Aardvark Tattoo Company

I had been researching a new tattoo artist for a while when I found Gina, she has amazing talent and really cares about her art and customers. The day after she text me and asked how I was doing, or if I had any questions or concerns. I’ve never had a tattoo artist check on me, I really appreciated that. The shop itself was clean, and sterile. I will be coming back to finish my piece, and receive many more tattoos from Ms. Gina. Thank you.

Got a full body portrait tattoo of my kid done by Nate. Unlike other unnamed high priced tattoo artists, Nate was able to work with the low quality picture of my son taken with pre-​smartphone cellphone. He did an amazing job. He offered to touch it up after summertime. I have several tattoos and rarely use the same tattoo artist twice, but I will be seeking his services again. As for the shop, everyone was nice and welcoming. I would refer all to check them out.

this shop is comfy, clean and professional. stopped in this morning to chat with Gina and she was just so nice and very welcoming. my cousin started a back piece with aardvark last year and it looks great! I would recommend these guys/​gals for sure.

What a great experience! These are true professionals and worth the wait. I had a smallish piece done on my arm by Risa and it turned out better than I could have hoped. I can’t wait to come back for more!

Really great place to get an amazing custom tattoo! the staff are awesome and will go above and beyond to make you tattoo special!

After much contemplating & planning, I finally made it in to see Risa Stevens to start work on my sleeve.
I first need to mention that this is no dark, dirty shop. It’s bright, pretty and SUPER CLEAN! Great start…
Risa is an extremely talented artist, and had some great ideas about my sleeve. I had my consultation & 2 weeks later started my sleeve.
Risa has a light touch & after 2 hours we were done with my first session. I am more than impressed with the quality of my tattoo so far, and I’m extremely excited to see her every other week until it’s done.
I also know a few friends who have tattoos by Paul Thomas & he is also extremely talented.
This shop has it going on. You can’t go wrong here!

I went in to Aardvark Tattoo a few weeks ago and spoke with a very nice man with juggalo tattoos who was working the counter. I explained what I was looking for and he recommended I look through the artist books. I saw the work that Nate Laird had done with butterflies and I thought he might be a really good fit for what I wanted, which was a bee with my son’s name and birthdate surrounding it. I scheduled a consult for ³⁄₃₀ with Nate to discuss the design and try to hash out details and price.
On Monday I left a very fun date at the park with friends to go to my tattoo consultation. I was 5 minutes early for my appointment. The woman who greeted me was very friendly and stated that Nate was in the back and would be up shortly. I told her not to worry, that I was early and that I would just take a seat to wait. As I waited I watched other consults be checked in and watched as a young man who looked very hungover came out from the back. The girl behind the counter told him that his consult was here, he threw his head into his hands and groaned «Aughhghghh!» and wandered towards me. He was disheveled and had headphones in. He did not take his headphones out of his ears during the time that we spoke.
He was incredibly rude, did not even offer to take me into a private area to discuss what I wanted and seemed very annoyed that I was there for my appointment and that I was taking him away from something else that was MUCH more important. I tried to explain what I wanted and he rolled his eyes and asked if I had a picture. I showed him an image of something that I had liked but I was interested in what he could do. He told me that he will not draw anything more than once and the only time he will draw is when it’s on my body so either I can pick something from outside or just «hope that you like what I do». He stated he could not give me a price estimate but would assume it would be about $ 400. He stated that if I wanted to have him do what he does, I could just make an appointment or I could email him the artwork and text that I want, and schedule an appointment to come back and leave a deposit for the work today. He spoke with me for about a total of 90 seconds and was completely not interested in speaking with me at all. I asked for his card, which he wrote a generic email for the business on it and he stalked off without a thank you or a goodbye.
I left the shop flabbergasted. Never have I had such poor service at a tattoo shop in my life. This place had been in the Top 10 shops in Portland and I was sincerely disappointed at the service I received. All it would have taken was for him to be straightforward and say «Hey, I don’t think this is the right project for me» and to be respectful and decline and that would have been fine. It is too bad he did not have the maturity level to do so.
The shop itself is clean and seems organized, and maybe the other artists are good with people but I would highly suggest you avoid the artist Nate Laird. Needless to say, I will be making my tattoo appointment somewhere else.

I received a Groupon gift for two hours of tattoo time with Lance, from my boyfriend for my birthday. I called in when they opened on the 6^th to see if I could possibly come in that day for a consultation, the guy on the phone informed me that Lance was actually ill and would be unavailable that day.
He gave me a list of open and available appointments for the following week so I scheduled an appointment for the 13^th. I called in on the following day to inquire if there was still an available Monday appointment as I had previous arrangements on the 13^th, I was scheduled for Monday the 9^th but I also requested to stay on the schedule for Friday as well in the event that Monday didn’t work out.
Monday I received a call from the studio to inform me that there was a death in the Aardvark family and most of the artists would be taking the day off to grieve. I expressed my sincere condolences and made it clear that I completely understood the situation. They let me know that unless the funeral ended up being scheduled for Friday, my appointment would still stand and if they would have to reschedule they would call as soon as they found out. (My condolences to your shop for the death and loss that you are experiencing, I sincerely hope that those effected manage to find peace in the healing process.)
In the mean time, I decided to check out their Unilocal reviews. I was actually surprised at some of the more poor experiences people were reporting. As they still had an average rating of 4 stars, I figured unhappy customers were merely a fact of business and decided to just form an opinion based off of my own experience with this shop and so far, I didn’t feel that my experience had been poor as things just happen to come up in life.
Today is Friday, as I finished getting ready for my appointment and prepared to leave the house, I received a phone call from the shop, apparently Lance had a doctor’s appointment today and they would have to reschedule.
I had asked if Lance was still sick or if he just got sick again. I think the woman on the phone picked up on my frustration as she asked if I’d had to previously reschedule, which I told her I had. I told her that I understood the reason due to the death in their «shop family» but I was concerned about the fact that Lance seems to be sick a lot, I then asked her about if this doctor’s appointment was something that was scheduled in a last minute situation or if he knew about it before today. The woman on the phone informed me that Lance is dealing with an ongoing sickness and if he doesn’t attend these doctor’s appointments that it effects his ability to tattoo and do his job effectively so they are important.
I told her that at this time I didn’t want to bother rescheduling and that I’d have to talk with my boyfriend about the situation and I hoped she had a nice day.
The woman on the phone wasn’t unpleasant but she didn’t seem too concerned with my frustration or my point of view of the situation. I feel like if I had at least gotten an apology or the slightest empathy for my frustrations that I’d be more inclined to want to make another attempt at rescheduling but as it stands, I have absolutely no desire to be tattooed by Lance.
This tattoo was going to be a cover up to help me let go and move on from a difficult situation in my past and was very important to me. I would rather pay full price for my session and go somewhere I’m already comfortable with than to be tattooed in a situation where I felt uncomfortable by the tattooists dealings before I ever had the opportunity to even meet or talk to him.
While I believe my frustrations lie directly with the tattoo artist my appointments were scheduled with, I also believe that the people you choose to employ are a direct representation of your business.
We are currently looking into getting a refund for the amount spent on the Groupon and taking our business somewhere we feel more comfortable.

I left my home state and my favorite artist so I was in need of a great new shop full of great new artists. I wanted or should I say still want entire sleeve of black and grey roses to represent my live for the state of Oregon. I walk into this place and there is a younger girl standing behind the counter or should I say leaned on the counter talking to some other girl. She finally says hello, I told her I was there for a sleeve. She responds“we don’t do sleeves”. I guess that was supposed to be funny. One of the artists was sitting to my left on the computer. The girl behind the counter asks him,“what do you think about doing sleeves”? He responds by saying, «sleeves fucking suck but I like the money». I immediately felt super uncomfortable it made my stomach hurt. At that point I had my mind made up. Not to be rude, I played along and looked at the tattoos the girl showed me and made a consultation appointment. Knowing there was no way I would ever walk into this place again. I’m not a person who feels a certain way and gets angry or frustrated right away. It took me about a half hour to finally get completely disgusted. Anyway enough about me, bottom line is I walked into this place ready to drop a grand on a tattoo representing my new home state that I love so much. I walked out thinking if that’s the first place I went into I’d wouldn’t even want to live in portland.

I booked an appointment far in advance this shop is pretty booked up so it takes a while to get in. I paid $ 100 deposit and waited patiently for my appointment just before my appointment was to come up they called me and told me that the tattoo artist I was supposed to see was going to take the day off and that they couldn’t get to my appointment and also couldn’t squeeze me in for several months and I got put on the waitlist since it would take at least six months for an opening.
Even on the waitlist it took four months for them to even call me in at that point I was not going to give them my business
I had an appointment and I had waited the time and then they canceled on me last minute
(which I understand taking a day off but when someone has already been waiting several months and you cancel of them you should do your best to squeeze them in and a timely fashion not have them start at the beginning of the waitlist all over again)
which is completely uncalled for and they wouldn’t refund my deposit either so I’m out $ 100 and honestly don’t feel comfortable with paying a deposit ever again because of how risky I feel it is now to even pay a deposit to a tattoo artist even though I know that’s protocol

By far the best tattoo shop around. The artist are amazing people I have been seeing Risa for 8 years she has introduced me to some amazing talent also I currently have work by 3 artist in the shop lance Risa and Taylor I recommend everyone in this shop they are all amazing people with amazing talent!!!

Well, it has been almost a year and I am finally writing a review. I am beyond irritated, as I have been searching for an artist that can fix this disaster on my arm and I’ve been turned down every time unless I get it lasered off first. Even $ 200 an hour artists can’t fix this… So, my arm has this massive money pit on it and I had to wear long sleeves all summer long out of embarrassment. This was my first tattoo, and I got the groupon for a 2 hour session with Lance. I rode the bus down to the shop (almost two hours each way) and gave him some really crappy drawings to give him an idea of what I wanted. We scheduled my appointment and I came back… He hadn’t even looked at the idea again. Had almost no idea what I was talking about and had to «refresh his memory». He had nothing drawn up and he told me «My best work is done freehand.» LOOK AT MY TATTOO. I wanted meat hooks, not breast cancer awareness ribbons… I specifically said I didn’t want the «wispy» threads going all over the place, but he put them in anyway… Especially didn’t want a broken thread… The table has one leg instead of four… She isn’t even using the peddle that doesn’t exist on the treadle machine… The machine itself is completely disproportionate… The scissors are REALLY small compared to what they should be… and they don’t look like sewing scissors because he just doodled them onto my arm. I am also aware that I have giant boobs, but that doesn’t mean I wanted the lady on my tattoo to have GIANT boobs and little crab arms… Her hair was supposed to be «Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark» type stringy hair… NOT ANIME. I don’t even like animé. Oh, and thanks for the «wedding dress with a small blood stain on it.» Oh wait… I got a crappy piece of red cloth that took 8 months to heal. THIS IS ON MY ARM FOR THE REST OF MY LIFE… YOU SHOULD GIVE A CRAP ABOUT WHAT YOU DO. TATTOOING ISN’T DOODLING ON PEOPLE. GET A MELON FOR THAT. Everything about this process was unprofessional. The shop itself was clean… the lady at the front desk was nice… Lance was even nice… But that doesn’t excuse not giving two shits about your job when your job changes someone’s life permanently.
I’ll be honest… I knew I hated it immediately and I said «Thanks, I love it», tipped him, and left. Why didn’t I express my concerns then, you ask? Because he showed up with THE FLU (which he said he had been battling for over a week, so he had PLENTY of time to reschedule my appointment). He took 3 – 4 smoke breaks throughout my 2 hour tattoo session, and I am about 95% sure he didn’t wash his hands after any of those breaks. I have a really bad immune system, so the fact he didn’t mention his flu until AFTER the two hours were up really irritated me. But he made sure to mention he would finish my tattoo for a discount when he felt better. LOL. Why on earth would anyone let you touch them again after that kind of experience? Anyway… I can complain all day long… The photos speak for themselves… Yeah, DEFINITELY do not let anyone here tattoo you freehand. I made a really stupid noob mistake trusting my tattoo artist, apparently. I would have rather kept the damn scars I was trying to cover. But don’t worry. I tell everyone who says anything where I got it. And don’t bother apologizing or adding me or anything else. I WILL NOT return to this shop to get it fixed. I learned my lesson the first time around. I am just pissed off I wasted a couple hundred dollars for the «experience» of being tattooed and now I get to spend another several hundred dollars getting that experience removed, then recovered. I am pretty sure it is against OSHA standards to tattoo while you have an infectious illness or after smoking without washing your hands, but I’d have to look it up to confirm. At very least, it is disgusting.

Found this place on a referral from a frind and could not be happier. I wanted a pretty detailed design on my arm and was directed to see Lance. He listened to my idea and we made an appointment. I am VERY happy with the results. I have gone back for another work of art and just made another appointment. My girl got some work done my Maryn and she did an amazing job as well…
Aardvark is a very clean place and everyone has a nice portfolio to look thru. Everyone that I have met there is always pleasant and I have zero complaints :)

Careful with this shop.
I have been tatted by 2 of the artist here. I had a great experience with lance. My next tat was done at the shop from Nate, and he did great work, no doubt, I won’t take that from him. However, when I bring in MY Own Design (I made it, and brought it in to him, it’s not like it’s flash ya know) I don’t really expect to see my tat on some 19 year old on Nate’s Instagram a few weeks later. I’m heavily tatted and I’ve never had an artist do that before. Not cool. So maybe just be careful who your dealing with there, or if your ok with some twitty college kid using you design than go for it. I’m not into that myself.
If you are going to this shop be sure to pick the right artist. I have had a few pieces done by Lance now and couldn’t be happier. He finished up my sleeve, and has done some absolutely stunning work for me. He has a light hand, and an artistic ability that is unsurpassed. The ideas I came in with for my tat, he expanded on and made even more amazing than what I had in mind. I would recommend him to anyone!

I’m steadily working toward moving from the «moderately tattooed» category to the «extensively tattooed» one. This entails eventual full sleeves, which is a many-​year endeavor. Luckily, I’ve enlisted the skills of Lance from Aardvark Tattoo to accompany me on this journey. So far, he has given me three pieces of art: two of script and one of a rabbit with text inside of it — all black. Here’s what I like most about the shop and my artist particularly: clean, well-​managed shop, courteous staff, individual rooms for the artists, Lance has a light touch and is very quick, his line work (especially lettering) is competent, touch-​ups are complimentary, pricing is very fair. Overall, I am pleased thus far with my new additions and am looking forward to becoming the painted lady I’ve always dreamed of being.

My husband and I got our tattoos done here tonight! I had the best experience ever, I’m really looking forward to getting it finished in 2 weeks!
Thank you Brandon and Maryn

I bought a groupon for Taylor last fall and went in in January armed with photos and ideas. She took all my photos and created the most perfect tattoo. Everywhere I go I get compliments.
So how excited was I when another groupon came out? I almost peed my pants that’s how! I can’t wait to build on my half sleeve.

As a birthday present to myself, I got myself a tattoo while I was visiting a good friend of mine in Portland. I was discussing the tattoo I wanted with Taylor and she shared in the enthusiasm I had. She took the sketch I gave her and ran with it. She was great and warm and made this an incredible experience. I highly recommend her to any of my friends in the Portland area!

Several friends and I have all gotten piercingly here and have been impressed every time! Piercer is very well informed and walks you through the process. I would recommend him for any piercing!
I also had a biggish piece reconstructed on my arm and Risa was the artist that did the work. She worked to create what I wanted while making it look amazing! Her work with color is great and I will be going back to her for my next tattoo!
The shop was also nice and visibly clean, staff was always helpful.

I purchased a Groupon for ½ off 2 hours of work with Taylor. (What a steal) I had some questions about covering up an old Celtic design I had done somewhere else a long time ago. The person who replied to my email was very friendly and helpful. She set up a time for me to come in and talk with Taylor about what I wanted. When I came in I was greeted by Taylor who was very personable. I scheduled my appointment with her and left the shop feeling totally confident that Taylor would do a good job. I Just had my appointment on Saturday and as expected Taylor did an excellent job. She went over the old tattoo with a skin colored ink to help make the black lines less noticeable in the cover up. I didn’t expect that. The end result was beautiful. I would definitely recommend Taylor to anyone looking for a new tattoo. I will be back for more!