In the nature of full disclosure, I am going to reveal that I actually told the owner of this Rockabilly Barber shop that I was going to "yelp" them. He didn't have a problem with it. I have not done "prior notice yelpings", but to be truthful, I am not going to write anything different than I would have written. So, there you go.
The review:
If you are like me when it comes to getting your hair cut, when you find a good barber or stylist or hair cutter or whatever cutter, you stick with them. I have friends that used to take trains and drive an hour or more to reach their hair cutter person because "they know how to cut my hair." Honestly, who knows? Only you. And honestly, Blaine "knows how to cut my hair." I found this barber when he was one of the managers at the original Northport shop. He opened his own shop in Stony Brook and I just kept traveling to my appointments there. It isn't too far, and I can get some shopping done for entertainment and to save the big gas bucks with a combo trip.
Oh, the hair. Yeah. Well, Blaine knows what he is doing. I call him the Jeet Kune Do of hair cutters. He can do it all, even though he may choose to focus on the barber style stuff. Really. Over the years in his shop, he told the story of his hairy life. His mother had a shop, he learned hair early, trained in classic schooling, and barbering. He has all the certificates and the hands. Hair is in his blood. The shop is wild. It is like a mix of the classic barber shop where you talk about things and the modern. Cutting hair with an edge. The music is cool. He has fun stuff on the walls, good magazines, location is awesome. Food places all around the little strip mall. Parking OK. The people there are nice and it is apparent that Blaine sets the tone and it all rolls the way he wants it. He picked great people with cool attitudes, which means, no attitudes. None that I can see. That makes a difference. So, like I noted, I follow the usual "he knows how to cut my hair" philosophy, I have only had Blaine cut my hair. I don't know how anyone else does. But, taking the extrapolation further- great hair cutter, great manager, cool shop, cool person, good attitudes... I don't think Blaine would put up with anything sub- par or crappy. Blaine is a cool guy, and friendly, but it is very clear that he is a professional and he does not countenance mediocre service.
Side note: I read somewhere that some people sour on their barbers because as people age, you have hair changes, greying, widow's peaks, thinning, etc. and that changes the way you get your hair cut. I joke with Blaine about this and he has performed mini consultations to plan how to work with these defects of nature which have come to my own scalp. That helps out a lot. Saves me some psychiatric visits. I have come to realize that the changes of my hair is not part of a nefarious plot from an alien life form aiming to implant some device inside my head through the changing landscape of my hair and scalp. What a great follicular epiphany.
I have seen many clients come in and come back and have their hair cuts performed by other employees. None have complained that I have seen. They seem darn happy. Though I have Blaine cut my hair, I actually may have someone else cut my hair someday. They also may "know how to cut my hair." Let me know. read more