Barber of Hell’s Bottom

A really great haircut with professionals who take their trade seriously. The cut comes with a free clean up that goes beyond what you would expect from an ordinary clean up. Very much worth the price. My biggest complaint: they only offer you water, coffee, and a variety of teas. I would give this place a 6 out of 5 stars if they offered scotch or whiskey.
We must unite in our petition of DC government to let Barber at Hell’s bottom provide whiskey to their loyal patrons.

It should be called The Butcher of Hells Bottom, because that’s what they’ll do to your hair.
I am done with this place for good after my last cut was so bad that I had to find –another– barber elsewhere who could fix it. Just brutal. Any they charge $ 70 for this crap. People will pay for anything.
I’ve found a new place to go on Capitol Hill — way better cuts, much better service, much less money.

I cut hair, and I have had several fix ups from this place. The attention to detail here is lacking. Your literally paying for their lease and nothing else here. No frills nothing special except a whopping price tag. Attached is a pic from a haircut that was done here 1 week ago. It’s an eggplanted mushroom on top with no fade poor edging and the top looks like it was cut with a rock. This hurts the industry to charge immense rates for a student in training type of job on your «head suit» steer clear save yourself from a month of *let this grow

Carly Scott is an excellent barber

Tooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo­oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo­oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo EXPENSIVE!

Barber of Hell’s Bottom is a great place not only for men, but for women with short hair as well. The shop itself is very clean, pleasantly decorated, and has a comfortable ambiance. All staff members are kind and courteous. Upon entering, the receptionist will offer you a refreshment, which is nice. Even better are the complimentary touch-​ups, which are great for people like me who quickly get annoyed with disorderly fuzz.
My barber here is Elsi, and I am very pleased with her work. Not only is she an extremely talented barber, but she is very accommodating of clients’ desired style, and will work diligently to get your hair done exactly to your liking. Her expertise and passion for her craft is immediately apparent, and clients are rewarded for it – her attentiveness and dedication to detail has thus far been unparalleled. In DC, you’d be hard pressed to find better. Elsi is also very fun and easy to talk with, so appointments are enjoyable and fly by quickly.
If you’re looking for a well-​executed cut that actually looks good in practice and not just in theory (as with most places in this city), this is your spot!

I’m not a fan of the price, but the service, atmosphere, and ultimately the haircut keep me coming back to see Elsi and dwell in her passion and expertise for a while. Oh, and they don’t play music that makes me want to ask her to go ahead and cut my throat with that straight razor while getting a shave. ;-) Her work is always impeccable and I leave the shop happy every time.
Haven’t seen anyone else at the shop so I can’t personally attest, but I know Elsi’s work and she expresses appreciation for her coworkers regularly.

I’ve been going to Barber of Hell’s Bottom and exclusively been attended to by Elsi for seven months and I can’t see myself going anywhere else.
While everyone there is extremely attentive and courteous, Elsi is simply a cut above. While I used to think that I knew the right way to handle haircut, I’ve since learned that I’ve been wrong for 29 years. Elsi set me on the right path and I wouldn’t think for even a second to question her judgment. I let her know my overall thoughts and she executes in a way that improves on whatever it was I thought I wanted.
Elsi is good at her job, but more importantly, she’s just pleasant to have taking care of you. Can’t go wrong with either Elsi or anyone else from the HB crew.

Came to the shop for the first time on April 2, 2016 and left a life long customer. Dane was my barber and I cannot give him enough praise. I had been growing my hair out from a buzz due to a previous haircut at another shop gone terribly wrong. Dane’s attention to detail and quality of cut was second to none. Without question, Dane is the best barber I have ever had. Very friendly guy and easy to talk to. If I could give more than 5 stars I would.
Shop has a great atomosphere and really cool vintage décor. If you are a guy and getting your hair cut at any other shop in DC you are truly missing out.
Well done Dane and well done Barber of Hell’s Bottom!

$ 70+ for a men’s haircut! SEVENTY DOLLARS! I don’t care if I come out of there looking like Brad Pit, no man should pay that much for a haircut. And they just raised their prices… lol. Crazy! After their most recent price increase, I switched to another barber in VA. It’s not in the city and I can’t walk there from home, which was nice, but it’s not a far drive and just as good of a cut for only $ 18.

I really enjoyed coming here people are friendly and for the most part good barbers. I did have an unfortunate experience right before Christmas where my 4″ long beard was reduced to a lumpy divited mess + tragic haircut to boot. I looked past that because I had only good experiences before. I also appreciated the willingness to fix their mistakes. Which they did offering me 2 free beard trims to attempt to fix my beard as it grew back out.
Trying to make an appointment today seems that prices have gone up $ 10 across the board, haircuts now $ 70 beard trims $ 40. With tip that’s like$ 140/​$ 150. I just think that’s a ridiculous price for a men’s haircut and beard trim. I like the place but not willing to be gauged. Especially when it seems like at least one member of the staff doesn’t know how to trim beards or listen to customers.

I’ve been getting my hair and beard trimmed here for a few months and I must say this place is amazing. Super professional and hip (but not pretentious), conviently located a block away from Shaw metro. They have the best candles and barbers, speaking of which, Elsi (my preferred barber) is a ball of tattoed goodness sent here to bring smiles to the soon-​to-​be-​groomed masses. Satisfaction guranteed. She is an inspiration and a true artist. This place rocks.

I love this place and I’m always happy with the haircuts I receive. I’ve been a frequent customer since early 2015. Wes cuts my hair almost always and always does an amazing job. However, they’ve recently raised their rates to $ 70 per haircut, which is obviously pricey.
I wish they’d consider perhaps a customer membership program, where maybe you pay a certain amount per month for 1 — 2 haircuts for a cheaper overall price, but for a year subscription.

This place is solid. Great service, good haircut, they wash your hair, good product, and nice barbers overall. They offer free clean ups in between cuts. The major issue is price. The haircut is extremely overpriced. I really liked my haircut but since the price is high, I recommend going to another local barber every other cut or every 2 cuts.

I typically don’t write reviews. But hopefully my prospective will be of value for someone else. The reason I chose to try out Hell’s Bottom was because I needed to find a new barber for myself and my son because the one we were going to abruptly had to leave his establishment due to unfortunate circumstances. So I was on a search for well organized and design barber shop that had the knowledge to cut an array of different hair textures. In addition to, I had to feel comfortable taking my son too. Hell’s Bottom was on my top list, due to the shops well design, reputation, accolades and the owner seems like a guy you will want to have a beer with. And to top it all off my previous barber ended up with them. I figured this was an omen from the gods. So I decided to try them out.
I set up an appointment a few days before Christmas. The receptionist at their Rhode Island Avenue location was cool and welcoming. And took her time to answer the slight concerns that I had (such as if they cut hair with texture and is the price the same across the board). She chuckled and said don’t worry, she totally understand my concerns and will surely look out for me. Just that simple conversation put me at ease. But unfortunately my previous barber was at the 14^th Street location. So I was in the dilemma should I go to the Rhode Island location or the 14^th Street location. I picked the latter. The 14^th Street location experience with slightly different. When I called for an appointment it wasn’t as welcoming. But I really didn’t think much of it. I try to contact my previous barber to give him the heads up that I will probably be seeing him. But I guess he wasn’t too excited and tried to push me off by indicating «the cost will probably be to high for me»… Which I found to be extremely weird, because I’m in the income bracket of the so called 1 percentile. Nevertheless I kept my appointment. Even though the location was in a basement. The design of the space was super appealing. The receptionist offered water or coffee I think. But declined the offer. Besides that it was nothing really memorable about my first arrival at the shop. I had to wait at least 15 minutes or so to be seated in the chair, even though I was on time for my appointment. I was able to see my previous barber. Like always he did an amazing job. But I will have to admit the conversation we were having slightly made me uncomfortable. Such as how he preferred his «new type of clients» from is old. and how he prefer to cut his new clients hair. didn’t really know exactly what that meant. Not sure, but it slightly had a racial or classism undertone. But just brushed it off and chose not to dwell on it. So I ended up getting my haircut and a slight beard trim which cost me $ 90 plus tip. was slightly surprised how high it was. I could surely be wrong but for that cost range, I will expect a little bit more on the service. They don’t tell you about the chance to come back for a free cleanup (which I really don’t know what that entails). I had to bring it up. and all I got in response was «oh, would you be interested in that?» But they put me in the books. Even though I heard you could walk in and hopefully in between your barber appointment cuts they could take care of you. So fast forward for the free clean up.
Rather than walking in I called to make a same day appointment for my clean up. They were able to accept me. Unfortunately I was running 15 minutes late. I called them to indicate the delay. The receptionist indicated to me that they will try to get me in if I could get to the shop within that 15 minutes. I bullsh! t you not. rather than being 15 minutes late, I was 17 or 18 minutes late. I was told that my barber or any other barber could see me. Even though no one was in my barber’s chair. I was slightly dumbfounded. And the way that I was addressed you wouldn’t think that I paid 90+ dollars for a simple cut.
In conclusion, I never received my free clean up. and I believe it was clear that they do not need my dollars. Yes my barber skills are good and the interior of the shop is nice. but the service and the attitude that was provided. I don’t think it’s worth $ 90+… I’m probably not their type of client they want. Lol. So I guess it would be best for me to go somewhere else.
PS my apologies for any grammar or spelling errors.

For such a big city you would think it would be easier to find a good barber. Alas, D. C seems to be the exception. I came to Barber of Hell’s Bottom about a week and a half ago and received a great cut from Jon.
The price is high, but as part of the price you receive a complimentary shape-​up for up to a month after the original cut. I will definitely be coming back.

I’ve been here twice. My most recent cut was $ 80+ after tip, and I have to say: it was just really average. I’ve had much better $ 35 cuts from Bang and Chaos.
The touch up policy is cool, but I think my touch up actually made me look worse… it kind of exaggerated the original mistakes, making my hair grow out in an unflattering way.
I’m no expert, but I think the problem was that the stylist pretty much gave me the generic «short on the sides and back, leave some length on top» cut, even though I explained how I like to part my hair, pushing it back and to the side.
At other salons, they’ll make this side-​part hairstyle easier to achieve with a little disconnect (or undercut). But at Hell’s Bottom, both times, I just got the generic «even all over» haircut, which means it grows out like a Chia Pet (especially if you have thick hair that grows fast).
Not sure what went wrong here… maybe it was my fault for explaining it wrong. But either way, the stylist should have known better, especially after seeing me for the trim.
For $ 75, I expect much more. That’s very expensive for a men’s haircut, even in DC.
Why is it so hard to get a good haircut in this town?

Finding a good barber in DC is a tough undertaking, and it took me over a year. But once I found Ryan at Hell’s Bottom, I knew my search had ended. He is incredibly detail-​oriented and never rushes through a haircut or beard trim. And every time I have an appointment, I leave with a smile on my face. The whole staff is extremely friendly, and the classic barber shop atmosphere is a nice break from the hectic goings on of the city. I’ve been going to Hell’s Bottom for a year now, and I absolutely love it.
Yeah, it can be a little pricey compared to cuts in other cities, but the cost isn’t at all bad for DC. Do you want it done cheap or do you want it done right? I’d gladly shell out a bit more to know that I’ll be looking my best. Plus, first impressions are everything out here.

Walk ins welcome it says! I was refused at the door because ‘we are booked!’
Enough said!

You say black I say white
You say bark I say bite
You say shark I say hey man
Jaws was never my scene
And I don’t like Star Wars
You say Rolls I say Royce. All I wanna do is Bicycle bicycle bicycle
So first and foremost, clearly there is bike parking nearby! This was put in about 18 months ago (for the treehuggers of the world! — no comment about myself) Or one could take the metro if one wanted to… This Unilocaler drove in and there is very limited street parking in Shaw. There is also a metro stop near by. All in all, Mike & the gang did a good job picking a location with good public transportation options – DC in general has terrible parking. But places like this are the reason why Shaw is an up and coming neighborhood!
So everyone else has written about [fill in the blank] barber so I will not. This place is pretty laid back and you will get a pretty awesome 10+ minute hairwash with actual hot water unlike certain other places I have been to (not going to name them here).
What I will discuss though is the PRICE — All of the UnilocalERs have noted the high price of $ 60+ which is very high for getting some of your poor little hairs trimmed off… even if a barber is paying attention to you for more than 20 mins. And even if you are having a real conversation vs some of the crap at say a normal hair cuttery place… (not naming other places though ;) HERE is the catch though — are you ready. no, gosh, sit down. get your coffee, relax, have a sip,. as Aaron Rogers would say, «RELAX.» Yes, this place is Pricey. BUT a client is welcome to come back in a few weeks for a 15 – 20 minute «clean-​up» FREE OF CHARGE — (little known secret — I am ruining this place, I’m sorry.) So basically, a client is getting 2 or 3 haircuts spread over several weeks or months for $ 60+ so it is the same price as the ‘other guys’ but a much much better experience!
The Good — Hair wash! Conversation… Oh, and the 45 min cut!
The Bad — limited parking…
The ugly — the price (but we have talked about this so not really)
Overall, I am going back to this place!