Tomcats Barbershop

My haircut today was not a pleasant experience. He gave me an I-​resent-​you vibe from the beginning; told me I was crazy for living in a place as terrible as Greenpoint; that it was a shit hole with too high rents and drug addicts passed out in the street. This is not my experience; not sure who Tomcats — steps from HBO’s Girls fictional apartment in Greenpoint — has in mind for clients but I wasn’t welcome. He had disdain for the type of haircut I wanted, was not communicative, told me he «had no other way to explain it» when I asked a question. He did an acceptable job in spite of himself.
Looking at Unilocal now, I see this is where I should have gone to specifically ask for someone with good ratings. If you call without specifying, you get whoever is available.
I had great success with Mark, but he moved to California. I tried another woman for a last minute unplanned haircut once. She was pretty open about her I-don’t-give-a-fuck attitude. She even said she was glad I was her last client of the day because she wouldn’t have to outdo herself on the next haircut. Really?
Anyway, it was back to Mark after that session, and a little awkward when he asked me who had cut my hair last time because, I quote, «whoever did it fucked it up». I’m not sure if this same woman connected the dots but I did get a death stare from where she sat, idle next to the phone at the front desk, luckily far from a pair of scissors at the moment.
It’s back to the city for haircuts for me. I’d rather pay more with less convenience than feel threatened in a chair at Tomcats.

After 20+ yesos of going to the same barbershop — I decided that my usual crew cut days had come to an end. I googled ‘best barbershop in NYC’ and decided upon tomcat. First off the area is awesome — I haven’t been in green point in over a decade and wow has it changed.
Ok back to the barbershop. I called and luckily the appointment they had available was exactly the time I wanted to go. Once I was there I was greeted and offered a beer (I don’t drink anymore but definitely appreciated)
My barber Juan was great and helped me go through the process of redefining myself. I left with a new sense of confidence that I previously was lacking. It’s a tad pricey at $ 30 but definitely worth it. 5 stars.

What happened to the friendly neighborhood barber you can trust? This place touts free beer, so you can be drunk enough to overlook how they treat you like trash, take your money and kick you out. This is a joke barber shop filled with people who hate their lives and have scissors.
BUT if you like paying $ 30 for a $ 5 haircut and enjoy spending 30 minutes with a condescending prick, then this is your place!
Side note if you’re a barber there and reading this: You make people’s hair shorter for a living. Don’t be an asshole to nice people because of where you are in life. It’s your fault.

Great place with very skilled personnel. I was thinking about updating my haircut and stumbled upon Tomcat. What a great decision it was. I made a mistake of not calling ahead to schedule an appointment, so I had to wait a little bit but that was entirely my fault and the time goes by fast as the staff is very friendly and entertaining.
My hair was cut by Alex and she did an amazing job. I wasn’t even completely sure what I wanted to have on my head and she was able to catch on my tips and cut my hair exactly how I wanted. She took hair time and made sure everything was absolutely perfect. I got, what I think is, the best haircut up to date. I received nothing but complements and questions about whereabouts of this saloon. I will be back and recommend this place to anyone looking for skilled hairdressers.

The place has a cool vibe but my barber was awful; had a terrible attitude and refused to do the cut that I wanted («I don’t do that») which was just to thin out my hair, take some of the bulk out. Also stabbed my neck a couple of times without apologizing («be careful!»). Won’t be coming back.

Our experience at the shop started on a really negative note. We walk in, and as most barbershops I have been to, we sat on the bench right away to wait for the next available barber. At that point, the hostess Liza who was very friendly asked us to come to the desk to sign in. As we do, one of the barbers, Juan, was extremely mean and condescending. He basically said: «do you always just sit down instead of coming to the front desk? There’s a front desk for a reason». As a new customer and because of the fact that the front desk is not actually at the front but to the side, I didn’t think we had to. I understand we made a mistake but there is no need to be rude about it. We almost walked out but Mark, the other barber, was extremely friendly and welcoming. Mark gave us great haircuts and apologized for his coworkers rude behavior. Thanks Mark!!!

This place is great if you want to go somewhere where they half-​listen to you, do whatever they want, and give you a negative attitude the whole time.
1″ off the top turned into about 3″, 2 or 3 on the lower back and sides turned into the whole back and sides, natural long look turned into military 1950s.
If I could give half a star I would.
All barbers/​stylists have training, but the best ones actually listen to what their clients want.

If you’re gonna wax poetic about the lost art of the hot shave and how you put yours up against anyone in the city, you should make sure you can back it up. After all that talk by my barber (Johnny), my shit felt like a with-​the-​grain shave from a bic. Not to mention the small patch next to my ear that was missed all together. Did I say anything when I realized how rough I still was after walking out? Of course not! Why? Cause I don’t exactly think critiquing someone’s work and then letting them go back at my face with a straight razor is the best idea.
Listen, I generally have a rule of not writing negative reviews. I’m like 90% 4 stars and above. But if you’re gonna charge $ 30 for a shave and hype yourself up, you’re putting yourself out there for criticism if you do a shit job.
I suppose the one benefit is that he didn’t cut me at all and the experience itself felt relaxing. The place did have a cool vibe to it as well. Unfortunately that doesn’t make up for the still existing stubble on my face.

Been back twice. So far, so good.

Cut the hair shorter than I asked, was rushed. Appreciate the cool vibes and beer.

this is my first review on Unilocal and let me say i am not one to ever write reviews!
this review is based only on the haircut i received and only that. The shop is awesome first place in NYC that offers free beer super cool ! the price was just right. definitely not inexpensive but it wont break your pockets at least for NYC prices!
now on to the cut! it was the worst haircut i have ever received !!! it felt like Edward scissor hands was cutting my hair. all i can remember was scissors flying everywhere i felt like she was running a marathon on my head with her hands. i asked for a skin fade what i received looked like she placed a bowl on head and clipped it up and that was her definition of a fade!
i left the shop and i just had to come back in and ask for her to fix it. after she failed to fix my fade she handed me off to Tommy i think (super cool dude). i felt bad for Tommy im sure he didn’t want to clean some one else s disaster but he did.
Tommy was able create some what of a fade with the hair that was left… tommy saved the day but it was still a horrible experience!
i will not be going back to the shop.

I’ve been loyal to Tomcats since January of last year. I was ecstatic at first. David is worlds better than most barbers back in Miami, and was able to accommodate the pickiest of requests. His attitude was upbeat, too, which helped.
However, when our schedules began to conflict, I tried different barbers. Neck scrapes and uneven cuts were necessary evils in exchange for the convenience of remaining close to home. So I was understandably relieved when I found a very gossipy Juan, who, despite his lack of professionalism, is somewhat gifted with razors and scissors.
I’ve never missed an appointment at this barbershop. In fact, I try to call at least 1 – 2 days ahead of time, and I show up 10 minutes early with cash in hand to avoid ATM fees, seeing as Tomcats is obnoxiously cash-​only. I tip upwards of 33% per overpriced cut, and I don’t even grab a ‘free’ PBR because I normally schedule appointments during work hours.
This is why my experience with them today was absolutely ridiculous. I scheduled an appointment for 2pm approximately 40 minutes ago, which I deemed miraculous, given how packed they normally are. Maybe 10 minutes later, I received a call from Mitch at the shop, telling me I had missed FOUR appointments with Juan (that’s at least twenty weeks worth of haircuts for me), and he was refusing to accept me. I made it clear that I’ve literally never missed an appointment, but a very befuddled Mitch stuttered like a broken PC, insisting I needed to reschedule with another barber.
This infuriated me. I’m not about to jump on a flight with a botched helmet head and a Jackson Pollock replica on the back of my neck because a barber hasn’t developed customer service skills and his employer can’t keep its books up-​to-​date. There are way too many outstanding barbershops in NYC for someone to put up with even mediocre service, especially if only 1 – 2 of their barbers can properly execute any style beyond Brooklyn’s ubiquitous undercut.
Someone please offer another barbershop a cheap lease nearby.

These guys are Ok. Depending on who cuts your hair, you’ll get an annoying amateur or a cool seasoned veteran. Generally a safe bet for a decent haircut.

Eileen cut my hair. One of the best haircuts I have had in my 33 years.
I have a receding hairline and I’m very emotional about it. Eileen brooks no nonsense. She just gave me an awesome haircut.
Also I had a problem with my atm card, so she let pay on the installment plan which was super cool.

–clean shop
–extremely expensive for what it is
— same as a 15 dollar hair cut
— I think this shop is just name and price it doesn’t justify the price or the service

Great old school rock-​a-​billy barbershop. I usually get a generic business guy haircut in midtown, but took a chance at Tomcats for something different. I walked out looking like a new old man, which is good, I hope. Palmade and all.
PBR in the cooler, and vintage magazines. Ask for Joey.

Visiting from Portland and needed a trim. Heard about Tomcats from a friend. I ended up with Veronica, which turned out to be a good thing. She knows her stuff. Impressively quick and talented too. I’ll be back the next time I’m in town.

Let’s make this clear: this is a review about the receptionist, NOT the haircut and service. My boyfriend has gotten his hair cut three times by the same gentleman, who was very attentive and personable. The layout was a cool, laid back atmosphere, with eclectic music.
NOW the bad news. The brunette with glasses should NOT be working as the receptionist and answering phones. Her attitude both on the phone and in person is TERRIBLE. We have tried repeatedly to be polite and courteous, but in return received nothing but snarky backtalk and impatience. Her skills in customer service – simply put – sucks. Think of all the nasty names you can call a person, and she represents the poster child to each.
The owner/​manager should fire this girl and give the job to someone who can at least appear to enjoy interacting with people. Tomcats Barbarshop would be better represented as the hip establishment that it is – this chick has made it a disservice to them – and as a result, they’ve just lost a repeat customer.

vibe at tomcat is as good as it gets and the price is right too.
Veronica has been giving me the best haircuts for two years now… best i’ve ever had… not to mention how much fun she is!

First Unilocal review ever, so this place has to be worth it, though I know some —holes make it a point just to log on to degrade a place; this isn’t one of those places, or reviews.
As a man, women notice things like your clothes, height, jaw line, physique, and hair; I have the hair at least, and I take very good care of mine and very seriously. I’ve grown mine out for over 2 years and have maintained my hair through various high-​end locations throughout the city that range from $ 40 to $ 90 for a cut, from places that rhyme with Carbiere, Rhon Allan, and Tommy Funs,
Today I took a chance and had a 1:30pm appointment at Tomcats, and I’m sure I finally found the right place, and haircut, that’ll I’ll only go back to forever. It was actually all a surprise, as I called at 10:30am and left a message to see if they had any availability for today, and an hour later I received a phone call stating that 1:30 was the only available time to squeeze me in.
I showed up at 1:20pm and it seemed that every barber was busy with someone, and there there were currently 2 people sitting there waiting, plus 2 – 3 more walked in a few minutes later. I assume the 2 before me were walk-​ins or perhaps waiting for their particular barber, because at exactly 1:30 on the dot, I was greeted and taken by VERONICA.
First, I want to say she was GREAT! After the usual banter, she asked what I wanted to do. I told her that it’s been a while since my last cut because I haven’t quite found that right person, but my hair has gotten far too long and wanted something new, so I told her I trusted her to do whatever she wanted with this hypothetical ‘blank canvas’ and to surprise me; essentially take this giant block of ice and make me whatever sculpture she found best.
She was hesitant at first and was really trying to find out what I wanted, but she realized that I was serious and finally loosened up to be creative to do whatever she wanted. She cut and cut and cut, used products, blow dried, styled; and the end result turned out the be the BEST HAIRCUT AND STYLE THAT I’VE EVER REALLY LIKED! Even other barbers who walked by as I was still sitting there complimented that it was a clean cut and a nice look that she came up with for me.
She was very professional, knowledgeable, and friendly. Yes, I know they work for tips, but it’s always nice that they have meaningful conversation with you so you’re comfortable and occupied while sitting there, and to someone that you’ll potentially see every few weeks, you want to get to know them and have them feel comfortable working with you. The best was that she was just suggestive to the product that she used in my hair, and only recommended the type of product that I use, and at no point did she, or did it feel like she was pushing the products that they sell there, which can be very irritating when they end being pushy with trying to sell you something. I ended up buying some hair product anyways because I loved how it held and styled my hair perfectly for my new cut.
I would definitely recommend this place to anyone, this will definitely be my only place for a cut every few weeks, and I will definitely trust Veronica to cut my hair every time!
P. S. Sorry for the lengthy review, I’m new to this! ;)