Blue Tattoo Cafe

Best tattoo shop ever!!! Love the place. Great, amazingly talented, professional, and clean artists. Love my new tattoo done by Blue. Definitely will be returning for future tattoos. Have me exactly what I wanted and added little touches to make it better and different. Love this place.

MUST READ THIS REVIEW FULLY! DON’T BE STUCK WITH LIFE-​LONG REGRET! I recently completed 8 honorable years in the U. S Army and have been rated 90% disabled due to my tours. I also recently had a bi-​lateral mastectomy due to breast cancer and have been going through numerous reconstructive surgeries to «put me back together». As a result, I was left with multiple scars. I contacted Blue Tattoo, at Blue Tattoo located in El Cajon, CA, to help me cover these scars. I met Blue (real name: Skylar Mason) June 29^th 2015 and explained that I was battling with depression, self-​consciousness issues, and that I have resorted to being a «home body» because I was so embarrassed about all my scars. I went on to inform him I took a year off work to deal with combat related issues along with recovering from my 6 surgeries, so didn’t have a lot of money. At first, Blue,(Skylar Mason) seemed sympathetic and was willing to help me and we verbally agreed he would charge me $ 100/​hr, with a max of $ 400 a month once that tattoo was started. I paid a $ 250 deposit June 29^th. Blue (Mason) kept rescheduling his appointments with me at the last minute and would even take days to reply to my texts. I finally saw the picture of the tattoo on Aug 11^th (original appointment time was set for 6pm, he texted at 4:30 moving it to 8pm). We agreed the tattooing would take place Aug 15^th@ 11am, I asked Blue if I could drink prior because I was going to be in a lot of pain and was battling depression. He stated «yeah, just be able to walk», he even said «bring a bottle and I’ll take some shots with you». Aug. 15^th Blue again changed the appointment time 12pm. Due to so many re-scheduling’s I moved the appointment to the evening to ponder his unprofessionalism. I arrived at 6:30pm at his shop inebriated (I also brought a bottle of Brandy with me in for us to share). Blue (Mason) went down to the store to get Jameson Liquor (he didn’t like Brandy) and proceeded to drink right before starting my tattoo. Blue (Mason) stopped tattooing at 9:35pm because I was very drunk (he even states in my texts «you were falling off the chair») and was in a lot of pain, he then tried to charge me $ 700 for the 3 hr session! I said «wait, I thought it was $ 100/​hr?» he then stated «oh, okay well let’s make it $ 450 for today». I paid $ 450 that night because I was too drunk to do the correct math for 3hrs X $ 100=$ 300, nor did I remember about my $ 250 deposit. Two days later, I tried contacting Blue about the money discrepancy, but I never got a return call nor a return text. Feeling as if I got scammed I called my sister for advice and she said she would be willing to call him (since she was the «calmer» one out of us concerning this issue). My sister brought up the issue that he should do the right thing and stick to his verbal contract he had with me, and she mentioned it would be messed up to scam a disabled veteran who was covered with cancer scars. Blue threatened my sister by saying he wasn’t going to give me my money back and that if I posted negative reviews «he would come to my house and fuck me up». My sister said she wanted to come to his shop to talk face to face instead of through the phone and he threatened her by stating «if you come to my shop, I’ll have someone waiting to beat you’re a**», she took this threat seriously and no longer wanted to meet with him. I also no longer felt safe returning to his shop and asked for my money back ($ 250 deposit + $ 150 that I was over-​charged on Aug 15^th) and he said he would only give me $ 200 under the basis that I wouldn’t tell anyone nor post negative things about him and that I had to sign a Non-​Disclosure Agreement. He also stated that he would not give me any of my deposit if I write any negative review (people who are honest, don’t need to make people sign contracts to keep their secrets). With all the suffering that I have already endured, I believe this is necessary to warn and hopefully prevent another permeant negative experience with Blue as I did. The law states if anyone is under the influence they cannot enter into a legal contract (I was under the influence, and have texts from him to prove it). The law also states that no services (such as tattooing) can be performed on anyone under the influence (which I was under the influence as well as Blue was). The contract was also voided when Blue (Mason) canceled his appointment with me the first time (and canceled numerous times thereafter) this even states this in Blue’s own contract. Blue has left me with a huge outline covering my entire chest which goes up to the neck, I’m out of my money and now no artist wants to fix his mistake. This is only adding to my depression and the struggles regarding cancer. He also has no sink in the shop to wash anyone’s hands (including his) and there are multiple rusty nails on the floor. I even managed to grab a picture of a roach while I was using the restroom.

I made an appointment to get a small tattoo today aat 10am. I get there about 10mins early and they’re closed it’s now 10:30am and no one has showed up. I called multiple times but their voicemail is full. I find it hard to believe that there are people out there who are actually getting tattoos from them because it seems like they blow off multiple customers.

I heard of Blue Tattoo Café through a Groupon I purchased ($ 20 for 20 minutes of tattooing). I had an idea for a small tattoo that I’d been meaning to get for a while, but I didn’t want to pay the usual $ 85+ shop minimum to get it done, so the Groupon was the perfect opportunity for me.
I was a little apprehensive about going to get the tattoo done though, since I’d read the varying Unilocal reviews for this place. I got myself all worked up thinking the redemption process would be difficult or that I would have to make multiple appointments to get a small single-​word tattoo done. I put it off and put it off and finally, the day before the Groupon expired, I called the shop, explained what I wanted, and made an appointment to come in that day. The guy on the phone (Tommy Chong) said I could come in whenever for the initial consultation, so I came in about half a hour after calling to show him what I wanted.
I showed him the word I wanted tattooed and the Groupon, and he said I could come in in a couple hours to actually have it done. I came back about 3 hours later, filled out the forms and had my ID copied, and went back into the clean back room for the tattooing. Tommy took extra time to make sure he had the placement and the angle aligned perfectly, which I really appreciated. He had a light, gentle, steady touch and the tattoo was so carefully applied that I barely felt anything, and this tattoo was on my upper rib cage so I was expecting the worst in terms of pain. There was no scraping and he tattooed the perfect depth so there was no blurring from going in too deep.
Bottom line, I was in and out of there in less than 15 minutes with a beautifully clean tattoo in the exact place I wanted it and with absolutely zero hassle. I had worried about redeeming the Groupon for nothing, because it ended up being a seamless experience and I love the end product. I would highly recommend Blue Tattoo Café and Tommy Chong, and if I decide to get another tattoo, Blue Tattoo will be the place. Thank you so much!

The artists were so professional and talented. Blue was so awesome even donated to the Semi colon project on our behalf. Would definitely go back for my next tat.

So to start off, I dont know why it has taken me a year and a half to write this. I thought of it and had to write somthing. I walked into the shop with a tattoo in mind, a quote. It was a short 11 word quote in small text. I asked the artist how much. He told me 400 which was crazy expensive I exclaimed. His responce «You can go across the street, they will f**k you up real good for $ 80» which was weird of him to say. Well I decided to to stay, accept the price, put down a deposit, and set up an appointment. On the day of my appointment, I arrived on time, a little early really. This is were I began to regret not going across the «street». The artist was late, a half hour late might add. Then finally he shows up, looking hungover, and really rude. I follow him in and take a seat. He looks at me and tells me he hasnt even drawn it up. WTF! Why the hell did I pay the deposit then! Im a very patiant person so I said ok. Okay, this is were I started to get frustrated. I waited a f**king hour and half in the waiting room before he showed up. He asked to follow him back to the tattoo room, were not being surpried anymore, he wasnt even set up. When he finally got set up, he asked me to set on the chair. Okay, okay, this is were I begin to get pissed. He receives a call, from his advertisement promoter! He then proceeded to talk with him for another half HOUR! SO all in all when he began my tattoo, it took him a mere 15 minutes to finish! Are you f**king serious! I paid this guy $ 400 to make me wait two and a half hours with 15 minutes of actual tattooing! Lastly, he fucked it up! I had a horrible experience and will never recommend this place to anyone. Thanks for reading.

Mason was awesome… couldn’t have asked for a better start to a badass tattoo/​cover up. Can’t wait for session #2 and my Husband is beside himself waiting to see what ingenious take on some classic Star Wars Mason will have for him… See you soon, Sir ;)

Well can’t say I’ve gotten a tattoo here because I never even got a reply back when I sent my idea over. Received one message from the shop asking what tattoo I wanted and after replying I received nothing back. Guess extra business isn’t needed. Good luck to ya!

My story begins august 4^th 2013
I participated in a promotion they were offering. If you brought in a backpack for a homeless teen, they would give you 1 and a half hr of tattoo work. Plus if you included various extras, you would recieve more time. The backpack was dropped off and I left my info with them.
September 26^th 2013
I called in to check on the status of my tattoo since I hadn’t heard from them and it was almost 2 months after dropping of my backpack,(which was one of the first there). They said not to worry, they were still doing those tattoos, but they seemed not to really care and didn’t offer to look up my paperwork. I figured I should hear back soon and left it at that.
November 13 2013
I call again and ask to speak to mason, when I do I am told that they tried to call me but had the wrong number. I leave my number and am promised a return call.
November 30 2013
Still not having received a call I decide to call again. Leave a message for mason.
December 5 2013
Call again and leave a message
December 13,2013
Not being able to contact mason I decide to go in and take advantage of the Friday the 13^th offer as well as talk in person with mason. He recognizes me and tells me that they had tried calling and had the wrong number, despite the fact that they had taken my number multiple times in the last few months prior. I get a tattoo and leave my information on my paperwork for that days tattoo.
January 13 2014
After giving them a month to call me I decide to call them. I speak to mason and express very politely some of my frustration with still jot having received the tattoo especially since I had told him in December that I needed to get it done before I move out of state. He said he was in the middle of a tattoo and gave me his cell number. He told me to text him and he’d call me back that day.
It is mid february, and over 6 months from when i dropped the backpack off and i still havent been contacted back or had the tattoo I’ve texted his cell number 4 times and have yet to have any kind of return call or text. They are disregarding me for whatever reason. They have displayed terrible service, extreme carelessness, disregard, and in my opinion a high level of dishonestly.
BE VERY CAREFUL IN DEALING WITH THESE GUYS! IF THEY PROMISE YOU ANYTHING, GET IT IN WRITING
That’s all I have to say, though I expect I may actually get a call from these guys now. Who knows?

Do not go here unless you know exactly what you want and you can deal with a lot of pain and waiting around

Great work done here, the tattoo turned out great. Went here on the recommendation of a friend who is getting his work done there. It was fast, clean and it looks great

A lot of my friends have received amazing tattoos from Tommy, so when I decided to get some work, I knew exactly who I wanted to go to. He’s so talented and really conscientious. No drilling! The best thing about Tommy is he really made sure I was getting exactly what I wanted. I can’t see going to anyone else for my tattoos from here on out.
Thanks Tommy!

This place is horrible, as you have read the owner is a complete a**hole. He is rude, he was impatient, and he was very hostile. During the tattoo process he stopped walked out of the room and was talking shit about costumers with another so called artist of his. The only reason I even gave one star is because Unilocal won’t let you go lower

My husband and I decided to get our rings tattooed on for our 1yr anniversary. Mason made it easy and did a great job! He explained the process well and took his time to make sure they looked perfect. We are very happy and excited to go back to him for our future tattoos.

I am not an automatic 5 stars reviewer, but I was FLOORED by how talented and knowledgeable Blue of Blue Tattoo was! I was only in for a small infinity tattoo with my sister, and I am already booked for a coverup job and an amazing phoenix in its place! He puts so much of his profit back into building his skills and experience, it is crazy. How many tattoo artists fly across the country for training or to learn specific skills from the people best at them? It was a first for me. He is definitely the guy to go to for tattoos you won’t end up regretting. The rest of his artists’ portfolios look pretty outstanding as well!

I gave «Blue Tattoo» 2 stars because it was probably the worst tattoo experience I’ve ever had. This is not a reflection on all the artists working there, I only dealt with the owner, Mason, and George.
I purchased a groupon for a 1 hour tattoo session and initially planned to get a simple «words» tattoo because I didn’t know how good the artist was going to be and I didn’t want my skin to be a practice pad for some kid apprentice.
I was set up with George who, I was informed, was the only artist doing the groupon jobs. That would be the apprentice kid. Not to say that George wasn’t good — I thought he was a decent artist and a nice, friendly, polite person. Unlike the owner of the salon, but I’ll get to that later. George was very accommodating when I decided to change the design, and he even suggested a brilliant placement that I would’ve never considered myself.
George’s only pitfall in my opinion was his relative inexperience which I believe accounted for the time it took him to do a fairly simple hand-​size tattoo. Our first session was 2,5 hours for just the outline, and he almost misspelled it (which would have been a real disaster). The preparation alone was at least 3 hours. The whole time I was just anxious and wondering what’s taking so long and how much it was going to cost me in the end (they charge $ 150 an hour). To finish the tattoo would take another few hours, I was told.
I couldn’t afford it quite honestly, and I just didn’t feel comfortable. I felt like I was being taken advantage of. So I didn’t want to come back for the second session. When I asked for my deposit back, I was explained rather rudely by the owner that I’m just trying to take their «original» (Internet) artwork to another salon (of course — that was my plan all along), or trying to get a freebie from them, and that they reserve the deposit for the last hour of tattooing.
Now you tell me: how is it a freebie if I paid $ 375 for a medium-​sized tattoo outline and the privilege of listening to Mason’s condescending remarks about how «you can have a cheap tattoo, or you can have a good tattoo»?
I don’t usually leave negative reviews, I just move on and choose something else next time. I debated writing anything at all. But «Blue Tattoo» really left a bitter taste in my mouth, and I decided that this would be an exception. So enjoy my deposit, Blue Tattoo, and enjoy my review. You definitely lost a client.

I had George B. as an artist and let me say that he rocks. He truly captured what I exactly wanted and I was so happy with the results. This place is definitely immaculate and spotless. I was very comfortable in my surroundings and it was so cool how I could just get an Arizona Raspberry Tea with ease since they are a cafè as well. I’m so glad I found this place and I would recommend this to anyone who is looking for a bad ass tattoo :)

First time getting tattooed in Cali and it was by Tommy! Such an amazing artist and drew up exactly what I wanted and asked for. Prices are reasonable especially out here in Cali. The vibe in the shop is really awesome and does respect your privacy by keeping other customers in the café area. I drove 30 mins and it was well worth it. GREAT SHOP GREAT ARTIST will recommend to anyone. Thanks again and dont let the negative reviews get to you because you have to experience it for yourself. Really great tattoo shop thanks again. Ill post my finished session next week but will post a pic of what i got yesterday (3 hours).

Tommy was my artist, and he is amazing! His drawing for my tattoo was more than I imagined, and I am very happy with the end results. I’ve seen a variety of his art work and it is all top notch. I am going to post two pictures, one of the outline of my tattoo and the other, all finished, but a little glossy from the aquaphor, but I want you all to see how beautiful it is.
Tommy is a really great guy and it was nice to talk about being an 80’s kid while he worked on my tattoo.
Thanks Tommy, you rock!

He’s right, I did get an email from him saying he’d refund me the Groupon amount and do the tattoo for free in lieu of removing my one star review. I don’t want to drive all the way out to El Cajon to get a refund and a tattoo from someone who is pissed at the review in the first place. What kind of person would trust a tattoo artist they’ve slighted to ink them? C’mon! I stated in my original post that I was told that my info was lost, only after weeks of waiting, so OF COURSE there is no info on me to verify that I was a possible client. This isn’t a fake review, it’s a real experience. Yes, this is my wife’s Unilocal account, but my experience, and she gifted the Groupon.
–I added a photo as PROOF of gifted Groupon!–