One of the customers in front of us came out with a good looking spider web on their neck, definitely seemed like they're capable of good work. Lines looked good from what I could see. My wife and I pitched our idea to them about a matching tattoo for our honeymoon, and while we could see his point on why our original design wasn't plausible, my wife tried to put it in his court to make it work and they just seemed uninterested in our business. Then we asked for tattoos on our ring finger and were given kind of the same run around. Kind of disappointed they weren't interested in our business, not what I'm used to from good tattoo artists. read more

My girls and I had an impromptu trip to Empire last weekend and got piercings by Greg. He was so nice and professional, made us all at ease. Brian and Chris were amazing at keeping us laughing and making sure everything went smoothly. The are all gems and we will be back to visit soon. 10 out of 10! read more

Empire Tattoo - Piercing Near Me - Asheville, North Carolina

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Walked in for a quick tattoo in honor of my grandma. (she will punch me when she sees it! ) Was greeted with amazing customer service and Zeke was able to draw up exactly what I wanted! I highly recommend this place to anyone! (I did call before hand to make sure they were taking walk-ins) read more

Empire Tattoo - Piercing Near Me - Asheville, North Carolina

Amazing shop and people! Came in as a walk in as I was visiting Family in NC and the veterans cemetery where my grandfathers buried and i wanted to get a sentimental piece and Zeke took really good care of me and made my vision come to life perfectly! i seriously recommend going to see this shop and getting a tattoo. great vibes the whole time and great attention to detail. read more

I had an amazing time getting my first tattoo at Empire. Everyone was so nice. Sebastian did my tattoo and he did an amazing job and was also very nice! read more

Empire Tattoo - Piercing Near Me - Asheville, North Carolina

Very cool place! The people were really nice and were able to take us in as a walk in. My husband and I just got some simple line work done, but both of our artist were quick and precise! Definitely recommend this joint. read more

Empire Tattoo - Piercing Near Me - Asheville, North Carolina

WOW!! Absolutely loved Empire. We came in spur of the moment since we are visiting from out of town. Sebastian tattooed us, and his line work is incredible. The experience was great! We were in and out of there super fast. read more

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Sebastian was the best! We were walk ins - and he nailed my tattoo idea. Could not have been happier. read more

Empire Tattoo - Two of my favorite things- Sinatra and travel - Piercing Near Me - Asheville, North Carolina

Everyone is nice if you aren't a jerk. Appointment only right now so make sure you call ahead. Good piercing by Greg and solid tattoo by Alex Blackwell read more

Empire Tattoo - Piercing Near Me - Asheville, North Carolina

I dropped in for a new tattoo but after consulting with the artists we decided to make another appointment since it wouldn't be a flash tattoo. I decided to get my previous tat touched up and it ended up getting infected and looking like a blob compared to how it was originally. We discussed the scar tissue and the artist said everything was good. After a few days things didn't seem right and I contacted them to make sure it was healing okay, they assured me it was but the next day I had to go to urgent care for antibiotics. I cancelled my new tat appointment because I no longer trust this shop. I have since gotten a new tattoo that has healed perfectly. REGRET REGRET REGRET. read more

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Hello there. My names Carly Rae. Live in Asheville currently, from South Florida . I can say I received my most favorite tattoo from this place. The artistic ability my artist had was over the top! From the moment I walked in the front door I was treated like a queen. His name is Zeak. read more

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Came here in a spur of the moment. Just needed to get my conch jewelry changed out. They were incredibly speedy and nice! Really happy I popped in here read more

Spontaneously visited Asheville and decided to get tattoos and this was the BEST experience I have ever had with a tattoo shop (I've been to quite a few). So welcoming and kind, excited to tattoo walk ins, clean, and just so fun. Zeke and the rest of the team were absolutely incredible and made the whole experience memorable. I wish I lived in Asheville so I could come here all the time. read more

Empire Tattoo - Piercing Near Me - Asheville, North Carolina

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I just got my first tattoo done, which was the date my wife and I got married. Lauren did the tattoo and she did a wonderful job! Aftercare was covered super well and Lauren talked me through the process to make sure I was comfortable! read more

My husband and I have been coming to Empire for almost 3 years now. We travel 3.5 hours every 2 months to see our artists (Alex for me, Devin for him) and get work done. We enjoy literally every person there. We've gotten work done by artists that are no longer there and we've both gotten several piercings from Greg. Jon and Brien are hilarious and I enjoy their banter while I wait. The staff is all professional and continue exceeding our expectations. I've gotten 9 tattoos and had 12 sessions and I've never once felt uncomfortable or rushed. Truly a great crowd here and I look forward to seeing them in January. read more

Greg Phipps (professional piercer is a very patient and compassionate guy with a great sense of humor. I felt at ease during the entire process with him. He is definitely an expert at his work. I was very concerned about symmetry since my previous piercings done elsewhere were not placed how I had envisioned. Greg ensured everything was lined up to my liking and made what could have been a traumatizing experience, (nipple piecing) into a good memory. All the staff I interacted with at empire are good people and deserve your business. read more

Right when we got in, they had hand sanitizer available and directed us to a portion of the shop to sit that was distanced from other guests. All of the employees and guests were wearing masks which made us happy as well. Alex Blackwell did both mine and my friend's tattoos! We are so thrilled with how they turned out!! We sent in our design inspiration a few days before our appointment and we were so pleased with the clean lines and felt like they turned out exactly as we wanted. The pricing was very fair as well, our designs were pretty small so they charged super reasonably. The tattooing process was very quick and Alex checked in during the tattooing to make sure I wasn't in too much pain. Overall, we had an excellent experience at Empire Tattoo and with Alex in particular. Many thanks! read more

Empire Tattoo - My tattoo!! Very accurate to the inspiration I sent in. - Piercing Near Me - Asheville, North Carolina

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My friend recommended Greg to me for my vertical labret lip piercing a couple months ago. I had such a phenomenal experience. Greg is very knowledgeable about piercing but also amazing social skills with customers (he's hilarious!). Words cannot describe how fast he was able to calm me down when I was nervous! He worked fast and the piercing was pretty painless in my opinion. He told me what size jewelry he was putting into my body and gave me every answer I had questions for. I never want to go to anyone else for my piercing needs now!! read more

Empire Tattoo - Vertical labret piercing - Piercing Near Me - Asheville, North Carolina

I was generally bummed out last week after being denied service from a competing Asheville establishment for wanting body art that was "Irrelevant and too 90's." Thankfully, Greg and the staff at Empire restored my faith in humanity by welcoming me with open arms. They were kind, professional, and intuitive. Empire has a new lifelong customer. read more

All the staff here truly cares about their tattoos and putting out good work. From the Covid restrictions that they put in place, being appointment only, having hand sanitizer at the front door, requiring everyone to wear masks, and keeping the door locked shows how this staff goes above and beyond to help support the community. To the amazing tattoos that all of the artist put out. Everyone has exceptionally clean lines and super solid color. All of the artists are incredibly friendly and patient. They are willing to work with anyone on pricing and scheduling with work and other life factors. If you're in Asheville, North Carolina definitely give the staff at empire tattoo a phone call to book your appointment!! I would personally recommend Devon Burnett, he's tattooed three tattoos on me and I've had a comfortable, clean, and happy experience !! Definitely can't wait for my next tattoo there :) read more

Poor communication in trying to schedule an appointment . Inquired via email and had someone reach back to me timely then when they asked what I wanted and I sent pictures no one ever returned my email and after waiting a day I send another message for them to tell me all the spots were booked. I guess no one here checks their messages... so don't bother trying to schedule or send them anything read more

Word to the wise, get a price before they start your tattoo. I know that's pretty basic advice. We have gotten tattoos before and kind of had an idea how much this should cost. There were a total of 21 letters that took maybe 10 minutes. When we were told $250 we just looked at each other in disbelief. But we didn't discuss the price ahead of time, so my bad. We liked the work but now it's just going to be a reminder of how we were over charged. read more

Devin always does an exceptional job for a very fair price and everyone is cool. Check it out!

Greg is the man!! Pierced my septum as a walk-in on a busy Saturday and had a great attitude about it. Love my piercing + great experience.

I love love love empire. I just got my 3rd tattoo from them. They're super professional and friendly. I was nervous my first time because I was getting kinda frilly and froofroo tattoos and I was selfconscious about it but they were fantastic. No judgement. Devin is an incredible artist and I'm obsessed with my newest piece. He did an amazing job on the detail work and I'm so happy with it. I'm from Raleigh but you can bet your booty that I drove to Asheville to go to this place. 10/10 would recommend. read more

So to start off I have no problem with my tattoos, the two that I got are in fact pretty good and look like I wanted them to look like. The reason why I gave two stars is because I told the Artist what I wanted which was incredibly basic and simple (IR Flag and some lettering on my fingers) and I waited almost an hour and a half before he came out to get me for the tattoo. He charged me for the time that I was waiting in the fucking lobby. Both tattoos ended up taking about 2 hours. I was told that they charged 120 a hour so I was expecting to be charged closer to 280 tops. They ended up charging me 400 for my tattoos! All being done I could have gone somewhere else and gotten the exact same tattoos and quality of work for half the price. DO NOT GO HERE!!!! read more

Had an appointment with Greg to get 3 piercings just a couple weeks ago. Super nice guys, down to earth! Piercings are healing well and have had no issues. I would highly recommend them :) read more

Greg is honestly the best. I started going to him when I was 17. My mother took me there to get my belly button pierced. I've gone to him for multiple septum piercings, dimple piercing, Labret lip piercing and recently a side nose piercing. Every time I have gone it's better a great experience. Greg lightly jokes, is super chill and always makes me feel very at ease and confident in what he's doing. The guy I spoke with about setting up the appointment(believe his name is John) is friendly and helpful. 11 years later and I still highly recommending Greg to anyone of any age. Very professional. read more

Traveled from Central Florida for this! My girlfriend was recently tattooed by JD for her birthday and it was a fantastic experience all around. The store was clean, covid safe, and cool as hell. Would be willing to drive across several state lines again for another tattoo here. read more

I went here to get my industrial piercing. It was my first piercing (besides my lobes) and I was nervous but Greg was really cool. I was feeling dizzy and nauseous after, but they took good care of me. I'm really glad I chose this place & I highly recommend it if you're thinking about getting a piercing. read more

Empire Tattoo - Piercing Near Me - Asheville, North Carolina

First of all, this would be four and a half stars, if I could make it that way. I got a tattoo here while I was in town for the Mountain Oasis music festival. The staff here was very friendly, especially with having to deal with heavier than normal festival traffic. Not overly sarcastically friendly, just enough to make you feel welcome enough to want to spend money in the shop. my lady and I both got small tattoos, I originally just went in to accompany her, and decided to get one as well. We dropped by briefly the previous day, and they told us that we would probably be able to get in on the following day. We left without making appts, and were able to show up the next day and they were still able to accommodate us, and also remembered what each of us wanted. Luis Campos is the artist who did both my and my lady's ink, and he did both small tattoos in 15-20 minutes each. Both tats are very nice with strong, dark lines, and detailed exactly how each of us wanted. I required a small bit of redesign, and he went in the back and sketched it up again quick, with no attitude. My previous tattoos all hurt pretty badly, very few being done with professional grade guns, so this was a very pleasant experience in comparison, pain wise. No teeth clenching, no crazy chair gripping required, and radiohead was playing on the radio to soothe things out even more. (Although some hardcore jungle would have worked just as well for me!) the tattoo was reasonably priced, not super expensive, but not cheap either. Altogether I had a very positive experience at this shop and would most definitely go back, and plan to, to have Luis continue with my theme. I would highly recommend this shop, as long as you have a positive attitude, and leave your asshole pants at the door! I get the feeling you may be treated in the same way you present yourself upon entering. I went in with a positive attitude, therefore received a positive experience! The only reason this shop did not receive 5 stars is due to the fact that my lady seemed to have a different experience than I did, she seemed to be talked up more, and seemed to have a bit more of a fun time. This may be the artist making a female more comfortable, or the fact that I don't have a very warm appearance! Either way I'm very happy with my short visit at this establishment. read more

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We went to Asheville for the day and though I hadn't made an appointment, we decided to stop in Empire Tattoo to see about getting my daith re-pierced. Greg got it done almost immediately and did an awesome job. Just for kicks I asked if they had any tattoo openings. Surprisingly they fit me in because of a cancelation. Matt drew up the carnation I wanted and helped me decide on whether to get color or not as well as the right size for my forearm. He was nice, proficient, and took his time to make sure it was perfect. The final result was a beautiful tattoo that will always make me think of my daughter. It is exactly what I wanted and I wouldn't change a thing. The shop is very clean and open but the tattoo rooms give nice privacy if that's what you're looking for. It's also conveniently located right in the heart of downtown Asheville. We will definitely not go anywhere else for any other tattoos. read more

Empire Tattoo - Watercolor carnation on my forearm - Piercing Near Me - Asheville, North Carolina

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After visiting Asheville for the first time, I really enjoyed being in the city and felt like it was the right place to get my second tattoo, which I had wanted for the past 15 years: a matryoshka (Russian nesting doll) with my mother's face, with a cat next to her. I walked in on a Monday at 2:30 PM without an appointment and met with Isaiah, who was open to my custom tattoo request. Isaiah was incredibly flexible and patient with me, as I, at the last-minute, requested for him to re-draw the cat completely from scratch, using a reference photo of my cat, Cloud, who was run over by a car several years ago. I got really emotional after he showed me his drawing of Cloud--it was spot-on! Isaiah is incredibly proficient in traditional and Japanese tattoo styles and you can tell that he is deeply devoted to his craft, as well as an extremely kind and thoughtful artist. Highly recommend Empire! read more

Empire Tattoo - Cat and momtryoshka - Piercing Near Me - Asheville, North Carolina

The people that work here are super nice, including the piercer, Greg. I had an issue with one of the piercings that I purchased. It just didn't look right on me, so they gave me a replacement for free. That's amazing customer service. They also have a huge selection of nose piercings, including the Fleur de Lis. They also close at 8pm. So this isn't one of those late night places where people stumble into. read more

I stopped in to get new jewelry and everyone in the shop was kind and professional, from the person who greeted me at the counter to the piercer who helped me. Greg helped me select the right jewelry for my piercings and put the new jewelry in quickly and comfortably. I appreciated Greg's knowledge, experience, patience, and kindness. I'll be back! read more

Very clean shop with a nice staff! I take first impressions very seriously. They were friendly on the phone and in person. I have been to a number of shops who's staff had gruff, very short attitudes, which is a total turn off. I want my artist to be friendly and positive, and Empire met my expectations. Thanks Isaiah! read more

Only open until eight in the evening now.... caught us but surprise. I'm giving five stars because they handled it well and I've gotten done there before that was awesome! read more

Disclaimer: I was a tattoo virgin when I walked into Empire, so I have no basis of comparison. But as a first-timer, I couldn't give them a higher recommendation. They were patient with my questions, really listened to my ideas, and were very honest and thorough about what to expect and what NOT to expect. They didn't coddle or patronize me, but they were very professional and made me feel comfortable and confident about my decision. From the moment I pussyfooted in there, nervous as a virgin bride, to the moment I sashayed out feeling like a Zen Badass, I felt like I was in good hands. My tattoo is healing well and I am absolutely thrilled with the way it looks. Randy was my artist and it's like he read my mind. He listened attentively to my ramblings and created something that is even more beautiful and meaningful than I imagined. If you're feeling inspired, if it feels right, go get inked at Empire. Ask for Randy, and tell him the Girl With the Seahorse Tattoo sent you! read more

This place was meh. This was my first tattoo and I was obviously nervous. The southern boy who worked up front was EXTREMELY nice but the artist, Luis, was rude and pretentious. He refused to do a tattoo for me in pale pink, brown, grey or white because it wouldn't age well, so I got red. I later found out from another tattoo artist that those colors age fine, like all tattoos need to be retouched over time but it's a tattoo-snob thing that if you're gonna commit to a tattoo, do it DARK. Cool. So he was pretentious, acted annoyed about my questions, and yes, I'm skinny and got a tattoo on my ribs so I cried, and he acted annoyed. The tattoo itself looks fine-ish, people say it looks like a doodle that I did (I have a tremor in both hands so that's really not a compliment). My original tattoo design was bigger but last minute I decided to only get half of the image done but I was charged the full price for a 3/4 in tattoo versus a 1.5 in one. He also INSISTED that I pay before even going back, as though if I backed out I would allow their establishment to keep my money. Yeah right, I'm an attorney, I know better than that. I wish the guy up front had done it or someone else. I get that Luis is like, totally an artist maaaaannnn, he can't be bogged down by a non-tattooed loser who wants something small and hidden because I'm not coool maaaan. Whatever. Save your money and time and go somewhere else, Forever Tattoo is good from what I have heard. read more

I've gotten 2 tattoos and multiple piercings done at Empire! The piercings went smoothly and I was given all of the necessary care information. The first tattoo I got done at Empire was very simple. Regardless, the artist did exactly what I wanted and the price was excellent! The second tattoo I got at Empire was much more complex and I gave the artist a lot more freedom. HE DID AN AMAZING JOB and there is no way I could be happier with it than I already am! In short, the people are awesome, extremely talented, and they really give you what you want! Wish I could give 6 stars! read more