Chong’s Barber & Beauty Shop

May Chen has been cutting my hair for a number of years. She is great and friendly, and does the haircut to my entire satisfaction. Every time, no exception.
Since this shop is now closed, she moved to 1003 Powell, at Clay.

Nancy is hands down my favorite nail tech in the city. She is always ready with smile and a lovely life story. She pays close attention to detail and gives the best hot towel hand massages.

Wonderful lady, Bonnie. She’s careful, real, nice, and has 30 years of experience to boot. Trained in the old days of traditional Chinese gender roles, this is a no frills place to get a solid, quick hair cut. I’ve seen her cut all sorts of hair, from curls to thin, to frizzy. She knows what she’s doing. She charges an insanely fair price ($ 12), so tip her well. She’s well known for skipping breakfast to keep customers going on a busy weekend morning.

Very good men’s haircut place. Very good price and services. It’s a little old store, no fancy stuff.

I absolutely love coming to this place now that I live in the city. I’m used to paying $ 60+ for a mens cut at most places for a great cut, but this place is unreal. My $ 10 haircut from Chong’s gets more compliments than when I go to the more hipster spots. I’ve never had to wait more than 15 minutes and the neighborhood is pretty nice. I love walking through Chinatown, stopping in here, and then checking out the restaurants and bars near by. They even have a TV in there with the game on!
So if you’re a guy like me that wants a quality haircut, fast, at a price that can’t be beat, definitely stop by. They are cash only (i think), they accept walk-​ins, and are even open on Sunday!

Having a scissor cut for 10 is amazing and she always gets the weird tuft of hair in the back fixed. Then another 6 gets you a wash. It makes me realize I have been washing my hair wrong all my life.
Great service for a cheap price, the haircut is better than any other asian cut places I’ve been to, and there’s no unnecessary conversation although they are very friendly.

I’ve been getting my hair cut here for a couple of years. It’s an awesome place to get a buzz cut. The ladies are super nice even though they don’t speak a lot of English. It’s important to go home and shampoo after getting a cut here, but the buzz is off the hook. There’s a fancy place up the street called Public Barber Salon that will give a straight up buzz with no fade for 20 $, but honestly, they can’t complete with Chong’s because 15 $ is with tip and customers can ask for anything they want. The fancy place will buzz the scalp for hell of long and chat for a while, but Chong’s will give a nice face and scalp message with a hot towel at the end of the buzz. It’s pretty awesome.

Great spot. Fast, great price and never much of a wait. Lovely lady.
We went on a Sunday night about 6.30 and she is open until 7.30. We were in and out in 20 minutes. I have been to multiple barbers in sf and this is the best price and equally as good quality as any sf place.

This place holds a special place in my heart!
FIVE STAR REVIEW IS FOR CHONG AND ITS ORIGINAL LIFE.
Chong gave the best haircuts. He’s the best barber I know. Wish I knew of him earlier so that I could have saved my hair from falling and from styling it all wrong.
Before coming here, I use toxic hair gel and LOTS of it! Never got the right haircut and never used it correctly. Now I’m paying for it…
I wish Chong the best with his new ventures. If he ever comes back, I will be first in line!

Been in the city for two years and Chong’s is the best place for a haircut. Only $ 10 for guys and very well done! Perfect location for commuting and plenty of places to hang out before or after. Basically, you’ll always get a smile and a great haircut if you come to Chong’s.

I used to have an awesome lady – then I moved to the bay area. Tried to find a comparable place; keep in mind that I’m cheap. I think if you know exactly what you are looking for in a haircut – this is your place. Come with specific instructions and you should be okay. I tried to go for finger length on top and short on the sides. Resultingly, I hated my haircut for a couple weeks. Honestly though if you’re thinking about spending just 10 bucks on your hair – spare yourself the trouble and buy some clippers and do it yourself. Otherwise you get what you pay for.

I have never written a review for a barber shop, but bad experiences do that.
I saw a sign outside stating «$ 10», and I had some time on my hands, so I said «Why not try it out?»
I told the woman that I wanted to keep the top alone, do this and that … she didn’t listen to me at all. Just gave me the haircut she wanted, usual men’s cut. Cut everything off.
As she was cutting my hair, she kept her eyes on the soap opera that was playing in the right corner … she totally had to turn her head around to watch it. So much so, that she made me very nervous with the scissors, and would once and a while poke me in the ears and eyes with her hands. Was very rough with my head. Totally unprofessional.
So I’m almost boiling pissed at this point. When time to pay, I give her a $ 20 bill, and she gives me $ 8 back, not $ 10. She decided to take it upon herself to take the tip out. Very rude, unprofessional. So I said «Hell no, you give me my correct change back». She did, looking disappointed, and that was it.
Remember folks, most of the time in life, you get what you pay for. Never again at this place.

I’m truly impressed by the quality of the haircut you get here for $ 10, I mean it won’t be the same as a $ 25 haircut, they won’t wash your hair and the place isn’t so clean, but hey, it’s only $ 10, which is probably the cheapest haircut I ever had in my life

May rocks! I’ve been coming here for about three years now. She always gives me a solid haircut for a great deal ($ 10 nominal). It might help that I always get the same haircut. Her english isn’t that great. But, hey, my cantonese isn’t that great either.

Great place for a haircut!
$ 10 for mens hair is a steal!
The owner, Bonnie was very nice and welcoming. She likes to make conversation when cutting your hair. She told me she has been cutting hair since she was 18 in China, shes 45 now, thats 27 years of experience!
Wonderful haircut! Nice waiting room full of entertainments if theres ever a line.
She always recommend you call her before you come because it can get quite busy there especially in the afternoon! She mentioned she opens from 9am to 7:30pm.

This place is very cheap…$ 10 for a men’s haircut, which is unprecedented in SF. They are also open till 7pm on Sundays and have no line. The Asian lady who cuts my hair has trouble understanding me, but she has done a great job the two times that I have been so I cannot complain. My haircut is pretty simple so I would not necessarily recommend this place for a more complex cut, but if you are a guy with basic hair cutting needs, this is a good place.

My hair was butchered. Lady clearly doesn’t know how to cut lighter/​thinner hair. She literally admitted to it after cutting my hair… Why didnt you tell me before you started chopping it off! WTF… Not coming here ever again!

I guess I missed the 5 star train.
It was awhile back. It was an emergency. I had a wedding to go to the next day. My hair looked like fucking Freddy Kruger’s face. My always-​reliable barber was all booked up. I needed contingency plans… asap.
Looking through Unilocal at the late hour, I stumbled across Chong’s Barber. «Ask for Bonnie» was the consenting statement. So i did just that.
I got in the chair, explained explicitly how my hair is to be cut. My hair is weird, it doesn’t behave like other asian guy hair. It has an identity crisis. It takes a lot of directions usually for someone to get it right. So i went through the nitty gritty… that is, until she told me to «be quiet»…
…because apparently it’s distracting her from cutting my hair
yes, before I even really told her anything, she had already started cutting.
ohmyohmyohmy…she was edward scissorhands, except blind and on steroids. with every attempt to give her a few words here and there to tell her what i wanted, she kept telling me to just «be quiet»
finally i opened my eyes and looked at the finished piece. it was straight out of picasso’s studio, except he hadn’t passed away yet. it was no famous piece of work. it was so short… TOO SHORT, where the fuck did my hair go? i asked for a haircut, not a razor blade! i told her that, told her that i specifically told her not to cut too short in certain areas.
her response…“oh, it’ll grow back”…
well no shit woman. here, lemme kick you in your fucking ovaries. if one of your eggs gets damaged… hey…a new one will grow.
wtf kind of response is that.
thanks bonnie, not pleased. not pleased at all.

Though I prefer a «Man’s Man» type barber shop with the girly magazines, heated political debates and a hot lather shave at the end; I do have a special place in my heart for places that give a decent haircut for a decent price.
The standard cut here will set you back $ 10 and it looks better than most of the $ 25 hair cuts I’ve had in this town. Just don’t expect a hot lather shave — or even a warm towel for that matter.

Being new to SF, I was reluctant to find a new barber, but it had to be done. Being asian, I thought other asians would be good at cutring my type of hair. I went on my merry way to J-​Town where I came upon a fancy-​esque salon establishment (I will not name names) where the price for a cut was «$ 38.00−46.00.»
I’m sure they would have done a great job, but I just wanted a haircut. No sir. No tea, no massage, no meticulous hair-​length calculations.
Then comes Chong’s. Walked in, was asked what I wanted, the cut began and soon, it was done.
Ba-​da-​bing.
10 bucks for the haircut. I looked great. No fuss, no frills. Thanks, Chongs.