You're paying for the neighborhood. Way over priced for the quality of service. $37 + tip for a mediocre pedicure? Too much. My technician looked out the window more than at my feet. Plus, not so sparkling (look at the towels and foot pads). Meh. I won't likely be going back. Go to Bamboo Spa instead. read more

The staff was nice but they botched my pedicure a couple of times in the same sitting. Had to spend all that extra time for the paint to dry and missed other appointments. They also tried to give a worn out pair of slippers for me to wear but I declined because it wasn't sanitary. Then they gave a fresh pair for me to wear as the paint dries. 3 stars as the staff was friendly by the service itself wasn't up to par read more

Don't know how I never knew this gem of a nail shop existed, I literally dine at Saru so frequently which is just the next block over. Today, dinner was premeditated at Saru, while my girlfriend and I had 1.5 hours to spare, I figured we'll get a mani done (I was overdue anyhow). I Yelped for nail salons close by the restaurant and found The Upper Hand. Prior to going I checked the photos of course to make sure it meets my check list! I called and Ann was able to take us both in 30 mins - which was perfect timing before dinner! The shop is small, cozy, intimate, LOTS of natural lighting and inviting. I kinda fell in love with the amount of shades of paint they offered from brands like OPI, Essie, Chanel, Butter and a few more. Typically, I only anticipate the hand and arm massage, but they even gave me a shoulder and neck massage, LOVED IT! Didn't see that one coming at all, I mean I didn't mention, but they give you a heated neck pillow during your mani session (very nice though). They also offer tea and water with a small plate of fruit and chocolate. Overall, the staff was very friendly, professional and courteous. Very happy with my manicure. One of the most relaxing mani I've had in a while (I think it was definitely the added neck and shoulder massage). This just might be a new nail shop for me :) read more

I wanted to love this place. It's so cute inside, the people are kind and accommodating, and it was super comfy. They give you a nice warming neck wrap and everything! However, I'm a perfectionist with my nails and this gel manicure did not meet my expectations. A few nails are super blotchy-- the color has odd dark inconsistent spots. The top coat is also streaky texture wise (you know when you can see the brush strokes in the smoothness of the polish?) which is hard to see in the photos but is noticeable at the tip of most nails. Maybe I caught them on an off day, but I'm not planning on going here again. read more

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These people are so rude! They are so disrespectful to kids and only do nice things for people they already know. The nails were so crappy they didn't give me what i wanted and refused to give me a hello kitty on my nail cause they thought it looked bad. Nails chipped right away. And they told me i needed to increase my tip to 40% as if it was expensive enough. Complete scam, don't recommend save your money. read more

For a $40 gel manicure you would think they would notice if they've painted a long black lint on your nail. I even asked to have the nail filed again because it wasn't even. And she just did the motion of filing it and didn't really file anything. The place was completely empty so it's not like she was rushing. I expect this kind of quality at a salon that charges $25-30 for gel manicure. Not a place that charges $40. $40 is way too much. I wouldn't be so upset if it was cheaper. But the fact that this place charges so much you would think it would be almost perfect. Perfect enough for a giant piece of lint isn't painted on. Now I'm stuck with this for 2 weeks. I can't afford to spend another $40 to remove and redo this manicure. read more

The Upper Hand - How does she not notice this. I'm upset that I wasn't paying enough attention. - Nail Salons Near Me - San Francisco, California

I love this place. I went for my first and second time shortly before COVID. 1.5 years later, after I got vaccinated, I returned and have been going every few weeks since. First, this business is woman-owned. Ann, the owner, has always been on site working while I have been there. Second, it is easy to schedule appointments online. I find that with most salons, online booking sends you to another site and gets more complicated than it should be. The Upper Hand's booking system is easy and straightforward. Third, they see you on time for your appointment. The only time that was not true in my case was during the holidays, when they did make me wait. But in general, they are not the type of place that packs in walk-ins at the expense of people with appointments. They will honor your appointment. Fourth, if your treatment includes a massage, it is always divine! Everyone is great at it and really takes their time. You don't feel rushed, as it can be at some other places I've tried. Everyone there is friendly and thoughtful. They try their hardest to make you comfortable and to ensure that you are comfortable and that you like how your nails look. Almost every time I'm there, someone walks in to say they want a touch-up because they smudged their nails while they were still wet. This doesn't have to happen, since The Upper Hand lets you stay with your nails under the dryer for as long as you want. (I think I've dried my nails for a half hour before!) But it happens, and when it does, someone always jumps up to help the person who walked in requesting a touch-up. Also, they make everyone use their hand sanitizer first thing when they walk in, and they have "clean" and "used" bins for their pens, so you can put your pen in the "used" bin after signing in and no one has to share a pen with you. They strictly enforce the hand sanitizer and that everyone--staff and guests--wears a mask. They also have glass separating you from the people working on you while they are working. And the staff members wear gloves. All of this makes me feel really safe going in there. Finally, they are right in the commercial center of Noe Valley, on 24th Street, so I love going there on Saturdays and shopping on the block afterward. They are such a gem in the community. read more

I am just in love with my little Christmas gel nail designs! I have never done designs before, and I am totally blown away by the skill of the technician (I think her name was Tao?). Staff were incredibly focused, detail oriented, and kind to boot :-) Plus the salon is very calm and comfortable. read more

The Upper Hand - Gel nail with design - Nail Salons Near Me - San Francisco, California

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3.5 stars. The good: Meticulous attention to detail - I literally was there for 2 hours to get my mani-pedi done. Phenomenal work around the cuticles. The bad: Because she tried to achieve the perfect coating, five layers of gel nail polish were applied. And the gel manicure started cracking and peeling after 10 days on a couple of fingers. read more

I would give this place ALL the stars if I could - isn't that what everyone says when a place is THE best? Well, The Upper Hand really is. I've been a client of Ann's since Winter 2016 and I can honestly say that I hope I never have to go anywhere else. The gel manicure lasts three weeks easy. . The gel manicure consists of Ann treating you to your choice or water or tea and a snack (which can vary from fruit to chocolate or something else little and sweet). You get a lavender neck pillow and you can just relaaaaaaax. Ann or her lovely co-workers are always thorough and diligent with filing, cutting, shaping and cleaning your fingernails to perfection. Once the manicure is over, SURPRISE, it's not! You'll get an awesome hand, arm and neck massage with warm lotion to top it all off. All of this, for $35 + tip. WHAT. I love this place and hope it stays around FOREVER. read more

The Upper Hand - Nail Salons Near Me - San Francisco, California

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These ladies were great. They were able to fit me in last minute as a walk-in. They did a great job with my gel manicure and pedicure. One of my nails had ripped off earlier this week and they were able to add a tip on perfectly. I will definitely be coming back. read more

The Upper Hand - Nail Salons Near Me - San Francisco, California

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I had such a nice experience here at Upper Hand, I don't normally leave comments but I'm more than happy to share this one for them. Service is not rushed (unlike some of the experience I had with the the other nail salon down the road), everything is just done with precision and care. Ladies here are also just super friendly. read more

The Upper Hand - Nail Salons Near Me - San Francisco, California

Completely overpriced salon that is not honest. I got my gel manicure from another salon removed, a quick file and hand massage for $38 !!! For no new polish! This is ridiculous for the amount of work and time required. There was still dirt under 3 fingernails. I will not be coming back here for such outrageous prices that prey on Noe Valley. read more

The ladies here were super nice and stayed late when we arrived a little later than our appt time! I didn't realize how long dip nails take and even though we were there late they still took their time and did beautiful designs for us. Will definitely be going back some point! read more

The Upper Hand - Dip nails with daisy art - Nail Salons Near Me - San Francisco, California

All the ladies here are fantastic! After moving here and trying almost all the nail salons in the area, I am now a regular customer of The Upper Hand. Anne does a fantastic dip manicure: she is skilled, attentive, and super pleasant to chat with. My natural length nails are finally long and look better than ever! read more

The Upper Hand - Dip manicure from Anne. - Nail Salons Near Me - San Francisco, California

Tried this spot out on a whim because it was near another appointment I had in Noe and I was not disappointed! I asked if they could get me in and out in 1 hour and they made it happen. I was really appreciative of the sense of efficiency in getting done on time and not making me late to my next appointment. They don't have traditional soaking tubs / chairs for the pedicure but I didn't mind. They brought me a warm neck wrap and did a fantastic job with my mani/pedi. I'll definitely be back. :) read more

The Upper Hand - Gel Manicure - Nail Salons Near Me - San Francisco, California

Nicked twice and now I'm worried about an infection on my nail. Got home and the finger is swollen, red and likely infected. Save your money and go somewhere where you will be treated by a technician who is careful and mindful. I did not pay $120 to be in pain and at risk of infection. read more

I loved my experience here. I got a gel mani, a nice heating pad for my shoulders, and a good hand massage. However, I wasn't expecting to pay as much as I did. This was definitely a splurge. read more

Obsessed with the amazing nail art Anne did for me! They were super busy when we walked in (had some last minute call outs - super understandable in these crazy times!) but she still found the time somehow to replicate the design I wanted with all its many colors! We'll definitely be back read more

The Upper Hand - Custom nail art by Anne - Nail Salons Near Me - San Francisco, California

I absolutely love coming to the upper hand! It really is a spa experience. Their colour selection is great, highly recommended! I've been here probably 6 or 7 times since I moved to the neighbourhood and have always walked away with fabulous nails. read more

The Upper Hand - Pink manicure - Nail Salons Near Me - San Francisco, California

I had been to the Upper Hand a few times for regular mani/pedis but I was looking for something specific in preparation for a party I was throwing. Everyone was patient and creative and I am in love with the results! Look at these fall themed nails! I'll definitely be back with all my nail art needs, as well as for standard services. read more

The Upper Hand - Fall themed nail art - Nail Salons Near Me - San Francisco, California

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Wonderful service, detail oriented and looking forward to my next visit there! I received a pedi and dip mani.

Top quality job! The nail cut is exactly the shape & length I wanted. The cuticle trimming was also pretty top notch because I didn't have to struggle with hangnails: Almost none at all! The last place I went to however, caused hangnails right off the batch, then it progressively got worst. Thank you Upper Hand for fixing the precious bad job done! Also you won't regret having a nice, warm shoulder pillar, fruit plate, and lemon-water either! -1 unfortunately I found a polish spot on my dress! If you've done gel/shellac, you'd know that it's all dried on so there shouldn't be any chance of smudging. And if you look at the picture, it definitely doesn't look like some kind of smear. They did a great job, but the stain has been a pain. read more

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Wonderful experience! Ann was amazing and really took her time making my nails look perfect. I am so excited I just found my new salon! read more

The Upper Hand - Dip powder with gel accents - Nail Salons Near Me - San Francisco, California

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Joanne has exceptional attention to detail! She and the rest of the gals always take the time to make me feel welcome and very happy with my nails. Lots of color selection for regular, gel, and dip. Also these nails are 'Teflon tough'- they survive lots of gardening and landscaping (hence the scraped up hands). Love this place! read more

The Upper Hand - Mani- Dip + gel sparkle ombré - Nail Salons Near Me - San Francisco, California

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The Upper Hand has been my go-to salon for a few years, and I always have a great experience! It's a cute salon in Noe Valley, and it's tastefully decorated and clean. All of the nail technicians are so friendly and do a great job. The booking process online is very simple and convenient, and they honor appointment times. I started bringing my teen daughter with me recently, and she loves it as well! I am looking forward to my next mother-daughter appointment with Ann and her team! read more

Love my gel French manicure!! The Upper Hand was very clean and sanitized. They took my temperature and logged all of the clients. They also had plastic barriers between each guest. I will be back again! read more

The Upper Hand - French Gel Manicure - Nail Salons Near Me - San Francisco, California

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This place is amazing, Ann worked on my nails. She was extremely thorough plus very friendly! I 100% recommend booking an appt as soon as they open. read more

The Upper Hand - French tip gel nails! - Nail Salons Near Me - San Francisco, California

Like many others (I'm assuming), my nails we worn out, bedraggled, simply unkempt due to COVID and the closure of nail salons. Since services were announced to re-open, I've been on the search for a new salon because I recently moved to Noe Valley. I saw The Upper Hand was close by, and dropped in around 5:30 PM on a Tuesday. The salon looked relatively busy at the time, but Ann, the manager I think, quickly came over to help me. I was impressed right away by the COVID precautions they were taking. Every customer has to sanitize and get their temperature taken, and write down their contact info. All of the chairs have plastic shielding around them, and all of the technicians are wearing full PPE, including suits, gloves, masks, and face shields. Ann did an amazing job for my mani-pedi. The salon became pretty busy around 6 PM, so if you're looking to be one of the only people in the salon, I would recommend going between 10 AM to 4 PM. I loved the color options and the extra steps that they added to my mani-pedi (massage, steaming, moisturizing). I've seen some reviews talking about how they only treat regulars well, but I had a wonderful experience as a new client! I couldn't recommend this salon enough, and I would really urge everyone to come out and support them, as they were apparently closed for the past 6 months. read more

The best nail salon in the city!! Ann is so sweet! The place is clean, relaxing, and spacious. They give the BEST MASSAGES. I got a manicure and Ann massaged my entire arm, hands, and neck with warm lavender lotion. What a pleasant surprise! The actual pedi and gel manicure look great!! Also, I said my name when I walked in and Ann remembered it throughout my time there. It felt very personal. Highly recommended! read more

I've been going to The Upper Hand every two weeks for the past six months getting a pedicure and gel-mani. Its always a great experience! Ann and her team do a fantastic job and always go above and beyond to ensure my nails look great! read more

Manicures are great here but appoint times mean nothing. Expect to wait half an hour after your appointment time at least. Not the place to go if you have a schedule. read more

I had an amazing experience at the Upper Hand! All the staff is very nice, highly skilled and very meticulous. I had the full experience with mani, pedi and massage, totally recommend. I scratched one of my nails shortly after leaving, came back the next day just to get this finger done... they ended up redoing my mani entirely (at no cost !) because they wanted me to be 100% happy with it. So happy I found this place, will definitely come back. read more

One of the worst manicure I've gotten. The nails had strikes and the paint is super uneven. It also already chipped after merely 3 hours and I had waited over an hour before driving home. The entire manicure took over an hour to do, the manicurist was impossible to communicate with which is extremely frustrating. I had to ask her to re-shape, and repaint my nails multiple times and eventually just asked her to remove all the paint since it was such a horrible job and she still did not understand. Eventually I let her just finish the nails (with super uneven paint) and was still charged $25 for it. I would not go back there. read more

Super cute salon with a relaxing space! Very nice technicians and incredible pricing- I was shocked at how inexpensive the gel manicure was for the quality! Nail art is not their speciality, but they have the skills to execute more simple nail art designs (shapes, stripes, dots etc) really well. Not a ton of glitter colors but lovely selection of pinks, greens, blues etc. Also, the people were incredibly nice and the massage was DELIGHTFUL! Definitely recommend! read more

The Upper Hand - Nail Salons Near Me - San Francisco, California

They barely trimmed my nails. Didn't offer polish. Waste of $35. Perhaps due to Covid restrictions

Update: 5/18: update because Ann asked me To remove the picture. Although she said she asked her worker how many coats of paint, I counted three lol it's a he said she said story. Lol Yes, I'm sure you don't talk about customers. Likely story Cute place. Found on yelp obviously. I have been going to my nails ladies for at least over 10 years. Recently they hit a brick wall with the owner of the salon where they were doing business. Now, I've resorted to looking elsewhere until they get back up and running. This place is inviting, kinda. No nice greet from any of the ladies when I walked in. From the reviews I read, sounds like everyone else enjoyed tea, cookies and a warm neck pillow? I got offered none of the above. It just felt like a very awkward environment that I can't wait to bolt out of here. Sitting here now while getting my pedicure. I guess I've been spoiled with great service from my nail ladies, I don't know anything else and this is how you're supposed to get treated? Oh, the one lady who I will post a picture of, is pretty rude. She isn't the person doing my nails. She came over to start on the girls mani to my right. My shoes that are on the ground to my right, she just threw it over to move it. Not even nicely. Hello, Saint Laurent shoes don't just get thrown around by anyone but me. She could have nicely said she's going to move it or asked me to move it. I definitely came here out of desperation and definitely won't be back that's for sure. Also, feels like they are talking crap about me that's for sure. Especially when both of the nail ladies next to me turned to look at me. Very rude. Not sure why. Getting a pedi is supposed to be a relaxing experience. Nope. My nail person put three layers of color as opposed to the 2 then the clear coat. What is going on?? My right pinky toe, she didn't even bother to file it nicely which my ladies normally do. So you are able tell the difference of the right pinky toe shape from the left. Not evenly filed. I wanted to cry. oh and when you pay, the tip option starts at 20%? I usually tip $5, but this called for $5.60 which was not deserved. read more

I'll definitely be coming back. I got the Upper Hand manicure which comes with a scrub, a massage up to your upper arms, a hot stone massage up to your shoulders and neck and a paraffin wax. I showed them a picture of how I wanted my nails and it came out exactly how I wanted. They are so nice and sweet. The salon is very clean and the chairs are comfortable. read more

The Upper Hand - Nail Salons Near Me - San Francisco, California

This has been my favorite nail salon ever since I moved to SF 4 months ago. Cute and classy decor and the service is great. Receive a shoulder massage with my gel manicure and once my lady made me a custom color to fit what I was looking for. Can't beat this place, I wouldn't go to any other place in Noe. read more

The Upper Hand - Nail Salons Near Me - San Francisco, California

Update: updating it to 5 stars. Ann reached out to me and asked me to come in to fix the nails. I really appreciated her reaching out. She was very nice when I showed up and fixed all the nails. Old review: It's more expensive than other places on the street but they refused to fix my nail after I pointed out it was not fully painted (bottom section was not painted and second coat was not fully done) and massage was short. Check every nail if you want it to be fixed, they won't fix it after. Oh even though I made an appointment, they didn't take me for 15 minutes after my appointment time. read more

The Upper Hand - As you see second coat doesn't match first coat - Nail Salons Near Me - San Francisco, California