Aloha Monkey

–OVERPRICED.
–It’s dumb that they don’t let a friend sit with you, especially since then I had to listen to rap music and the staff’s rudeness for 2+ hours.
–The artist wanted to change what my friend drew for me, the size, the location on my body, and then he randomly asked me what color he should fill in extra detailing that he added (probably to cover up a mistake he made). Not OK.
–At the end, he said ‘It kind of looks like a dog!’ … well, it wasn’t supposed to look like a dog.
It seems very clean (there, I said something nice:) but I could never recommend this shop, when there are so many fantastic places in Minneapolis & nearby.

This isn’t going to be a slam review, I would first like to say this is a very clean shop and all the instruments used were opened in front of me so cleanliness was not an issue at all. However, I went here to get my nipples pierced last week. The piercing itself was easy but after the fact I was pierced I was told they used the largest jewelry they had in the store. Unfortunately, the actual size I needed was a 14g that was 1″ long and they only had ¾″ or 1 ¼ inch long barbells. My left nipple ring started to embed into my skin and it became very irritated and painful. I went back to the shop a week after the initial piercings were done and got the 1 ¼ inch which was ridiculously too large put into my left nipple and was told «not to fuck with» the right nipple. So I walked out of the shop with a ring that was too large on one and too small on the other side (I paid 30 $ not including tip) but my left side felt 100x better with the larger jewelry even though my chest looked ridiculous having two very different size barbells in. The next morning I woke up to My RIGHT piercing embedded into my skin. I wasn’t about to go back to aloha money for the third time and pay another 30 $ for a ring that’s twice the size I had before. I ended up going to lucky Linda’s in shakopee. The balls were put on SO tightly by the first guy that it took at least a half hour to get them off and a lot of pressure and tugging came with that. My right nipple (the one that was embedded when I went in) actually started to bleed. But paid them 50 $ (including h2ocean spray) for finally giving me the correct size jewelry for both of my nipples. I would recommend going to lucky Linda’s over aloha any day. I love my new piercings (originally 120 $ not including tip) at aloha but I’m upset I had to spend an additional 30 $ for them to replace the one that THEY pierced with the wrong size and then another 50 $ to go somewhere else and have them fix my situation. Nice dude, clean shop, but save yourself the money and your time and go somewhere else like I should have in the first place.

If there was an option for no stars, that would be more appropriate for my exprience at aloha monkey. I went in to talk about making a future tattoo appointment only to be told that they only do walkins. Ok no problem, I come in as soon as they open on the day I wanted. I get there and the front desk guy is more cold than welcoming which I overlook thinking I must be paranoid. I don’t know what most people want when they get tattooed but I didn’t want something off their boards or portfolios, I had a very simple idea that I thought I explained well. I didn’t want a tattoo someone else had and thought how inspirational that someone else could draw this up for me. I thought wrong. Whoever was appointed to tattoo me didn’t even have the courtesy to introduce himself to me (the older I wish I could say gentleman… But man with long gray hair). As I tell this person what I want I couldn’t have felt more uncomfortable and out of place in my life. As he continued his rude demeanor as his rolled his eyes at me for the 3^rd time I decided I gotta be an idiot to give him or this shop a dime of my money. Buyer beware. There is a reason this place has terrible reviews… It deserves it. The part that pisses me off most is, is that what I wanted tattooed on me actually means a great deal to me and I stood there being judged as a middle aged bully sat there and rolled his eyes and scoffed at me. If you want to overpay, be treated like a number, and pick something off a wall of designs a million people have tattoos of this is definitely the place for you!

My husband and I got matching tattoos, left forearm in the middle of October. We went, and everyone was really nice and the shop was really clean. Price was 200 for ours, so a pretty pricey, but it wasn’t too bad. My husband’s tattoo only took about 10 minutes and turned out great. Mine however, didn’t turn out so well. I went before my husband, and mine took at least twice as long, and has quite a few noticeable flaws. They’re strictly outline tattoos, with no shading, so it’s very easy to see the discrepancies in the lines in mine. I’m not going to lie, i’m kind of disappointed at how mine turned out. Frog did great on my husbands, but not as well on mine. And they don’t let other people back there with you while you’re getting your tattoo (which was new for my husband, who’s had quite a few), and was sad for me, since it was my first tattoo. All the people were honestly great, everyone was really nice and friendly. I just am pretty disappointed that Frog didn’t do very well on my tattoo, when he clearly was capable of doing great as he did on my husband’s.

This is the best tattoo shop in Minnesota I’ve been getting tattooed there by josh palmer for like 2 years ! Am always blown awey with his work! His amazing the whole team is so friendly! I love this place!!! Want a good tattoo? Go there!!!

Great ink shop! Got my tattoo there and I love it I’m going back tomorrow to get my nose pierced. Gabe was a guest artist and he did a great job! Staff is friendly and laid back. My best friend got so many tattoos here and sent me their way, now I send you their way with love.^_^

These are some of the friendliest and most welcoming people I’ve ever found in a tattoo shop. My boyfriend has a few pieces by a few different artists here, and this is where I will be going from now on. I have had work done at 3 other shops in town, and nothing compares to the experience, cleanliness, and quality of work I’ve seen here. As far as price is concerned, I’m sure you can find something cheaper, but not for the quality you’re going to get here.

This is my second tattoo at Aloha Monkey. While they do a great job, their pricing is kind of high. I went in a few days after I got my tattoo because I wanted a few lines extended ¹⁄₈ of an inch and they have a shop minimum of $ 50. I though since I had just spent $ 150 for 30 minutes of work, that they would just do it for free. I guess not. In the future, I would probably go somewhere else that is cheaper as I have many friends with great tattoos who paid a lot less than I did for their tattoos.

By far the worst shop I’ve been to. And I’ve been to a lot of them. That’s not to say no one in this place is worth a damn. Matt, the piercer, kicks ass. (He’s the only reason for the second star… Apparently not all the tattooers suck, either, but I got some sketch work.) I hate it and that sucks because the tattoo itself has a lot of meaning to me.
I went in knowing what I wanted and how I wanted it. The person who tattooed me told me my font wasn’t possible cause I didn’t have a stencil for him. What the f*** kind of artist can’t draw something they are looking at?! (I had two pictures of the writing I wanted) Then, after I picked a different style with a downloadable font and brought it back on my laptop, he informed me they didn’t have wifi so I couldn’t print or send the image to him in the shop. WHAT? I had to go to a café with wifi to email him the effing image.
Finally, I get back to the shop and he’s received something to copy and just trace on my body (yeah, my dumb ass should have walked away) and then tells me I can’t curve it around the top of my foot. He says it should go along the bottom outside edge all straight. Funny thing is… I’ve seen what I wanted done before (again, should have walked out). Then he puts the stencil on *completely* crooked twice (no big deal, usually has to be re-​placed!). It’s not an incredibly awkward spot. Just some writing. Acts annoyed as hell when I ask him to straighten it. Sweet. Then makes the font super thick, telling me it won’t hold if he doesn’t. It looks like total shit. I’m having it covered.

I’ve had work done in 4 different states, 7 different shops and Aloha Monkey is as good as it gets. I recommend Josh Arment but everyone seems pretty talented and professional.

This is not going to be a slam review, however, more of a heads-​up to how these guys handle themselves with customers who receive a Gift Certificate. I received said GC for Xmas…
A couple years ago, I was lucky enough (or so I thought) to open a Special envelope with a $ 100 GC in it to Aloha Monkey, a Local Tattoo Shoppe. I was giddy with anticipation and already knew how I wanted to use the money… to touch up a previous and favorite tattoo that had a few spots of missing color that I wanted filled back in. I would have been an easy hundred bucks to them, but I guess they wanted to make more work for themselves.
So, I made the appointment and arrived at the shop to be ignored for several minutes when I arrived with my companion, so I started looking at flash. When I was acknowledged, they treated me as though I was an annoyance and not worth any effort. I felt put-​off, for lack of a better word. When I informed the guy that I had an appointment and a Gift Certificate, his face dropped from happy to uninterested, as though he had just been told that he won the lottery,… for losers.
Needless to say, as we got into the consult, he talked me OUT of having my tattoo touched up, which, frankly, would have been nothing but profit for them, since they didn’t even perform the tattoo in question, but then decided to add onto a tattoo I had behind my ear which I didn’t really want to have touched up. (Bear in mind, this was a special tattoo that every one of my cousins and I have, to commemorate our Irish Heritage and I didn’t want anything else done to it, but the Artist continued to insist he couldn’t do anything else. So I gave in.)
I just wanted my damned tattoo at this point.
So, I got the tattoo, at the artist’s insistance and added flames and colour to my tiny shamrock tattoo behind my ear and he did a pretty good job, however, I didn’t feel the work was worth $ 100, I have had tattoos done for much less that are much better than this one.
Anyways, needless to say, the lines on it are very blurry, meaning, he went too deep and held his wrist at the wrong angle, causing the ink to bleed under the skin.
I honestly think this guy was a new artist, maybe even an apprentice, because he had another artist breathing down his neck the whole time.
I feel like I deserved a seasoned artist and only because I had a gift certificate did I get passed off onto the newbie tattooist.
I was disappointed with my experience but aside from the blurry lines, my tattoo turned out alright, I suppose. I had definitely seen better, but I have to like it because it’s permanently placed on my body.
Someday, maybe I will get a tattoo that doesn’t have tons of mistakes.
Also, Perhaps in the future, Aloha Monkey’s staff will get some customer service skills.
A reminder to all Tattoo Artists, just because I came in with a Gift Certificate ($ 100, btw. PAID in CASH by my boyfriend), but I also had $ 50 in my wallet, which I would have generously tipped him, IF he had gone above and beyond, but now that guy will never get my business back and I will forever be «scarred» by my experience, literally and figuratively.
Fair Warning. I think these guys might really be untrained, poo-​flinging Monkeys.

I was 18 when I had my bellybutton pierced at Aloha Monkey. I wasn’t exactly used to be in tatoo parlors so I was relieved when I walked in to find the place decent! The staff were professional and very helpful in making me and my friend comfortable. Great experience at what is a great place!

Marx is, quite simply, the best tattoo artist in the business. We drove all the way from Chicago just to get tattooed by him.