Glorious Tattoo NYC
- Does tattoo work
- By appointment only
- Fine line
Brooklyn
East Williamsburg has 37 tattoo shops, all of them in Kings County, Brooklyn, and between them they have gathered 1594 Google reviews at an average rating of 4.9. The work here falls into two kinds of room. One is the private, appointment-only studio where a small collective of artists sees clients one at a time. The other is the open shop with a flash wall, a front desk and artists who will talk to you the day you show up. Which one suits you depends on whether you arrive with a finished idea or want to look around first.
The appointment-only side is large. Glorious Tattoo NYC, rated 5.0 from 331 reviews, works in Williamsburg and builds its name on contemporary micro-realism and fine line with a sleek, minimal feel. Macondo Tattoo is an artist collective in Bushwick, open since 2020, with eight resident artists covering fine line, black and gray, blackwork, realism, illustrative, stippling and color, plus guest artists through the year. It is rated 4.9 from 75 reviews. Gnostic Tattoo moved out of Bushwick into a private studio in East Williamsburg and has served clients since 2012, with 4.9 from 74 reviews. he's tattoo, rated 4.9 from 63 reviews, puts Zee He and seven artists in one appointment-only studio focused on custom work.
Other collectives keep the same appointment-only rule with a different mix of styles. Valiance Tattoo has five artists who each work in their own style, takes no walk-ins and handles consultations through Instagram, and it holds 4.7 from 28 reviews. Flowerhouse Tattoo, a Bushwick private studio since 2022, rated 5.0 from 44 reviews, offers color, black and grey, fine line, large scale work, botanical and ornamental designs and cover-ups. BY2 INK is a private studio with six artists, also by appointment only. Skeleton Key Tattoo and Starling Tattoo round out the group that books ahead.
What a featured listing costs · from $29 a month
If you would rather walk in, the choices are more traditional. Armageddon Tattoo Studio has been at 100 Bushwick Ave since 1997, rated 4.8 from 254 reviews, with independent artists doing custom work in their own styles and a piercer in Tuesday through Saturday. Gristle Tattoo is a custom, vegan shop in business since 2011, rated 4.8 from 164 reviews, where a team of artists covers everything from super fine line to traditional and bold illustrative work and regularly releases flash. Crooked Heart takes walk-ins and offers flash and custom work shaped by each artist's taste, with 4.7 from 79 reviews. 47 Tattoo Studio does flash and custom in all styles and takes walk-ins or appointments. Subversive Tattoo Parlor also takes walk-ins and leans toward traditional and fine line.
Plenty of specialists sit between those two poles. Art Made Rich Studio is the private shop of Richard Parker, known as Made Rich, doing concept driven illustrative realism, black and gray and portraits, rated 4.9 from 58 reviews. Eclipse Ink NYC is known for cover-ups alongside custom designs that mix traditional and modern elements. 1983 Art Studio does hyper-realistic tattoos, blackwork and sleeves. Brick & Murder Tattoo is a resident artist at a private Bushwick studio doing illustrative flash shaped by American Traditional, rated 5.0 from 49 reviews. Ink Me Alley is a private shop doing fine line, anime, manga and animal work. Anyone who wants piercing alongside a tattoo has Armageddon Tattoo Studio and Crazy Monkey Tattoo to look at.
Shops here describe their work in terms of the surrounding neighborhoods, most often Williamsburg and Bushwick, with Ridgewood named once. Bushwick, Williamsburg, Bedford-Stuyvesant, Greenpoint and Ridgewood each have their own page for anyone whose search crosses the border, and many studios here sit close enough to those areas that it is worth comparing them. East Williamsburg itself is a place to match your idea to a style: pick fine line, realism, traditional or cover-up work first, then pick the room.
Crooked Heart, 47 Tattoo Studio and Subversive Tattoo Parlor take walk-ins, and Armageddon Tattoo Studio and Gristle Tattoo run as open shops with flash on offer. Gnostic Tattoo, Flowerhouse Tattoo, Valiance Tattoo and The Gay Tattoo Shop do not take walk-ins, so book those ahead.
Glorious Tattoo NYC works in contemporary micro-realism and fine line, Macondo Tattoo has fine line among its eight resident artists, and Ink Me Alley does fine line alongside anime and realistic work. Gristle Tattoo also covers everything from super fine line to bold traditional pieces.
Eclipse Ink NYC counts cover-up tattoos as its specialty, with artists who also draw custom designs. Flowerhouse Tattoo does scar and cover-up work as part of a wider range that includes color, black and grey and fine line, and it works by appointment only.
Armageddon Tattoo Studio has a piercer in Tuesday through Saturday, and Crazy Monkey Tattoo lists piercing. Gristle Tattoo and Crooked Heart do not offer piercing, so go to one of the first two if you want jewelry fitted along with a tattoo.
Studios in East Williamsburg describe their work in Williamsburg and Bushwick most often. Bushwick, Williamsburg, Bedford-Stuyvesant, Greenpoint and Ridgewood each have a page, which helps if you want a wider field of artists in Kings County.