I DON'T PLAY WHEN IT COMES TO MY HAIR!
I have been coming here ever since I moved to NYC in August 2008. I don't live anywhere near Flushing (about an hour subway away). Why do I come so far to get a haircut? It's because I don't play when it comes to my hair.
First off, I find that non-Asians don't really know how to cut and style Asian hair. Secondly, for about $12 (+2 tip to the person cutting your hair + $2 to the woman who washes your hair and gives you a massage) = $16 total, you can get a decent haircut. I probably come here about once a month. It's quite a bit of a trip, so I also get some Taiwanese food, as well as run other errands when I'm in the area.
There are only two people in that hair salon that I would allow to touch my hair. One is the more mature girl (not the old one who is the manager and not the other girl who mostly washes hair) and one of the guys (who I have yet to learn his name). I actually had an altercation with the manager once. I walked into the hair salon, and it seemed so busy that they wanted to randomly assign one of the girls who primarily washes hair to cut my hair. I said "no," and I returned the next day. On the next day, the manager had the decency to confront me and tell me that it didn't matter who cuts my hair. She told me that everyone working in the salon was qualified to cut hair. PLEASE! I DON'T PLAY WHEN IT COMES TO MY HAIR! SO, STOP INSISTING ON PASSING ME OFF TO STRANGERS TO CUT MY BABY! Generally, they do a pretty thorough consultation before they start snipping, which should always be proper protocol for any hair salon.
You might be wondering why I've chosen to give this place 3 stars and not more...it's because the manager really puts the customer in an awkward position of having to delegate tips to her employees, which I don't really feel comfortable doing. I don't really need one person washing my hair, one person to massage me after, and one person to cut my hair. Because in the end, I'm going to have to give each person $2 each on top of the cost of the haircut. When you pay your bill, the manager will give you your change all in singles, even if she owes you $9, she has a drawer full of singles, so that you can tip more to her employees. Also, the manager will give you compliments on how handsome/pretty you look, as well as how lovely your spouse/partner is. It's a bunch of BS. It's a load of bull, but I guess that how she tries to make nice with her customers, so that you tip more.
This place gets incredibly busy (wait up to 30-45 min.) on the weekend to get a haircut. They are somewhat understaffed, so what the manager does is, she insists that the customer gets their hair washed and massaged while they wait to get their haircut. She only does this so that her customers aren't just waiting, which I find an interesting way of keeping your customers mind off of the wait time. Except for me, I am usually very busy when I'm visiting Flushing, so I don't appreciate wasting more time getting a massage than how long it'd take to cut my hair.
This place actually went through a renovation to make the decor look more modern and clean-looking. It will be a while for me if I ever decide to go to a different hair salon. It takes a lot for me to trust someone with my hair. read more