I had an amazing experience at Ink and Water! I had booked a tattoo online with Tara (@queenofhounds_) several months ago and had clear communication with her assistant when booking. Tara texted me the night before to go over my design and asked if there were any changes I wanted to make, sending pictures of both my reference and her design. I was tattooed during COVID restrictions (the day before closing for the November lockdown) and the receptionist was professional and their screening process was quick and efficient. All staff wore masks, artists were spaced out, and there was only one other client getting a tattoo, bringing the total number of people in the shop to 5. Tara was friendly, professional and printed out 4 different sized stencils. She was patient as I hemmed and hawed over half a centimeter of placement and explained everything as she did it. This wasn't my first tattoo, but I appreciated how thorough she was. The tattoo itself took maybe 15 minutes total and Tara and I chatted the entire time. I couldn't believe how quickly it went and how much I loved the final product. She took a few photos, which she immediately sent me, and went over aftercare instructions, which the shop also emailed to me. Overall, I would hands-down recommend Tara and Ink and Water when they re-open. They are friendly, welcoming, professional, and this shop is SPOTLESS read more

Ink & Water Tattoo - Tattoo Near Me - Toronto, Ontario

Would love to leave a more detailed review, but to be honest i didn't even get the tattoo. Despite paying a nonrefundable deposit, my artist, Michelle, sent me the "sketch" (a cheap looking design clearly knocked up in 10 minutes in photoshop), and ignored 99% of my requested revisions, only to just minimally tweak it slightly in photoshop again, before telling me that any more "revisions" would cost me $60 each- a process that could have gone on indefinitely, and would take me out of my price range. We sent each other multiple reference images, all of which were ignored, and looked nothing like her sketches, and it became clear the second i was forced to cancel that she never had any interest/intention of doing the tattoo, but was of course happy to take the $200+ deposit in exchange for the 15 minutes of work she put into her designs. A terrible experience for a first tattoo, and i felt incredibly ripped off. read more

My friends and I went here to get matching tattoos and our artist was Ola and she was very accommodating, not to mention very talented also! The price was decent - when I went, there was a Yelp special for $20 off your tattoo when you check in on Yelp. The place itself is simple yet modern! There are 2 levels for artists to work. They also have very gram-worthy areas such as their pink washroom, or the neon signs at their mini arcade. In the back area, there are 3 old arcade games for your entertainment. The service was excellent! You're immediately greeted by a receptionist where he/she will offer a drink (coffee/water/tea/pop) and candies. I would highly recommend this place and would visit again if I have another tattoo in mind! read more

My friend and I had an appointment at 5:30. We didn't start until 6:45 as they were running behind with another tattoo. (That's not the reason for my 4 stars. We all know different tattoos take up different amounts of time). Our tattoo artist was Giana. She was professional And worked with us to get exactly what we wanted. I will say that this shop is VERY clean. I felt comfortable being there and our tattoo came out well. read more

Ink & Water Tattoo - Matching travel tattoos done by Giana - Tattoo Near Me - Toronto, Ontario

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Whoever designed this place has an eye for the 'gram. There's so many cute corners to check out while you're getting poked by several inky needles. I was a bit disappointed with the receptionist especially after reading the reviews. I was barely greeted and not told anything about what was required of me and the drinks they had. My tattoo artist took care of that. I got a tattoo from Pam (@wildfirepunch on Instagram) and she was an absolute dream. Like seriously if I lived in Toronto I would be scheming about how we could hang out. She was consultative and extremely patient while I figured out what I should do. You can tell she's been doing custom work for a while because she has intense amount of patience. She was also very conversational about a variety of topics and kept me very comfortable as she gave me an extremely painful tattoo (I'm a wimp). We watched Youtube too and she even set up a cute little chair for me while I was on my stomach. Definitely a plus given the whole experience was 7.5 hours! The price was also very fair, only charging me for the hours she was in the chair tattooing. Location-wise, it's not in the best part of Toronto but I ended up going to The Four Seven afterwards for an amazing culinary and boozy experience. For Pam, she gets 5 stars but overall the place gets a 4 due to the service up front. Loved the $20 off Yelp coupon! read more

I've been coming to this shop pretty regularly since they opened in November. They've pretty much tattoo'd my whole leg. I would definitely recommend Ink & Water, these guys are insanely skilled. The shop space is immaculate; the staff are professional and friendly. Ink & Water has a roster of extremely talented artists that go above and beyond your average tattoo shop. I'd recommend Andrew for heavy black, dot work, and anything gnarly as fuck. Prairie is a single needle wizard, and Mike is in a league of his own. Inshaan is also dope as hell and highly skilled. I have a hard time selecting an artist when I visit the shop, they all do incredible work. read more

Ink & Water Tattoo - Andrew aka @Calm.l0ck - Tattoo Near Me - Toronto, Ontario

Pro: Love the Tattoo Con: Open room concept, my appointment was meant to be a 1 hour session, it took 2 hours BUT (the actual tattoo took 15 minutes) I love my tattoo but would never go back for many reasons. My tattoo placement was on my spine and I was asked to remove my shirt and the tattoo artist then left for 30 mins till my friend found her and retrieved her to complete the tattoo. It was my first tattoo and I was uncomfortable 1. removing my shirt in a room filled with people 2. Wondered the level of sanitation in the shop when all the beds were lined up two 3 feet from each other and 3. Was curious as to why my tattoo artist took 1.45 hours to prepare for a script tattoo that was my grandmothers handwriting and was printed from the email provided. I also was told to put these stickers that were tear drops ( the brand of the shop) over my nipples incase it made me feel more comfortable. I did not realize they were ACTUAL stickers. When I went to remove them, it hurt more than the tattoo. I also want to touch on the conversation between the tattoo artist and myself. While feeling uncomfortable in an open room with my shirt fully off for close to an hour (atlas 30 mins standing waiting for the artist to return), the artist asked me about the pain and when I responded saying it wasn't as bad as i thought it would be, she responded to me with " yeah, its usually worse for skinny girls with bonier backs" I caught eyes with the tattoo artist next to her and it was an uncomfortable exchange at best. I don't know much about tattoos or the process but when I discussed this situation with my friends who have many tattoos, I found commonality in how it was an unprofessional setting and an unprofessional delivery of the service. Lastly, my tattoo was 8 words that stretched half a ruler length down my back in dandy writing and costed between $180-$200 (I don't remember exactly but I paid a deposit of 80$ and I remember paying more than the deposit when I was leaving the shop). Again, I recognize this was my first experience with tattooing, but I left feeling anxious, discouraged and frustrated with the whole appointment. read more

I got a tattoo from Mr. Koo and we did it in two sessions the first one was good he was nice and did great detail work. The second session (a year later) I was able to get a last min spot that he had open at the end of the week. I jumped at the chance because he was booking 3 months in advance from this time. I went there and the ladies at the front were nice. He was not. Didn't talk to me barley looked at me, made me feel very uncomfortable. The thing that really pissed me off was the fact that he used two different styles. The first session he took his time and the detail was amazing. The second time he did the lazy way and it looks like shit. rushed it. When he was tattooing someone came by and said the food is here and he said ok put it in the back, 1 min later he was done and sent me on my way with a half ass tattoo. Unacceptable from the shops co-owner. read more

Got my tattoo done by Vic and she was amazing! We sat down and discussed what I wanted during the consultation, then I sent her more photos of ideas When I went in for the appointment we completed the plan and went forward with the tattoo Turned out great! read more

Seriously cannot recommend this place enough..I've had work done with Prairie (my first tattoo) and now most recently, had two fantastic pieces done by Andrew. I get so many compliments as it is very visible! Andrew, thanks for your patience and for making the appointment super enjoyable. You are the coooolest. Also to note.. my piece with Prairie is huge and it still looks incredible after so long. In terms of price...yes, relatively expensive but I take into consideration the time spent, the amount of detail that goes in to the drawings, chair time experience, etc etc. Wouldn't go anywhere else. read more

Do not be fooled by the fresh pieces Mr.Koo posts on his instagram page. This type of single needle work does not stay in the skin. Find an artist who will give you single needle pieces that don't fade in two weeks time and probably wont over charge you as well. Find someone who does do finger touch ups. Just my two cents. read more

Don't let the appearance of this tattoo studio fool you. Horrible horrible horrible customer service. I had a CONFIRMED consultation with Andrew and when I arrived the person at the front desk told me that Andrew was away in New York City for the next week? And the receptionist was extremely rude about it. I drove all the way from outside the city to downtown only to then find out that my CONFIRMED appointment artist wasn't even in Toronto. This was supposed to be for my first tattoo and the receptionist was unhelpful and intimidating. I made it clear that I had never gotten a tattoo before and he passive aggressively suggested I have a different artist (who I had never heard of) do it right then and there. Super unprofessional and unfriendly atmosphere. Definitely not getting my first, or any tattoo at Ink and Water. read more

I went into the Yonge St. Location as the web site encouraged walk ins. The discussed my tattoo design idea with the receptionist who was very friendly, helpful and suggested I speak to an artist named Sara who would be a good fit for what I had in mind. Sara was not able to come speak to me person as she was with a client. The receptionist gave me her email address. I attempted to contact her 3 separate times over the the next couple weeks yet never heard from Sara or anyone else from I&W to follow up. I called them back at one time to clarify that I had the correct email address and tried emailing again to no avail. I ended up going to Chronic Ink instead and was taken care of quite efficiently and promptly. I guess I&W didn't want my business. read more

I had an amazing experience getting my first tattoo today! My artist, Ola, was very kind and extremely talented. I have been intimidated by other tattoo shops in the past, but this shop had a very welcoming environment. It was also very clean, and it was very comforting to see one of the other tattoo artists literally scrubbing every surface in her area after her previous tattoo. This was the perfect place to go for my first tattoo, and I will definitely be coming back in the future! read more

Two friends and I were visiting Toronto and decided to get tattoos. We walked in at noon on Sunday, and were greeted by a lovely woman at their front desk. She got us started on consent forms and grabbed our artists, who were friendly and helpful as they looked at our designs and gave suggestions. They took our designs back, created their own sketches, and we were reading to get under the needle in about a half hour. The parlor is extremely unique, and very clean. They provide free coffee and candy, and have several arcade games set up in the back to play while you wait. I wish I lived in the area so I could get the rest of my pieces done here. read more

Love this place - beautiful vision, great quality tattoos. Vera has done amazing work on my very sensitive skin and everything looks great. Am already scheduled for my next two tattoos read more

I have NEVER had a worst customer service experience than with Michael Pecherle from Ink and Water Tattoo. Below is a timeline of all the bullshit from the last 2 months, right up until yesterday. I hate that I have to resort to write a bad review but the amount of last chances I've given Michael is unbelievable. - Appointment with Michael mid summer 2016 at The Shop Tattoo Co - the only bad thing was that he left for 15 mins to do a consultation about three quarters of the way into doing my tattoo, which was random. - October 15 - consultation at the shop tattoo, commuted for almost 2 hours to find the doors were locked with a note saying that the shop is closed today for a tattoo convention out of town - Sent Michael an email asking for an explanation - he apologized profusely, explaining that he is opening his own tattoo shop soon and he is very busy, and offered to do a phone consultation right away - we agreed on Saturday December 17 at 12pm, 2 months in advance, and he offered to do it for only $150 - As discussed, I sent him an email with reference photos - Nov 7 - almost 3 weeks later, replies to my email, calling me "Evan" (my name is literally in my email address, as well as at the end of all my emails), asking me to resend this email 1 week before the appointment. - Nov 17 - I get a call from Kevin asking me to reschedule because Michael wants to plan a flash day on Dec 17. Since I'm working 2 jobs, scheduling dentist appointments and job interviews as well as my wedding, I tell him no I can't reschedule. (Keep in mind that I made this appointment 2 months in advance, had to book a work day off, and this is all AFTER he had ditched my initial consultation appointment) - Nov 23 - Ink and Water post a few ads for a Flash Day on Dec 17 at 12pm, exactly on my tattoo date and time. I email Michael asking for a confirmation that I still have my appointment - no reply! - Nov 30 - I email Michael AGAIN, asking to confirm my appointment - no reply! - Later that day, I call him to confirm my appointment. He says he's been meaning to ask me if I can reschedule to 8am that same day, and I say fine. - Dec 10 - Michael texts me, telling me he has to reschedule my appointment, explaining that things happen unexpectedly and that they need more time to prepare for the flash day (that he CHOSE to organize, AFTER my appointment was scheduled). I reluctantly agree to move the tattoo to the next day, Sunday the 18th at 12pm, missing out on a Marlies game. - Dec 17 - I get a call from Drew, telling me that my tattoo appointment tomorrow is cancelled - I get this call not 15 hours before my appointment!!! He explains that Michael is overworked, has strep throat and will probably be dead tomorrow. Even if this is true, there are so many better ways to deal with this; Michael HIMSELF could have texted, emailed or called me, although I should know better than to expect that from him. The lack of respect I get from Michael is unacceptable - after being ditched at his old shop, numerous ignored emails, 2 calls, not even from him but from random people, to reschedule my appointment (for which I had to book time off from my second job) and a cancellation the night before my tattoo, I have run out of last chances for Michael. read more

Came here for my first ever tattoo - my friend followed Michael here from his previous shop, and I can see why. Beautiful, clean studio, with modern decor and the chillest vibe ever. I was a bit nervous for my first tattoo but the friendly staff completely put me at ease, and Mr. Koo is beyond talented (and fast!). Super pleased with how my ink came out, and will definitely be coming back for my next one. read more