I thought I had reviewed this place by now...
To be fair, I give my natural hair experience here a 2.5 (which I can't round up to 3 stars because I don't think "A-OK" is the right description). Here are the details...
Location
Good location. But you should know that it's in a residential area (and right across from a rec center) so finding street parking can be tough. Also, if I recall correctly, the address on this Yelp page is incorrect because it sends you to their old location from a few years ago. The salon has relocated another block or so up the street, closer to the public housing units. Just look for the freestanding brick building with that striped barbershop thing outside of it.
Ambiance
This is a barbershop and salon in one. I had misgivings about how that could possibly work, but it wasn't bad. The barbershop has its own small section (which is kind of sectioned off with a low wall, I think) at the front left of the place. The rest of the place is a traditional salon. The guys in the barber shop all seemed clean and respectable and didn't really interact with those in the salon. So it wasn't an uncomfortable experience in any way. What ended up bothering me more was the salon, which catered mainly to relaxed and weaved women. Having 10+ strangers staring at your hair with a look of surprise, shock, befuddlement, or any other emotion when you walk in is not the environment I'm looking for. But I might even have been willing to over look that if it weren't for...
Service
Each time I came I had an appointment that I had made weeks in advance. And each time I came it took FOREVER AND A DAY(!) to get my hair twisted. The stylist who did natural hair (Toisha, I think, but it's pronounced "Tasha") was very nice, but I didn't feel like my time was respected.
The first time I had an appointment for X time, but Toisha called and asked if I could come an hour later because she was running behind with a previous client. I appreciated the heads-up and didn't mind doing some shopping for an hour before I swung by. But even when I got there, I STILL had to wait a while (30 mins?) before I was shampooed. After that, she worked on two other clients before finally getting to me. I was not amused!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Thinking that might have just been a freak occurrence, I made another appointment a few weeks later. This time I called before leaving my house to ask whether I should come at my actual appointment time or come later because things were backed up. I was told to come later. I wait an hour and a half or so before going over, but it didn't really matter. Again, I sat around for 30-45 mins before getting brought to the shampoo bowl. (This time I had an inexperienced shampoo girl who wanted to comb through my kinks with a rattail comb. UMMMM - NO! I told her that she would need to use a wide-toothed comb and she told me that she would have to go ask Toisha about that. HUH?!?!?!? So she and Toisha talked about it, and Toisha confirmed that she could use the wider comb. ::sigh::) Anywho, I had an event to go to so I really had no choice but to wait around and get my hair twisted. Several hours later (I think I left there around 4 pm for my early morning appointment, if I remember correctly -- no lie!), I left convinced that this was indeed my last time at Another Level. Again, I don't have an issue with Toisha's work, but I just can't get with the spend-all-day-Saturday-in-the-hair-salon program.
It's a real shame though because this otherwise seems like a nice salon. People who knew each other were friendly and conversational with one another. It was clean. It's laid out well. And it doesn't involve me driving to DC. It doesn't cater to natural hair, but Toisha is skilled enough that I could have dealt with it. But, simply put, I don't have the kind of life that permits me to spend my one free day out of 60+ hour workweeks sitting in a salon chair. If I want to spend six hours doing my hair, I'll just do it myself! read more
