Academy of Nail Technology

Bought on Groupon like it seems most people have here. Neighborhood does seem sketchy. When entering, I was willing to give the techs a chance. When meeting the «manager» who said we would need an appointment, I thought «Sure??? Usually, I could use my Groupon right away but whatever».
I’m not one to openly complain but I totally got the rude/​bitchy vibe. I left work early to pick up one of my best friends to get mani/​pedis done to de-​stress. They really didn’t seem busy at all on a Thursday after-​freaking-​noon. She says «If you cancel an hour ahead, I’ll charge you anyways» which I can understand in a business perspective, but jeez, don’t be making freaking assumptions like I’m the asshole.
I cancelled my Groupon right after playing nice ND leaving.

I found this place on groupon. Got a great deal and thought I’d give this place a shot. I worked with Patrice! She was very patient and took her time and was a pleasure to chat with while getting my nails done. Keep in mind that this is a SCHOOL so if you’re going to come here make sure you give yourself time to get the work done. They are learning so please be patient! Thanks Patrice!!’ :)

They are running a con on Groupon buyers (and I love Groupon).They make sure you can not schedule before your Groupon expires. If you bought a Groupon and having a problem scheduling within a reasonable amount of time write groupon and let them know. Only way to get Groupon to drop them. Write Groupon at
sends a loud message to Groupon so they can see how many people are upset with this business!

Here are the main points for those speed readers out here:
1. This is a nail school in a not so great part of town;
2. Because it is a school, the quality and consistency of the services is unreliable;
3. Don’t buy the Groupon. Call the salon first, tell them you would like an appointment, and when they ask about Groupon, tell them you were going to buy one. This will ensure you get an appointment right away, as they can only do so many Groupons per day, and they will honor the Groupon price regardless;
4. The manicurists/​students are all incredibly sweet and friendly;
5. This is a no frills, no massage chair salon (which I prefer as those massage chairs are filled with nasty, gross tubes filled with other peoples nail gunk that can never be cleaned out, ew).
6. Make sure you have time to burn, my mani/​pedi took over two hours!
I decided to visit this salon because Groupon sent me an email advertising their Groupon. I was interested in the gel manicure and spa pedicure for $ 25, as it sounded like a very good deal. I called the salon before purchasing the Groupon to check their availability. The asked right away if I was calling with a Groupon, and whether or not I had purchased one yet. I indicated that I had not, and they said that was excellent, as they can only take so many Groupon customers per day, but that they would offer the Groupon price anyways if I just came in.
This salon is located in a not so fabulous part of town, but I would hardly classify it as ghetto. If this side of town is ghetto to you, you clearly have never been to a real ghetto before. The customer service that I experienced here was on par with any other salon. They were friendly when they greeted me, offered coffee or water, and were all smiles. The women who did my manicure and pedicure were both incredibly sweet, and their customer service was phenomenal.
However, this IS A SCHOOL. As such, the quality and consistency of the services are not reliable. I had to wash and scrub my own nails, and my manicure left much to be desired. The gel is inconsistent, wrinkled, does not cover my whole nail, and the tips were left exposed. It is simply awful. I was very disappointed with my manicure. My pedicure, however, turned out okay with minimal polish on the skin. So it’s really just a fluke whether or not your service will be good I suppose.
Since this is a school, the students work very slowly as they learn, so make sure you have time to burn. The whole mani/​pedi experience lasted over two hours, and I had two women working on me at the same time.
I decided to try this Groupon because of the neat pics of nail art other Unilocalers had posted, but that was a mistake. Do not come here looking for anything other than solid color gel manicures, this is not the place.
Overall, even though this place is a good deal, remember what your parents always said, «if the deal is too good to be true, it probably is.» The stars I gave are for the students who, as I said, are incredibly sweet and well intentioned, but that a manicurist does not make. I would not recommend this salon, nor will I be returning.

Giving one star because I have to and because the woman that was working on my nails was a very nice person. This was my third time visiting this academy in the past five years or so, and my past two experiences were okay. This on the other hand was a disaster from the beginning. I booked over the phone weeks in advance and was informed that I could have two people working on my manicure and pedicure at the same time so that I could be out of there in an hour and a half. When I arrived, they had made no such plans, and a half an hour into my manicure I informed her that I had been told I would have two people working on me. I also let her know I would have to be out in a total of an hour and a half, which even with it being a school setting– is sufficient. They brought someone over to start working on my pedicure and I was in an awkward twisting position (which left me with a bear of a backache) having to accommodate the set up. I had to inform my nail technician of a medical reality (that I typically do not need to disclose) once she gouged into my thumb while trimming skin and took a huge chunk out of it. I have had my nails done dozens of times since I have had this medical situation, but typically I am not torn apart during the procedure so I do not need to disclose it. After that, she was too afraid to do any trimming and my cuticles looked awful. She also seemed to struggle to see the polish job she was doing and there were bubbles and streaks galore. Then when we finally got to my toes, she polished those in a manner that was literally less skillful then when I allowed my eight-​year-​old niece to do my toes. So, 20 some dollars & two HOURS later I ended up walking out with my nails and hands looking worse than they did when I arrived. This is the day before leaving on a vacation so I could not allow them to remedy the situation until I was back in town a week and a half later. I called the manager from San Francisco the next day because my toes looked like they had been polished by a three-​year-​old, and the manicure polish was literally falling off my hands. I was not digging in the fields or doing anything that would damage them, and less than 24 hours later there was less than 50% polish on my hands. I had to get both my Mani/​pedi redone first day of my trip. I’m not even kidding, it was FALLING off. I explained all this to her that from booking to the end of service it was an inexcusable waste of money and time, and she had no interest whatsoever in making the situation right. I understand this business is a school, but they are also charging customers to come there, even if it is cheaper, and if somebody has a horrible experience they need to do something as a business to remedy the situation. Like I said, this manager I spoke to over the phone had no interest in doing that and I recommend you take your time, money and nails elsewhere and spend a little bit extra to go to a place where they know what they’re doing and aren’t going to have you leave their establishment looking worse than when you came in.

I started this school in August. I have learned so much for the little time I have been there. I will finish in January. The teachers are awesome and help me when ever I ask. They make me strive to do better. They make me proud of who I am. They are so encouraging. Fantastic school. Would recommend to anyone

I read all the reviews before buying the Groupon, so I knew what to expect. Since I am a master procrastinator, I waited until it was almost expired to make my appointment. Luckily the girl was able to fit me in with a few days to spare! They had the girls team up with Jennifer doing my mani and Kelly did my pedi. Both girls did a good job, they were friendly and it took about and hour and a half. My two complaints would be 1) It was a little awkward because I sat in a chair facing sideways for the pedi and turned my torso for the mani, I saw they had a room with couches for the ladies just getting pedis and it looked more comfortable. 2) I didn’t think they had a good enough color selection for me, as I prefer nude shades. They explained to me that after I used my Groupon, I had one more discounted visit and then I would be paying full price, which is not nearly as expensive as going to a salon. I don’t have my nails done very often, but I hope to be back soon!

This service is running a non-​stop Groupon promotional. The problem is that if you bought a Groupon and would like to use it any time soon, you are mistaken. As I was explained that the salon is taking only limited amount of groupon customers per day, so you have to wait for several weeks. I was trying to schedule my appointment without any luck, until the Groupon has expired, at this point I could make an appointment next day, as I am not a Groupon customer any longer.
The salon is located in a sketchy part of town, and I did not realize that the services are performed by students. I should have figured this out by the name of the place.
I feel it should have been disclosed to the customers though beforehand.
I ended up leaving the place without purchasing any services.
I won’t come back.

I liked the people and service and understand tgey are students but 4 ½ hrs for a pedi full-​set.

Found a groupon for a mani-​pedi for two so I took my mom for an early Mother’s Day gift and I was completely happy with the outcome. My mom’s toe nails get a little out of control sometimes and Deidre took the extra time to make sure they were perfect. Our hands and feets are very happy (: I would definitely recommend going. My mom was a little sketched out because it was school in a iffy area but they did a better job than the salon she always went to and paid a pretty penny just for her pedis. I will definitely go back.

This place is wonderful, all the girls are friendly and have manners, Teamwork is important here, and sanitation is very important to all the nail technicians working.
They have a groupon going on here and it’s so much easier to go through the school rather than groupon itself.
The service is remarkable and I would recommend this place to everyone!!!

I LOVE THIS PLACE! I had a manicure & Pedicure, The students were Extremely nice did a great job. I would recommend and have recommended this school to all my friend. the Instuture was right there (not that the student needed help) But just in case. the school was clean and everyone was very friendly..

The prices are great! The students are great they specialized in sculpture.

When I finally found this place after a looooong trip to get there. It wasn’t super easy to find according to the signage outside. The owner was very stylish, professional and welcoming. She seemed to proud of her business.
I got this deal via Groupon, which I think I was a smart deal. I had two of the students give me a gel manicure and a pedicure. Tony was superb! He was professional, accurate and informative. The gel manicure, (which I was looking forward to) was disappointing. The lady took so long and still couldn’t seem to get the nail polish on the full nail. I could see the blank spots pretty easily. I know, I know, they are students. In total: I was there for two hours. The school was inspiring to see people trying to get properly trained and take their job seriously while still having fun.

I went to Academy of Nail Technology and I LOVED it! I never felt like I was being pushed into anything, as I always had the support of the instructors there. They always showed us what to do and stuck around to make sure we were comfortable.
Safety and sanitation is highly stressed and we never worked on anything that was questionable. Everything was cleaned and checked!
As far as coming to get services done, of course it takes a little extra time, but the clients are informed of that when they schedule. All our clients were saints because they sat and visited with us while we learned. I miss all of them!
I recommend this place if you have some extra time to allow someone to learn.
Thank you Academy of Nail Technology! :)

I had a gel manicure and regular pedicure. Both came out just as good as any nail salon. I had 2 students work on me at the same time. Total time was a little over an hour start to finish. Overall I’m happy with the experience. The only downside is the price. Most beauty schools charge 40% less than the professionals. Their basic pedicure and manicure are normally priced at $ 15 each. I went there with a Groupon, so it was well worth it.

I bought a groupon for this place and drove over there (not close for me) and was worried when I arrived. From outside this place looks sketchy at best. I went inside anyway because I like adventure. The girl had me sit down in a rolling office chair and proceeded to grab a dirty looking home pedicure tub to do my pedicure. I faked an emergency phone call and left.
My feet thanked me.
PS. The place looks gross, old and not clean at all.

NO CUSTOMER SERVICE BY LINDA. She was unwilling to honor or extend my Groupon as it was going to expire on December 24^th. I wanted to come in before that but she had no openings.(Is that my fault that she had no openings?)Yes, she said. I should have used the coupon when I first got it. I told her it does not expire until December 24^th… so I have until then to use it. Okay, I said… will you extend the date so I can still use it. NO SHE SAID! Unless you want to pay another $ 25.00 to use after the expiration.
I am sorry… but this is not a YES WE CAN attitude. Does this woman know anything about customer service? I suggested that perhaps she ought to extend hours or open on Monday to accomodate customers that have certificates expiring… NO, she could not do that.
I will admit that I enjoy the girls working there… but I WILL NOT RETURN to an establishment that does not value its customers and does not have a YES WE CAN ATTITUDE.
Think about that when you go to book an appt. By the way, unless you have a groupon they are not any less expensive than most salons providing thos e services.

I bought a Groupon for a mani-​pedi here. Like the last review, I wasn’t impressed by the looks; but boy looks are deciving. BEST service I’ve ever had. All the gals there were super nice and friendly. My nails look amazing, and the price was unbeatable. Kudos to Crystal for the great job.

Appearances can be deceiving. When you first roll up, you can feel your nails tingle in fear at the sheer thought of experiencing a bad time. You walk in and all your fears disappear. It isn’t as fancy as some nail salons are, as there are no individual pedicure seats, and while there is only one couch that is comfy enough to bare, it’s acceptable for a nail school to have.
Every girl has their own equipment and their own nail polish, but the plus side is that they ALL SPEAK ENGLISH. There is nothing more irritating than a foreigner chattering away in their native language while they work on your nails. They may do a wonderful job, but I like chatting with my nail technician from time to time.
The girls here are pretty awesome. They are nice and they completely hold up the idea of keeping their tools clean.
The nail job may not be the best one I’ve ever had, but if its helping these girls through their schooling then by all means, I’m for the idea of giving them some extra practice.
If you don’t mind some trainees working on your nails, and you want a decent nail job with a nail technician that speaks English, then this is your place to go. Just don’t expect to get out in under 2 hours. Make sure you plan for enough time beforehand!