Jimmy Potters

We made an appointment a few weeks in advance for our Groupon for pottery wheel for two. We showed up 10 minutes early as instructed and we were seated and prepped within a reasonable time. Our instructor was Angel and she was great. We lucked out and we were the only two during that session and the whole experience was great. I was the one who needed the most help (My girlfriend took a pottery class in college so it was like riding a bike for her). All in all we had a great time and a very pleasant experience. We paid in advance to come back to paint our pieces and we’re already looking forward to it!

This experience was fine. I wouldn’t pay to do it again, but we will come back to glaze our pieces.
We had a try it class on the pottery wheel. We showed up 10 minutes early, but our class started about 15 minutes late because the people before us were not done yet. It was a one hour class, when the hour was nearly up (the 45 minutes we were left with after the late group), Jimmy tried to gently rush us off the wheel. We had only had about 30 minutes to work with the one ball of clay, after our 15 minute introduction during which we watched but did not get to work with clay yet. We did ask for the second ball, and we were allowed a little overtime, so that made up some for the lateness. But we definitely felt rushed, and didn’t feel like we really could spend time working on the second ball.
Jimmy’s instruction was good, but he seemed very bored with the whole thing. He used lots of canned phrases I heard him using with the group before us. It seems like although he may love the art of pottery itself, he isn’t that into teaching it to know-​nothings like us.
Although it was a lot of fun to work on the clay on the pottery wheel, I really would have liked more time to just play with the clay on the wheel to learn how it responds to manipulation.
When we arrived there was at least one other staff member there who could have given us some good instruction before we started our hour on the wheel. All of what Jimmy taught us in his 15 minute talk, could have been done in the 25 minutes between when we arrived and when we finally got to sit down at the wheel. Then we could have spent a lot more time working with the clay. I think that having one of his staff give general instruction about how to work on a wheel before we sat down would significantly improve the business model.
We will have to update once we have seen our fired pieces and glazed them.
All in all it’s worth it for a one time thing, especially if you can find a deal. But I don’t think we will be making a habit of it.

Came for a Try It class with my BF and was kind of discouraged when I wasn’t able to make anything. So the next week I signed up for classes with a different teacher (Casey) and Wow! I went from a total pottery failure to making really pretty bowls and mugs that I’ll be proud to give as gifts. Casey really is an amazing and patient teacher and has helped me grow so much as a student. I’ve seen her teach kids and she is engaging and funny. If you’re interested in learning the art of pottery, I highly recommend signing up for classes with Casey!

My wife and I attended this Sunday, the instructor was very nice and helpful. We got there early to look around .We have never done this before so we needed additional help. It was a great experience. One thing I didn’t like was they didn’t have a credit machine to pay for the painting.

Great instruction, scheduling was a bit challenging. People were nice, very fun to create your own clay with a pottery wheel. I definitely recommend it.

I really wanted to like this place, but I was very disappointed. We purchased a groupon, and after great difficulty setting up the class, we were finally able to find something that was available. There were only 3 people in our class. The instructor was nice, but he clearly wanted to get us in and out of there as quickly as possible. When we needed a little extra help, he would just do it for us. I think the session is designed so that you can get the experience of making pottery, but I don’t think it’s something for people to keep coming back to. When we finished with our pieces, we were asked to put our name on a piece of paper next to the bowl we made, and we could come back in 2 weeks to pick it up. That’s what we did, but the pick-​up was also frustrating. Although we were told someone else could pick up the pieces, when my husband tried to do that, they were unable to find the pieces. They asked him to describe what we made (the same red clay bowl that everyone else made), and eventually he left, without the items. I called to describe our un-​unique red clay bowls, and the person I talked said that all she needed was our names. She found the pieces, and set them aside. When my husband went back there on his way home from work, they once again asked him to describe the pieces. Eventually they did find our pieces, wrapped up and bagged (just as the person on the phone promised). We were so excited to see our pieces, but I was very disappointed when I unwrapped my bowl to find a huge piece missing. The piece was not in the bag or wrapped in the paper — it clearly broke off before they packaged it up. I guess it’s safe to say they provided me with everything they said they would (a hands-​on pottery session, and a piece to take home), but I expected more.

After I posted my original review, the Marketing & Events Manager for the studio contacted me regarding my original post. While I appreciated that the staff contacted me and offered to help resolve the issues I had with my experience, I was a little put-​off by how often the manager expressed that they wished I had not posted a less-​than-​enthusiastic review without contacting them.

Anyway, we picked up our pottery today after an extended back-​and-​forth effort. My little pot is more or less intact; there is a little crack/​flaking on the bottom but nothing that one can notice once the pot is upright. The glaze is fairly even — I have no idea how difficult or easy it is to glaze a piece of ceramic evenly around the piece — and there aren’t any major blisters or anything like that.
I do wish that I had been given a little notice and direction about the cracking when we picked up our pottery. I have no idea why it cracked along the bottom: did it have something to do with the firing, or with my construction? How do I avoid it? I have no idea! They didn’t even warn me that there were cracks.
So my opinion now is about the same: this place is OK. Maybe it’s as the manager told me in their message; that they’re «in transition» and still getting everything settled. I hope they can work to get some consistency with their staff to avoid the hiccups they seem to have.

Bought the groupon and was really excited to give this a try. My friend and I did the pottery wheel. The actual experience was just «meh». We got a little instruction and then spent maybe 15 minutes making our little bowls. A few weeks later when I picked them up I was incredibly disappointed. Both bowls were in a box with about 30 other pieces. Both of our bowls were cracked, and not just a little. One had a hole in the bottom. When I pointed it out to the lady helping us her response was «oh …» That’s literally all she said …

So unfortunate to buy groupon coupons and have to get a refund because you can’t make an appointment with the business that advertised with groupon.
When I saw this company on groupon I was so excited; having a child home on spring break I thought it would be wonderful for her and a friend to make pottery, paint it and have a nice «take-​away» of the event to boot. I tried for four (4) solid days to get in touch with this establishment, but to no avail! By the time I FINALLY spoke with someone today I WAS DONE!
In my opinion, The woman who answered was RUDE, and I mean RUDE! She was short with me and told me that they had an appointment at 4 pm, and that it would only be for an hour. I indicated that this would not work for me and asked if they had anything else available — you can guess what happened next. Needless to say, I asked for a refund from groupon (oh and btw, she didn’t appear to even be moved by this).
…and just when you thought the story was over. 4 hrs later, I received a polite call from the same woman who was now responding to my Unilocal message inquiring about a reservation (not all my internet inquires). She didn’t even recognize that I had spoken with her earlier and that request from me were in her company’s email box. Geesh!
There’s much more I can say but the bottom line is if you can get in touch with them, you are blessed and have majestic, take charge angels in your back pocket.

We called and made a reservation from 6 – 7, but when we arrived the employee said the store was closing. We then tried calling and making a reservation on their website many times within the next two weeks, but no one ever contacted us back. Will never try to make a reservation for this place again!

I see four and five star — reviews — are we all talking about the same place? I’ve been to the Fairfax and Arlington locations a total of three times, twice and once, respectively, and each time I left at a confused state.
Experience 1 — Creating bowls (Fairfax): My friend and I arrived for a pottery session and the guy working there seemed surprised that we were here. He then starts working at the pottery wheel and gives a loose narrative on how to make a bowl, which made it really difficult to absorb any information because we weren’t able to interact with the clay and wheel during his instruction. When it was finally our turn, he was encouraging but we are still clueless about how to make the bowl.
Experience 2 — Painting bowls — fail (Fairfax): Why does this place close so early?! There was so much traffic so by the time we arrived there was only about 15 minutes or so before the place would close. So we just picked up our pottery and planned to go to the Arlington location, since that was closer to us, and paint there. OK, so this is partially our fault for being late, but it’d be nice if they could keep the place open for about a half hour after closing, maybe? It’s fine, these ratings are primarily based on Experience 1 and 3.
Experience 3 — Painting bowls — fail again (Arlington): We made an appointment and received a confirmation email. And the place was closed!!! We called, and we were told that maybe the employees were under the weather (!!). After explaining that this was an inconvenience, they promised a $ 10 gift certificate (towards what? We don’t plan on going to any of the classes.)
We will have to return a 4^th time to the Arlington location, assuming that it will be open the next time. We’ll remember to call them before heading over, just in case.

We did this on a Living Social deal (date night) and enjoyed it. There was no instruction as we were just painting pottery but the studio was quiet, had a lot of glazes and pottery pieces.
Of course it helps they are located near Chuy’s (Fairfax) which made for a great post painting pottery nosh.

Running out of ideas for date night? Stop pulling out your hair and book a pottery session at Jimmy Potters! The owner is – wait for it – Jimmy, a lively and perhaps the friendliest man you’ll ever meet. He owns a location in North Arlington and is planning on opening up a third. At this studio, you can take a pottery class (cue the «Ghost» scene jokes) and also paint what you’ve made or the studio’s premade pieces. Haven’t made pottery before? Don’t stress because the instructors are very friendly and patient. You will definitely wind up with something usable whether it be a bowl or a shot glass. Be patient, though. You will need to wait 10 days in between pottery-​making and painting to finally have your masterpiece. The coolest feature about this studio is it’s BYOB!
I will surely plan a gathering here in the near future. Super impressed!

Went here for a special event recently and absolutely loved it. Jimmy was so kind and genuine, and really had a helpful spirit.
The instructor Andrew was knowledgeable and did a good job encouraging and explaining the potters wheel technique. I will definitely be back to take more classes!
The studio is a good size and I really enjoyed the atmosphere.
I think Jimmy Potters would be the perfect place for a group party, and they also have BYOB classes. If you’ve ever wanted to try making pottery this is the place to come!

The best experience for kids and ADULTS! Jimmy is a great teacher and was patient with my boyfriend and I on our date night — and it is BYOB! I highly recommend this event for parents with kids as well as anyone who is looking for something new! Can’t wait to go back and paint our final products!

I was here for the clay class where we all got to use the potter’s wheel to make our own bowls (or in my case, a plate since it fell flat). It was a really fun experience, shaping the clay and watching it transform into different bowl shapes before reaching the final product. It’s also a lot harder than it looks!
It was an enjoyable experience, with the classical music playing, Jimmy (I think) teaching us how to shape the clay, and watching the clay change. The prices are a bit much to get the bowl put in the kiln, but I think it’s ultimately worth it to be able to say that you made the serving dish you’re serving things out of.
I’d consider it again for a girls’ night (maybe an alternative to an alcohol filled bachelorette party?).