Paris West Optical

Yes it’s more expensive than a chain store but you pay for what you get-​minimal waits plus a very friendly staff. Exam was thorough, service is great. I like supporting a neighborhood business too.

Paris West optical is hands down the best place in Maryland let alone anywhere to get opticals and sunglasses. I live in Atlanta now and still drop by and get frames there whenever I visit. Jordan and his staff are extremely professional and knowledgable and this place stays on the most current and Stylish pieces in the glasses industry. Also can find some unique frames that you will not find anywhere else and get a great price and a great conversation.

I luv this place! I bought the funkiest pair of frames there ever! The entire staff is the absolute best and Rudy in particular! The customer service is as good as it gets! I honestly didn’t spend what I would have spent at other places! I will definitely be back for a 2^nd pair!

This business has the best customer service and eyeglass selection.
I had my eyes checked at UMD and a student did the exam. The Dr. did not check it. I brought the prescription to Paris west and they ordered new eyeglasses for me. The prescription was wrong. They fixed my new glasses free of charge.
I will definitely return to Paris West.
Elizabeth H. Baltimore, MD

Eye exams are only on Friday. Reservation required. Friendly and professional services.

I went here to get an eye exam and a new pair of glasses about a year ago. I was happy with both the exam and the glasses. The staff was very helpful, especially when I was trying to find the best pair of frames for my face.
Unfortunately, my dog ate my glasses only a couple months after I got them. So, I wanted to get a cheap replacement pair online and it was SUCH A PAIN to get them to give me my prescription. I probably won’t be going back because of how awful they were to me as soon as I wasn’t spending money there.

This is an eyeglass boutique and not cheap but high quality with excellent service! Jordan the owner bent over backwards to get me exactly what I needed and explained in detail why an old oair of Revos couldnt be replaced. jighly recommended

I walked by this place for a year thinking it would be hi-​brow and very expensive. I couldn’t have been more wrong. I found the experience so lovely that I stayed after my appointment and chatted.
I used the Unilocal deal and had the exam with the optometrist. He was very thorough and comfortable to work with. He even had my contacts for my eyes which rarely happens. I had such a lovely time time looking at the frames. I vacillated between wishing I had the personality to wear such hi-​fashion and wanting to buy so many I wished I didn’t wear contacts. I love this place and being a transplant to Baltimore, I have found «my place»

I just had the best experience at Paris West Optical. The staff is super friendly and seriously helpful. Jordan was the gentleman who helped me and he was exceptional; very knowledgable and offered great advice. The glasses that are sold there are high quality and the business clearly recognises good quality and reputable labels. If you’re on the «look-​out» for a great pair of eyeglasses and/​or sunnies go to this place and ask for Jordan (although everyone is helpful). Paris West is the best place for your eyes! Great find in Baltimore!

It is a very nice place. And the Doctor is very nice too.
The contact lenses are a little cheaper than Walmart

I really loved the optometrist. I did the Unilocal deal and it only ended up costing $ 65 total for the exam, which was incredible. I have insurance, but it doesn’t include vision, so I’m likely not going to buy eyeglasses from there and will opt for some Warby Parkers or one of those companies.
I can’t do $ 500 frames, even if they are lovely, but I’d definitely come back here for an exam anytime.

I have needed glasses since I was 12, and this is the first store that had truly (a) excellent customer service (b) a diverse and fashionable set of frames and © did I mention excellent customer service?
I would give them 6 stars if I could, and I’m generally stingy. First, I walked in less than a week before a 5-​week trip to Europe and wanted them done before or sent to me there (not a totally reasonable stance really). My previous pair of glasses had disappeared, and the last time I was walking around downtown Athens the smog made my contacts unwearable and extremely painful. They bent over backwards to get my glasses ready on time, even though I had ordered transition lenses and had a correction they didn’t have in stock.
They got it done before the trip, and I could not be happier with this pair of glasses. For the first time, I wear them more than my contacts. They are good quality, very fashionable, perfectly fitting, and the sunglass transition works extremely well (I don’t even notice it, which is the way you want it).
They also new all about my VSP insurance reimbursement program and had the forms there for me to fill out. SO AWESOME and helpful.

I love Paris West! It is hands down the best optical store I have EVER been to! The staff is fantastic, the optometrist really knows what he’s talking about and listens to what you have to say, and their frame selection is completely beyond comparison.
This is the first eye exam I have had since I moved to Baltimore. Dr. Rubin is amazing and really works to find the best solution for YOU (especially if you have problems with your eyes).

Like the exam, the staff works really hard to find a pair of frames that fit YOU. I’ll admit the sticker shock was a little overwhelming at first but this subsided when I realized how much less expensive the actual lenses are. For anyone who is under the impression that boutique stores are more expensive (like I was) you will be pleasantly surprised to find they are actually quite comparable (this includes the cost of both glasses and exams).

PLUS you’re going to end up with top-​notch service and a pair of frames that are uniquely yours; something you wont see on the street everyday and don’t make you a walking billboard for [insert name here]. Unless you’re into that… and then they have those frames too — even some in limited edition so you can brag to your friends about being the brand whore you are. Personally, I had been looking for a pair of plastic frames with gold hardware for years — they were my unicorn — completely impossible to find. Paris West delivered and had something way cooler than anything I could have ever imagined wanting. They even offer a line of frames you can customize (at a really fair price) — for those of you who’d like to build your own.
I ended up purchasing two pairs of glasses on my first visit and look forward to coming back for many more. I simply cannot recommend this place enough.

Wow. I decided to get an eye exam at Paris West because with the Unilocal deal and the 20% off special they were having my contact lens exam was $ 40 total with an extra $ 5 left over to use towards my contact order. What a steal! Here’s the really great thing about them. When I asked about prices for my contacts they informed me they price match all contacts with Walmart. That means that if, like me, you HATE driving out to the suburbs for basic services, but sometimes you feel like you have to because the prices are so much cheaper, Paris West solves that problem by offering affordable prices IN the city.
I can’t say enough about their glasses selection. I have never seen that many amazing frames in one place. They have every type imaginable.
Eco friendly and oddly light wooden glasses? Check.
Ben Franklin if he lived in a post-​apocalyptic world glasses? Check.
I’m a German business man who is so cool that my teeny-​tiny glasses with no frames almost disappear on my face causing you to squint at them the entire time you’re talking to me glasses? Check.
I’m a mom now and I walk around with spit-​up on me, but I haven’t given up glasses? Check.
The customer service is stellar, not just the office staff, but also the optometrist. He conducted an exam that was both relaxed and incredibly thorough.
How nice to have an eye exam and choosing glasses feel like a fun experience and not a chore.

I’ve never gotten my math on when reviewing a business, but by averaging all the ratings I’ve got for my experience with Paris West, they’ve earned a 3.4 in my book. Luckily for them, they’ve got an incredible stock of frames and amazing customer service, so I’m giving them a big ‘olé FOUR STARS. Here’s the breakdown…
Stock/​Store: 5
I’ve been in the market for new glasses for months, if not years, and I had basically given up when I stumbled upon Paris West through Unilocal’s Deals (thanks Unilocal!). The reviews boasted an unbeatable selection of glasses, so I had extremely high hopes. The reason I had given up glasses shopping in the first place is because every store I came across had the most uninteresting and predictable selection possible! As soon as I walked into Paris West I knew this place was gonna be different. They have anything and everything you could dream of when it comes to frames– typical rectangles, geek chic, totally outrageous, cat eyes, colorful, wooden, and anything else you can imagine. I instantly knew I would find something I loved, and I did in fact. For that, Paris West deserves a big fat FIVE.
Service: 5
These people know their stuff! And they’re patient… ohhh sooo patient. Which I appreciate wholeheartedly when shopping for an object that will sit on my face for hours at a time. I wish I knew the girl’s name who helped me, so I could give her the best shout-​out of all time. She may be the only girl who works there, so if you’re lucky you’ll get her to help you out. Walking into the store, I wasn’t even exactly sure what I was looking for, I just knew I hadn’t found it yet. After pointing to two frames in the window, she understood EXACTLY the direction I was going in. From then, every pair she brought me I would have bought. Every single one. I went from not finding one pair of glasses I would even consider to having 6 to choose from! She would bring me a pair, hear what I had to say about it, and then scoot off to the back to bring me something I loved even more. It was amazing. Probably the best and most attentive customer service I’ve ever gotten.
Anti Reflective Lenses: 1
Alright, so I normally don’t get any of those fancy add-​ons to my glasses, but I ended up falling for the anti-​reflective lenses. The idea is you don’t see those extra rays that make every light look like a massive sun, especially when it’s dark out. The tipping point for me was how much this would ease night time driving… but let me tell you– I see NO difference. I don’t know if they forgot to add on this feature or what, but every little lightbulb looks like a sunshine to me. And this add-​on was $ 100 extra! Uch, I still regret the moment I said yes!
Price: 2
Perhaps I’m paying for this place’s great stock and amazing customer service… these glasses are esspensive! Before insurance and the Unilocal Deal I bought ($ 40 for $ 85, woop woop!) my pair cost $ 644! Yeah, that’s right. FAR too much. Luckily the Unilocal Deal and insurance combined dropped that price by a couple hundo. Good thing, because otherwise I would NOT be coming home with the perfect pair for me!
Time: 4
So at the time of purchase I was told they would be ready in the next two weeks. I figured this was a conservative time estimate, just to make sure they cover themselves incase something takes longer than expected. Seems this was exactly the case! Eight days later I received the long anticipated phone call that my glasses were ready! We’ve been inseparable ever since :) :)

A true Baltimore gem. While most eye glass shops might have 2,000 frames for you to choose from, Paris West has between 5,000 and 6,000 frames at any given moment. The staff is friendly and knowledgeable. The owner Jordan is an eyeglass frames nut who buys frames that he thinks people will want to wear and ignores conventional wisdom about eyeglass inventory at retail opticians.
It’s the kind of place where you can walk in and say, «I want the frames that Mos Def wore on this season of Dexter» like I recently did and they have them on the shelf. My daughter who lives in NYC searched Manhattan for 6 months looking for frames there and found the perfect pair at Paris West in 15 minutes during a recent visit.
From traditional frames to the futuristic to the tragically hip, Paris West has the frames you were looking for and frames that you didn’t even know you needed. (They just sold me a pair of mat black sunglasses that I did not know I had to have.) The staff is there to kibitz with you regarding your purchases. There’s Jordan the owner with the Jewish perspective; a nice black guy for your urban perspective and a cute young hipster chick with Betty Page bangs and cat eye glasses for the post modernist view. You can have a lot of fun shopping here with these guys. They’ll definitely help you navigate the enormous selection available. You’ll leave with a great looking pair of glasses that will make a statement and fit your face.
This is not the cheapest place to buy glasses, but you’re paying for quality and the unsurpassed selection. Highly recommended.

I needed an eye exam so I could refill my contact lens prescription. I saw that Paris West had a Unilocal deal so I decided to snag it. I’m so glad I did!
A normal contact lens exam costs $ 105 but Paris West is currently running a special (I’m not sure how long it lasts) where it’s only $ 80. Thanks to the Unilocal deal I only spent $ 40 to get my eyes checked which, when you don’t have insurance like me, is a serious lifesaver!
Not only was the price perfect but everyone in the office was delightful, from the doctor to the receptionist to the other customers. It’s a classy but laid-​back atmosphere and I was made to feel right at home as soon as I walked in.
I order my contacts online because it works out so much cheaper that way and there’s always part of me that feels guilty asking for my prescription after an appointment, like I’m cheating the optometrist out of money they deserve. But here the doctor said straight up that I could either order through them or they’d be happy to provide my prescription for me. Major bonus points!
I didn’t need glasses and without insurance I wouldn’t really be able to afford them anyway but their selection looked impressive. Lots of cool and funky frames that I would’ve loved to try on. Whenever I have proper benefits again I will definitely make Paris West Optical my first stop for glasses.
I cannot say enough good things about this place! I’d give it a million stars if I could.

I am very pleased with my experience and new glasses.
I brought my prescription to Paris West because I heard they have an unparalleled selection of frames in Baltimore. This was very true, especially in my case. I have a small, thin face and need very petite frames but I also have poor eyesight so the petite frames need to camouflage a thicker lens. Never before in all my years of wearing glasses have I seen such a selection of petite frames.
I asked the gentleman helping me to pick out a pair of glasses that looked good on me. The petite frames on display were not a good fit so he brought out additional inventory and eventually I found the perfect pair. The gentleman who helped me was very knowledgeable about the inventory and the shape of frame that would look right on me. He was also patient.
I do recommend getting Jordan, the owner, involved in your transaction at some point. While the first gentleman was extremely helpful in picking out frames Jordan provided the most knowledge about high index lenses. Based on his knowledge and recommendation, I went with a very thin high index lens. He said that if I didn’t like this very thin lens, he would bear the cost of replacing it.
I love my glasses. This is the first time since the eighties that I’ve had a pair of glasses I prefer to contacts. They fit my face and the lens doesn’t protrude from the frame.
Great customer service and product.

This is THE place to buy spectacles in Baltimore! Picking out frames has never been so fun. They have the most well-​rounded selection I have ever seen, from polished and conservative to funky-​fresh, as the salesman put it.
I am on my second pair of prescription glasses and sunglasses from Paris West. I got so many compliments on my first set of frames (a pair of AWESOME Chanel glasses that I adore and Ferragamo sunglasses) that it was hard to make the switch, even after I knew that I was in dire need of a new prescription. I finally went in yesterday for an eye appointment and to pick out frames.
The eye doc they have on site was great… SO much better than the eye doctors I have been seeing at Rowen’s group down the street at Mercy Medical Center. I felt like he really paid attention to what he was doing and didn’t rush through the exam.
Next was the fun part: picking out frames! I wish I could remember the name of the gentleman who helped me. He was really helpful and basically went through all of the cases and helped me pick out five different eyeglass frames that looked good on me. From there I got input from all of the staff, including Jordan, the owner, until I decided on the one I liked best. He even got me to try on some really crazy designs that I knew I would never buy just for the fun of it. I also picked out a pair of Maui Jim sunglasses that I adore. Jordan recommended getting the lenses polarized since I will be wearing them out on the water quite a bit, which I really appreciate.
I am actually excited to wear my new glasses and can’t wait to wear my sunglasses out paddle boarding! I won’t go anywhere else to buy frames as long as I live in Baltimore!

If there were more stars I would give this place 10 stars. I have been dealing with Jordan and his staff at Paris West going on 3 years now. I have brought all my glasses and sunshades from them and have gotten many compliments on them. I have 2 pairs of prescription glasses (gucci and marc jacobs) and prescrition sunshades as well. (lacooste, 2 channel frames, 1 limited edition pair of prada frames).
I also like how they always stay on top with the top pf the line frames and are constantly getting in new shipments week after week. They also do a nice trunk show in the spring time where they may feature a particular brand like paul frank and so forth. Also the staff is very attentive and knowledgeable and will not send the customer out of the establishment until they are fully satisfied. I highky recommend this place if you are looking for top of the line eyewear. I dont think I will ever go to another place for glasses ever.