Ask for John Cole, hands down the best artist I've met. John did my 5th tattoo last spring when I was in Tampa, a crisp custom stingray, and I went to see him for my seventh, a custom bluebonnet, when I was back in town. John wouldn't start the drawing until he found large, detailed images which depicted the bluebonnet in various stages of bloom, so he work would be accurate. Other artists might have settled with approximating the flower, but John wanted to see the composition of petals and at what stage in bloom the flower displayed white and pink. A bit Discovery Channel esque and totally worth it. Once we had the basics done, my friend and I grabbed dinner while John finished the sketches. We did the same design but at different scales and places. Thank God she went first, so I could see her gorgeous tattoo before I got started. My tattoo took longer than I expected, and I hit my wimp out point. John was amazingly patient and professional, letting me take breaks when needed. I haven't had to stop a tattoo before and he was very kind. End result is AMAZING. Like really amazing. I'm glad I sucked it up and I'm coming back for another one next time I visit. You won't get a better tattoo or experience in Tampa and I'll cross the country to come back. read more

Bay City Tattoos - Outline for custom bluebonnet tattoo, and then final product (picture from next morning). - Tattoo Near Me - Lutz, Florida

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Second tattoo from this establishment that the Queen Bee has been using for years. Jeff the owner of the place is a no nonsense guy who won't BS you and doesn't take short cuts. The missus won't go anywhere else and I can see why. She won't let anyone else but Jeff work on her either. Period. There are all kinds of designs hanging on the walls and in poster boards near the windows. Plenty of design books and body piercing jewelry in showcases also. Showroom is downstairs and the studio itself is upstairs in an old, raggedy building that's probably stood over 100 years in Ybor City. I don't like this neighborhood at all, but seeing Jeff is well worth the trip so long as it's still bright out. As I stated, studio is upstairs and is quite sanitary, clean and squared away. Lots more designs and pics up there as well. Jeff definitely takes his time and does stuff the right way. You cannot be drunk, zonked or stoned and expect ink here; he won't risk his craft for an idiot. He and the staff definitely view this as art as well as business. Most of the Queen Bee's work isn't from a design book but rather original. Mine is sort of in between the two but either way, they do it all here, as well as permanent makeup. Jeff certainly knows what he is doing and could probably get away with making more than he does, but he has a loyal following so why ruin a good thing? I love seeing the little guys of life do well! read more

Jeff did a cover up tattoo for me. It is amazing. I showed him what I wanted he made my tattoo better than that. Thanks much. read more

Bay City Tattoos - Tattoo Near Me - Lutz, Florida

I got a tattoo and a piercing here and to say the least they were amazing. As soon as I stepped foot in this shop I was greeted by the most kind person Kat, she was very good with explaining everything we needed to know about from piercings to tattoos. I felt very comfortable and very welcomed by the whole staff. No one was rude. When it came time to get my tattoo done the artist Mike worked with me to stay in my price range, he even stayed under it, and gave me a bigger size on my piece then even expected. This is my 5th tattoo and it has got to be the best one I have on my body now. It's so clean and nicely done, at this place you don't need to give up quality to get a better price that suits you. Overall my experience here was amazing and I recommend this place to anyone looking for new ink on there body or a new piercing, this is the best staff i've encountered in a while. read more

Bay City Tattoos - Tattoo Near Me - Lutz, Florida

Piercing time !!! The guys were super friendly. My friend was very nervous in getting her nose pierced, but they made her feel super comfortable. She decided to finally get it pierced and it was literally a 5 mins thing and we were out and about! read more

Bay City Tattoos - Jeff pierced my friends nose, awesome job. Friendly and really quick. - Tattoo Near Me - Lutz, Florida

Worst place to get a tattoo or piercing. Been to many tattoo places and this one is by far the most ratchet. The staff is also racist. Went in with my black friend and they were super rude to her. They over charged her and claim they have issued a refund, but none has been given since March 29!!! We have attempted to call and contact the owner or management staff since then, but have been given the run around. During my last conversation with "the front desk guy" as he would call himself when asked for his name, I was told the owner Jeffrey Zozo would get back to me regarding this since they had done what they could to issue the refund on their end. Front Desk Guy also stated that is what appears on his license and birth certificate. Jeff, we have been trying to contact you through your staff since first week of April. My friend also spoke with you over the phone back in April. It wasn't until I left this review that you decided to "address" this issue. Seems like you need to train your staff ( specially Front Desk Guy) on customer service. Maybe next time you guys can try addressing issues like this BEFORE the person leaves a review. Judging by the other negative reviews, I see I'm not the first to have an issue IGNORED until a review is posted.... Update 5/23/19 Since posting this review, the owner Jeff has refunded my friend the $70 owed for services not rendered. He has been very apologetic for the lack of customer service and professionalism from his staff during the past month and a half. Jeff also assured my friend and I that he will be taking corrective measures with his staff. Due to the fact he had been in communication with my friend at the beginning of this issue back in March and did not bother to follow up or respond to any of our messages until this review was posted, I have decided to keep it up. However, I will change it from a one star to a two star since he has been so apologetic and refunded her money read more

Gabe was awesome, and he did a great job on my tattoo !!! Prices were also very reasonable without sacrificing quality. Everyone there just seemed super friendly and chill. I would recommend Bay City !!! read more

Bay City Tattoos - Tattoo Near Me - Lutz, Florida

I love both of my tattoos they were my first ones and I absolutely love how they came out everyone in there is super nice I had a really weird font and they were able to recreate exactly what I was looking for I'm from new York and I'm on vacation for spring break and I highly recommend this place read more

Bay City Tattoos - Abd the exact font I wanted on my arm - Tattoo Near Me - Lutz, Florida

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We stopped at three tatt shops. This was our third stop and it felt right! We were a group of 6 and Jak was awesome. Cool ass dude, cracked some jokes and was all around laid back as we were. Excellent craftsmanship, professional about his work. We were all stoked about our tatts! Thanks Jak!!! Do yourself a favor and stop in! read more

We were in town on vacation and wanted to take my newly 18 year old brother in law for his first tattoo. We had the pleasure of working with Jak. He was willing to work with us on designs and my husband and I also ended up getting some work done. We definitely will be back for more when we come back to Tampa. read more

Great service and great work! Not a single negative thing to say about this place. The price is right and it's extremely clean! read more

Bay City Tattoos - Tattoo Near Me - Lutz, Florida

Love everyone working there! Great experience with Jeff , very flexible with pricing and he's willing to go the extra mile without even asking! I love how he did my feet tattoos and appreciate the detail he took the time to do! Everyone else working there was so nice to talk to and funny as well I wish I could hang out with them, don't be afraid to have conversations with them! Very clean establishment and would recommend to anyone looking for a tattoo, come here !!!!! read more

Bay City Tattoos - Tattoo Near Me - Lutz, Florida

Came here without an appointment and was seen right away, John gave me my first tattoo of a simple Aries constellation. Very happy with it, thanks John! read more

Bay City Tattoos - Tattoo Near Me - Lutz, Florida

This place is awesome, and everyone is really nice. It's very clean. I just wish the upstairs was bigger for the tattoo artist to work in or more than just that one room. I love Danae work so I went to Ybor just to get tattoo from her. If you're looking for someone to your tattoos then go to her because she is awesome. I love when she does my tattoos, they come out exactly how I want them. read more

Bay City Tattoos - Created by Danae - Tattoo Near Me - Lutz, Florida

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Our experience here started off really strong but became disappointing. Me and my husband went in and talked with Jak for about 30-35 minutes discussing tattoo designs and ideas. We scheduled an appointment to get them done, Jak got my husband's email and told us he'd draw something up and send it to him but a week later and he still hasn't heard back from him. I was told to send Jak photos of what I wanted him to draw up and he responded the morning of our appointment date saying he was ill and asked to reschedule to that weekend. I said of course and asked if he'd be available Sunday morning and he never responded again. I sent a follow-up if he was still doing our tattoos and I'm still waiting for a response to that email too. We were so hopeful about getting our tattoos and were disappointed multiple times by this place. read more

Gabe did awesome work . I had an entire black cover. Came out amazing. Worked with my schedule and was very friendly. I highly recommend.

I've lost count now on my visits, it's cool hang and GREAT work by Jeff. Traveling the country this is the Best Shop around

Great Tattoo shop. People there are cool and not rude at all. I've told multiple friends of this spot & they all enjoyed coming here. Line work is great and the tattoos come out phenomenal read more

Bay City provided the best service! They were very nice, friendly, helpful and reasonable. Mike took very good care of me. I showed him the work that I wanted done and he made a few suggestions and now I have a beautiful tattoo. Thanks Mike. You're the BEST! read more

Unfortunately we had a very bad experience tonight with the staff. First we had to wait about 10 minutes for staff to help us out when no one was there. We had no idea the guy sitting in one of the chairs for customers was one of the staff until another member of the staff came from downstairs to help us. Second, we asked to look at dermal tops. When we asked if it fits our post all we were told was we had to purchase it to see if it fit. And that we couldn't return it if it didn't. How does that work? In addition we got to witness the same staff member belittle a tattoo customer who simply wanted to pay for their tattoo in advance. We basically felt completely unwanted as a customer today. So much for even considering them for our future tattoo work. That's gone for sure which would have been my sleeve and full back. Hopefully the attitude will change for those they are coming in in the future. We can't recommend or have no plans on coming back. read more

This place is a joke . You come in and the guy doesn't want to work anything with you with pricing or ideas . Never again

On March 29, 2019 my daughter and I flew to Tampa in search for a talented tattoo artist, after visiting a shop called " Atomic" locates in Ybor city and experiencing the most unprofessional customer service we decided to seek services elsewhere... a few doors down we came across Bay City Tattoos.... one staff member had the mean grill on, didn't greet us just stared ... the cashier whom we later found out was the owner was friendly but mainly to my Hispanic brother. I requested two tattoos ( two names) one nose piercing for my daughter - and was told the price was $105 ... which was a great price to me. So I provide my credit card, the transaction was denied , the cashier attempted again and that too was denied , so I called my bank to have them release the fraud alert, unbeknown to me the first time my card was swiped he charged me $145 the second swipe was for $70 (neither went through) on the third swipe after speaking with the bank I was under the impression I was charged $105. I later came back and said I will also get a tattoo ( 2 names and two nose piercings , which was $35 a piece totaling $140 , when I went to get the nose piercing the staff member told me he didn't feel comfortable doing it ( this is after i already paid) he suggested I get my money back. He then completed the two tattoos , although he did state he didn't want to do what I asked. After the service was completed , I went back to get my refund for the two nose piercings I didn't receive , I was issued a refund receipt immediately however, to date (5/23/19)I have not received the refund. I have called SEVERAL times, as well as spoke to the owner Jeff who told me refunds take up to 6 ( SIX) weeks !! I've never heard of such a thing. He then told me to contact MY bank which is absurd since the transaction is coming from the merchants end. I've waited patiently for my money and still nothing .. I am writing to bring awareness to everyone about this shop .. BE AWARE OF FRAUD! Especially if you are a person of color. I will be writing BBB next and consumer affairs! Edit: since posting this review the owner has finally refunded me my money, he was also very apologetic. Although I will never go back there again for their services I am happy to have finally received my refund! read more

My bestie got her first tattoo yesterday! We walked in and shortly after we're greeted by the bro at the front desk. He quickly located her tattoo design and got the paper work started. Once the artist was ready, he took us upstairs where everything was extremely clean. Didn't remove any needles from the packaging until she was upstairs. It was very quick and easy. Definitely a win in our book. read more

With so many tattoo shops in Ybor city, I selected Bay City at random. Savannah was very sweet and very friendly. Jack (the artist) was very thorough with his experiences with finger tattoos (they fade). I was impressed enough with the staff to proceed. I am very pleased with the result: a small Purple Heart on my ring finger. read more

Bay City Tattoos - Jack at work. - Tattoo Near Me - Lutz, Florida

I love Bay City. Been here with a few friends who have had work done previously. I stopped in on a Thursday to get an autograph tattooed that I had received earlier in the evening. John was awesome, I was so incredibly happy with that tattoo I went back again for more ink. Definitely found my shop and will be back in the future! Always a pleasure. Thanks again! read more

My girlfriend and I booked an appointment to receive tattoos from John on a week night. He had many walk-in customers from the bars in the area but turned away everyone just because he wanted to get our work done that night due to us returning home from our vacation the following day. Kyle, the front desk representative is an awesome guy who we had many conversations with while waiting. This made me feel very comfortable in the whole process. We gave John a few ideas of what we wanted and WOW. He spent a couple of hours drawing and altering his work to give us exactly what we wanted on our skin. Due to us being picky about our tattoos, John stayed for two extra hours past closing time just to finish us up. I almost felt like a VIP member. John even gave me and my girlfriend a tremendously good price for the work we wanted, even after spending multiple hours drawing them up. At the end of the night my girlfriend and I were very pleased. I highly recommend this place if you want to have a good tattoo experience. read more

Bay City Tattoos - Tattoo Near Me - Lutz, Florida

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What a first rate experience! This is one of the best shops I've ever had the pleasure of getting poked at! Huge props out to Jeff the owner for the first rate experience in both professionalism and workmanship. I was greeted kindly and quickly when I arrived. We talked for a while about what I wanted done and he drew several specs and showed them to me before we settled on the final design. I am very happy with the result and will definitely be heading back there to get all of my future ink here in Tampa! read more

An excellent experience. After visiting most of the shops on 7th and looking at numerous portfolios, Jeff's portfolio had the qualities I was looking for. The end result was a carefully drawn tattoo with attention to artistically chosen color, detail and placement. In addition to the really well done tattoo, the shop had none of the off-putting superiority attitude of the neighboring shops. The young lady at the front desk was friendly, helpful and down-to-earth. read more

Bay City Tattoos - Bay City Tattoo, Jeff's work, love it! - Tattoo Near Me - Lutz, Florida

They were very professional and well priced. I had Jak, he was very lite handed and made great use of his time. He gave me his most professional opinion and made sure I loved it! read more

this was my first tattoo and i was super nervous and john not only did a great job but his humor was very comforting throughout the entire process! 10/10 reccommend! read more

Jak and Olmy are great artists, between my wife and I we have gotten 7 tattoos and a piercing from Bay City and plan on going back for more. I would recommend this place to anyone, whether it's your first time and you just want something small to if you want a big piece done. The prices are fair and people are awesome, even the people at the front desk (s/o to Raven for always being prepared and giving us candy). Thank you guys!! read more