Ink is a great spot. Nick lit me up with a dope tattoo commemorating my first 100 mile finish in Bryce Canyon. He is a dope artist that can start you with design all the way to a great finished product. Clean, safe, and great customer service. Can't recommend them enough. I'll be back for two more soon! Raider Vader and finish my poker sleeve! read more

Monsters Ink - Nick did me proper! He's a great artist. - Tattoo Near Me - Albany, California

Candy was great I took my daughters to get her ears Pierce she was amazing with my 6 year I am Definitely always coming back here candy was amazing customer service and made it so comfortable for my daughter she had no problem there were her frist piercing and now she wants me to get mine done like her too so candy I will see you soon and the price was really good thank you again candy for the most. Pleasant full experience five stars All The way read more

My wife and I revisited Miguel on yet another Friday the 13th and got two new ones each to add to our collection. My wife wanted another one as we were leaving but the waiting list was too long to fit us in right away. We were called late that night and told we could come back in as their last customers of the day. Done and done. We came back in, wife got what she wanted, we will definitely be back again. Thanks guys! read more

Monsters Ink - Miguel set me up with these on Friday the 13th. Thanks, man! - Tattoo Near Me - Albany, California

This was my first tattoo, and like Nick did such an amazing job! I am most definitely coming back here for my next one!!! I highly recommend Monster Ink they make you comfortable while they work on you. read more

Monsters Ink - Tattoo Near Me - Albany, California

I went in to try to get a tattoo and one of the tattoo artists left and the other reluctantly acknowledged me. They showed no interest in helping me or getting my business. I don't know about how good quality their tattoos are but their absolutely shitty customer service was the biggest turn off ever. I literally never want to go there again. read more

1 of the most down-to-Earth crew I've ever ran across! Definitely a once in a blue moon experience.

PLEASE DO NOT GO HERE FOR PIERCINGS! It's not because they are not sanitary (They are! She was super clean when she was piercing me.) I got a Monroe piercing and she had major complications getting it in. I paid $55 and left. This was two days ago. This morning, I thought the piercing had fallen out, but it only sink into my skin. So I went to a new piercing shop in SF. The guy told me she pierced it at a 90 degree angle which is completely wrong. He said it'll rub on my gums and cause immense swelling. My lip is super swollen. I now have to wait three weeks to get it repierced. If you want your piercing done right, don't go here!!!!! read more

Got 3 ear pieced and its wasnt even that bad I would go again. nice shop, great workers , its clean

Just got a really meaningful signature tattoo here. Joey really took his time and made sure it matched perfectly. Super awesome experience and I'll definitely be a repeat customer in the future. Really clean facility and I felt extremely comfortable and taken care of. Excellent, excellent, excellent Thanks, Joey! read more

The piercer there is very professional. Quick and painless. Only place I'll go to for my piercings.