You know how you can tell an establishment is going to be hit or miss from the moment you walk in?…read moreWell, San Tan Tattoo is IT and LIT!! I do not understand why they only have 1 review up (well, 2 now counting mine). This place is clean and welcoming. The tattoo artists are very professional and super friendly. There is ample parking in the small shopping center, but you won't see a huge sign on the outside. It's the one in the corner that says, " Tattoo" under the smoke shop sign. My sisters and I agreed on what I call a "solidarity" tattoo. If you have seen my first one and know the story behind it, this third one of mine is what I consider to be the "continuation," lol. The design is one I found from the good ole gram, and I've had it saved on my phone for the last 4 years now. It's not often that the 3 of us are all together these days, so we shared this bonding experience with Ashley's help. Ashley is our super cool and very talented tattoo artist. One of my sisters had reached out to her via Instagram. She was very responsive and answered all of our questions, and she was able to accommodate all of us on President's Day, when most tattoo shops were closed. Kudos for that alone! We walked in for our appointment and filled out the consent forms. Ashley then customized our tattoos to reflect our individual personalities. She didn't mind that we had a few more questions once we got there, and she even made a few tweaks to my younger sister's tattoo (she's very indecisive, lol) even at the last minute! They say you should choose something that means a lot to you and trust me when I say we did exactly that. We are all taking these to the grave! Ashley delivered everything we wanted, and we are all so ecstatic about our new ink! She nailed every detail down to the size and font of the letters and numbers. The letters and numbers are unique to us and tie us to our parents. It's a family thing with a little personal twist. YES, I sure did get what you see.. the YELP symbol, haha!! To protect their privacy, I won't post my sisters' tattoos, but I will post the inspo pic. When we were all done, we each received a post tattoo care kit. In it was an instruction sheet for aftercare and some candy. What a sweet gesture! We paid for the service and tipped Ashley accordingly for a phenomenal job. If you are searching for a legit ink spot within the Phoenix area, I very highly recommend San Tan Tattoo! Prices are very reasonable, and the quality is amazing. This shop has won us over, so don't be surprised if we end up here again at some point!

I got a double helix done by sara... she was so patient and informative. The top was a repierce and…read morewithin a couple days I have full movement in the piercing and little to no pain. She did warn me my bottom would give me more hassle. Which it has pain wise. But definitely not with bleeding, keloiding, bruising, swelling or pussing. I've had a lot of piercings in my past. Incorrect placements, bad transfers, low quality jewlery. None of which are an issue here! She is definitely my new artist for Arizona!

Smiley's was an amazing experience from start to finish!…read more My daughter and I had first scheduled a consultation. It was quick, easy and painless. That said, this shop can be booked out months in advance and if you request Smiley himself, you might be waiting up to a year! Smiley and his shop come highly certified from years of experience , to outstanding awards and achievements throughout the country and a social media following that even includes famous people. This is actually how we found him and then to realize he's in the same state was a no brainer! *Recommend: in choosing a qualified tattoo artist, we thoroughly researched Smiley's work online, found focusing on his stellar artistry, incredible style, consistency, attention to detail, expertise, etc. and after checking ALL these boxes, we knew his shop was absolutely the one for us! On the day to get officially inked we arrived on time. However, they had fallen behind due to an appointment running longer than it should. We were informed that our original tattoo artist wasn't going to be available to start with us for at-least another hour or so! We had already been patiently waiting way beyond our schedule time frame, but that ended up working to our advantage cause we turned out getting Smiley himself! He was able to do his magic, like it was nothing and had my daughter and I done within about an hour and a half for the BOTH of us! Stellar work, exactly what we wanted (to cherish) and we definitely knew we were the lucky ones that day because this literally "NEVER" happens here (as we were told) and to be so fortunate to have the owner himself do our work was incredible since Smiley is always requested and generally is booked out beyond belief as I had mentioned above. Truly the nicest guy!! This place got 5 Stars just for that alone! Note- They also offer professional piercings & jewelry selections. The hygiene practices and professionalism by the entire staff makes for a comfortable level of care whether for your tattoo or body piercing. The employees were great! Made us feel welcomed and valued. If you're in the market for a tattoo, don't think about where: Go here! We will absolutely be returning to have more work done in the future and would love to hit up one of Smiley's local competition shows too!

They took a three tattoo walk-in on a Saturday which is shocking for such a busy shop!! The vibe at…read moresmileys is chill but they def know what they're doing and have experience. My husband was lucky enough to get tatted by smiley himself and he did a good job at explaining that aftercare being that it was my husband's first tattoo experience. 10/10 would recommend for anyone who wants a tattoo around the east mesa area !!

The worst star tattoos ever and was charged 200 for a piece we hide on our arm because we r…read moreembarrased. The artist was rude as hell to the girl in front to. Made it very uncomfortable. Vibe was meh

Amy tattooed me today and she was amazing! Extremely detailed, professional, friendly and an…read moreexceptional artist. She far exceeded my expectations!! The owner, Thomas, is very friendly and just an all around nice guy! I sent him a message on Facebook Messenger and he responded very quickly. I sent him a photo of what I was thinking and he helped turned my vision (with Amy's help) into a spectacular outcome. He talked through everything with me and worked with me on my budget to give me exactly what I wanted!!! HIGHLY RECOMMEND!!!

I cannot say enough good things about Leilani and the incredible work she did on my tattoo. This…read morepiece was actually a cover-up, and I am absolutely blown away by how beautifully it turned out. You would never know there was another tattoo underneath it. Leilani took the time to create something that not only covered the old tattoo completely, but turned the entire area into a piece of art that I'm genuinely proud to show off. The black-and-gray detail, shading, buildings, streetlamp, and figure are amazing, and the red roses give the whole tattoo the perfect pop of color. There is so much detail throughout the piece, and everything flows together incredibly well. She was professional, talented, patient, and clearly cared about getting every part of the tattoo right. Cover-ups are not easy, and what she was able to do with mine exceeded my expectations by a mile. If you are looking for an artist--especially for a difficult cover-up--I would absolutely recommend Leilani. I couldn't be happier with the finished tattoo and will definitely be going back to her for future work. 5 stars without hesitation!

I just happen to stumble on this tattoo shop when looking for a helix piercing for my daughter…read more While there I learned met Patti who told me she does eyebrow "microblading" but with a tattoo pen and the traditional semi permanent dye. I needed an annual touchup so I decided to use her. As someone who has had micro blading done several times, I cannot even describe how much better Patti's method is than traditional microblading. There was no bleeding, no pain, no daily vaseline aftercare, and no scabbing in the eyebrows. Seriously impressed with how my eyebrows turned out and how much better this method is than traditional microblading. Oh, and her color mixing skills are impeccable because she's also a hairstylist and colorist So if you need your brows done, Patti is your girl!! plus, I was there with my teenage girls, and this tattoo parlor is actually beautifully decorated and family friendly, so I felt very comfortable with my teen girls there. Oh and my daughter's helix piercing was done so well and half the price of other piercing shops!!! Seriously, just go here for any service the provide!

I had a great experience getting a tattoo from Mani. He had a great drawing, reasonable price, and…read morewas very friendly. The tattoo parlor was very clean I had will definitely go back!

The owner is super chill and I enjoyed getting tatted here ! I usually don't write reviews but I'd…read morerecommend this place for sure.

This gentleman is a master of his craft! I have had two larger pieces done and they turned out…read moreamazing. This man can truly do it all from trash polka to my latest water color style. He works incredibly fast as well which is always a bonus when getting a tattoo :). Overall top level service.

I am not one to post any negative comments on Yelp. However, I had to do it today!!! I was so…read moreupset and angry that I had to say something to warn you all! If I could give negative stars, I would give them a million negative stars! As you know, there are many tattoo shops around. We stopped by this one. What a HUGE mistake!!! As soon as we walked in, we got the worst customer service EVER! My friend is a war veteran and has a PTSD service dog with him. He walked into the shop with his dog that has the PTSD service vest on. The guy looked us up and down and did not even greet us. He then looked at the dog and said with major attitude...and I quote..."You can't have a dog in here. I don't care if it is a service dog." Just like that! This is a business! Where is the customer service?!? I truly believe "it's not what you say, but it's how you say it!" He could have had 4 paying customers. After that HORRIBLE experience, we will NEVER, EVER, EVER walk in there again! I recommend that you don't either!

For (rain.storm.ink- Female.) tik tok reply. "I had a very…read moredisappointing experience with this artist. I reached out with a tattoo idea just as inspiration, with no ill intent. However, she accused me of being tied to the water crisis and condemned me for using an AI image. This was completely unprompted--after all, we all use AI-driven tools every day, from smartphones to social media, so singling me out was unjust. Without even allowing a conversation, I was blocked. I hope others stay cautious--while I'm sure she has a right to her stance, her reaction was unfair and contradictory, given that she uses AI tools too." It didn't have to be that specifically was just an idea for reference. My fault I didn't read her bio. But it ain't that serious. What she doing to save water and the environment I wonder?

Stopped in to get two piercings reinserted after the jewelry fell out... was in and out quickly,…read morevery friendly and professional, and prices were very affordable. Appreciated their service and will be back again soon!

I initially wasn't going to write a review, considering how combative the owner's replies were to…read morenegative feedback, but I feel it's necessary. I'll totally admit, I didn't do any in depth research into this place and just walked in. There were a lot of weird and creepy comments made throughout the whole process, but mainly the tattoo was just awful. He was extremely heavy handed and it hurt super bad. It was supposed to be an apple with shading and white stars, but it's literally just a blob with no shape and kind of looks like a bruise. The girl I went to fix my tattoo said she was actually fixing another tattoo from the same guy that did mine. Her tattoo was literally INFECTED. Don't think anyone will be butchered here anymore, as the business is closed now.

I got a piercing here and omg it was so uneven I asked them hey can you count to 3 to make me feel…read morecomfortable they just said be quiet and take it I got snakebites btw