There's a place on 24th between Castro and Diamond. I inadvertently got a buzz cut from these folks back when they were located on Church. I can't say that it was a good buzz cut or a bad buzz cut-- just that I didn't want a buzz cut and got one!

You might just try playing grown up, plunk down your $50, and get someone in a salon to do it for you. Might not be your deal, but it could be worth a shot. Joel at Isa's (Castro at Jersey) cuts the hair of most people that I know in SF. He uses the clippers now and again, so a buzz probably wouldn't be a huge stretch.

Shag, on Guerrero btwn 14th and Market is good and very friendly.

Contact Cruz Olgin, barber extraordinaire, to schedule a snip-snip.

He used to work out of Louis' on Castro, but has since gone on to several better things. He has a small studio at the back of his house.

He talks barber, psychology (has a degree), and PCs (he's constantly building and re-building his).

I'm a customer for many years now, and I have stories like yours. I'm very thankful for Cruz.

Edited by author 05-29-2003 02:37 PM
The barber shop on 2nd and Mission is good with the following caveat: go in the morning! It's been my experience that as the day wears on, the effects of the 'coffee' become more pronounced. Still, can't be beat for atmosphere (piles of old Car & Drivers, Playboys, etc...)

Glamarama is the place to go. Deena is the person to see.
My head of hair is practically a birth defect: it has 5 cowlicks and a double whorl. Deena not only makes my hair look good, she cuts it so that it keeps looking good as it grows back. She's supa-talented.

There's a little old school guy barber shop on 2nd and Mission that does good cuts for $14.

maybe cut it yourself? it doesn't look too complicated :D instead of a flowbee tho, i'd just get wahl clippers!

My haircut from Glamarama may cost $50, but it lasts something like three months before it starts looking bad again. That's over twice as long as anywhere else I've gone. So it works out. But then again, I don't have buzz-cut hair, which seems wouldn't last too long at all. :)

I don't know the name of the barber, but I think I know your guy.

He is on Market St. around 7th. A very low profile barbershop, they do great buzz cuts, they're quick, they can take good instructions, and they will do a straight razor shave with your haircut for $5. If you've never had a barber give you a shave, you don't know what you're missing.

Glamarama is totally fab. They have semi-regular theme days where the stylists dress according to, um, theme. I was there once when it was "drag" day. The decor is fiercely oolala ("Beauty is Pain" tagged on the ceiling above the shampoo sinks), but I got tired of paying $50+ for a damn haircut so now I go to Notorious on Castro St.

Edited by author 05-28-2003 06:29 PM
cory,
if you are willing to go a little further i can promise you a top-notch flat top*.

however, the barber is in berkeley. within walking distance of the berkeley BART station.

Frank Caramagno is an institution in the berkeley area. he used to operate his own shop(Caramango's) but the landlord needed to retrofit and he now cuts out of a small place called "Nishs Barber Shop"

located at 1926 university avenue just west of MLK. no appointments. make sure you get Frank. you will not be disappointed.

seriously.

*if frank can't do it right i will reimburse you. he is that good.

Higgens, you talk out your ass. you've never been to Glamarama, and your haircut looks like yo mama did it with a cereal bowl. That wasn't a mission Salon you went to, it was the hardware store, and they just took advantage of you for you were too drunk to stand. I know I can't stand you anyways. You getting a mission pompadour from some random salon would be an improvement, for then at least people would recognize you from a distance as a man, and not the college boy that you so look like now, and would stop throwing random trash at you and/or soliciting you for 'sleepovers'. Besides, don't you host game shows at the Odeon? Wouldn't a game show host head help you out? Ha! (no one take this seriously, I'm friends with this here higgens fellow, and this is just frendly shit-givin') :)

Hey! we want to see the front too ;-). You would think you could get a good flat top some where near folsom, or Dore Alley, eh? hehe. I feel your pain. last week I was in Seattle and needed a new flat top. I was headed to a barbershop that had cut my hair 4 weeks earlier. I had never been there but my ex-boyfriend took me there. I got the most perfect flat top in 10 minutes. As I was headed to the barber shop this time, my Buddy J.D. calls me. "I'm headed to the barber" I say. "oh, you don't trust me to cut your hair?" he replies. While I trust him with my life after only knowing him a month, I told him how my hair grows in a wierd spiral pattern and lays down kinda flat so it's VERY hard to cut into a flat top if you don't know what you are doing. He cuts his boyfriend's hair and also their roommates, and has been using the clippers on himself for years. I go to the barber shop. There is a different barber there this time (the place is tiny) and he says 'sure, flat top. no problem'. Then proceeds to give me a HIGH AND TIGHT! Fuck I was pissed. I show up at J.D.'s place and curse him for jinxing my hair cut. But they all said it looked just fine. But next time I'll let him do it. Besides, if he cuts my hair, we both get to have our shirts off! ;-) Good Luck! And DON'T GET RID OF THE FLAT TOP!

I've found haircuts in the mission salons are just bad. I always end up with a 'game show' host haircut as that is the predominate style for hispanics. I go to Dimitri a half a block from the TransAmerica.

Best place in the Mission to get a haircut is, by far, Glamarama. Who's better to take care of your head than a bunch of Dykes and Drag Queens? Serously; this place rocks, and makes you feel like a total rock star when you're there. Very much Mission Funk, what with all the furniture thirfted and/or vintage. They even have a giant fiberglass 'Videotron' jukebox, play great music, fuss over you, and hold art openings in thier mini-gallery waiting area. This place is the coolest. A cut will set you back $50 tho', but it's totally worth it. I don't go anywhere else. I usually get my hair cut by Issiac, but she's always booked weeks in advance, so if it's dire then I'm certain someone else can take good care of you. It's on South Van Ness at 15th Street; look for the big green & pink entry. http://www.glamarama.com/

Trust me. It's just down the street from your work! And heck, maybe they can help you branch out a little too; I mean, come on man, the same haircut for so many years, from the same place? that's just too geeky. :)

Fer crissakes maggot, ya look like
Pvt. Leonard 'Gomer Pyle' Lawrence!

How 'bout not cutting that shit at all?

C'mon Cory...go Flobee!

I go to this place at Church and 30th. I think it is called "Great Haircuts", could also be "Cheap Cuts". I have gone there for years, so I don't have to read the external signs ! It is between Day and 30th two up from Day (Not the joint on the corner, which is also a hair place, but two doors up-west side of the street). See Jeremy (~28 yrs old and a music fanatic with high entertainment value for conversation etc.). Plus, they charge ~$ 11.00 per cut. I was just there last Sunday and my public couldn't be happier. Regards, Chris

willy's barber shop. 3227 22nd St at Mission, next to the Make-out Room. twelve bones. the female barber there does a real nice job. can't remember her name.

Ernie was on the right track, DIY is ceratinly the way to go. The Flowbee, however, is not a precision tool. I can't say for sure since you only gave us a rear view of the doo (what about posting one of those 360 dgree shots you're so fond of, with your flat top at the epicenter), but this instrument is more along the lines of what you'll need.

The US Marines recruiters on Ocean Ave might know a place they like in the Mission. 452-9188. Don't sign anything.

cory - you might try rari at vierra & friends, at the corner of carl & cole (you can take the n-judah or from your place, the 33 bus). i'd estimate that 75% of our mutual friends, men and women, go to rari. and for those looking for long-hair-friendly stylists, he's your man. his own hair is nearly to his waist.

Aha -- that's pretty funny!

Thanks for the tips, everyone. I really need a place that's accessible from my place. That means walking-distance (i.e., the Mission, the Castro or Noe Valley) or on the BART in the city.

I don't know how their flatop is, but there is this place in the sunset, on 9th between irving and judah, that is classic. They always cut my hair too short, but I go because it is the stereotypical barbershop from middle america. They have lots of playboys (a sign of a real barbershop, and not a salon), old school chairs and buzzers, and they give you a quick neck massasge when they are done. Not bad for $15.

Your barber lets you take pictures? Mine goes nuts!
Incidentally, there's some interesting detail in the background of that picture Cory. Is that guy wearing what I think he is?

I've never asked her for a flat-top, but I can say I've never gotten a bad haircut from Angie at, um, "The Grateful Head." [ducks]

It's in West Portal, so you can K, L, or M there, and you're just a block away from the place (plus there's a Fourbucks across the street if you want to take photos). It's a very reasonable $15ish.

Warn me if you come out, and we'll get coffee at Peet's. :)

Angela at AuTop salon downtown does a great job. A bit pricey, but nothing like Vidal Sassoon. My girlfriend (now fiance) turned me (and many of her friends) on to her, and none of us have ever looked back.

Edited by author 05-28-2003 12:15 PM
I am going to piggyback your message because I too live in SF and like you, am in search of a barber. I don't have one because I'm a (very) long-haired freak and, aside from occasionally having a friend even up the end of my pony tail with scissors, I haven't had a traditional haircut in years.

I want to either a) go much shorter or b) go somewhat shorter, so not only do I need a long-hair friendly barber, but I need that person to help me figure out what to do as I am at a complete loss (and somewhat nervous and insecure) over this. I am finally however, getting tired of the long hair thing.

If any hair-cutter sympathetic to long-hair cut-off stress is available, you can also e-mail me at "chump (at) pacbell.net"

I am in North Beach.

Oh, do I know your pain. I found it absolutely impossible to get a decent haircut in SF when I was living there. Best I could hope for was roughly-uniform-length-not-hacked-to-bits.
And it's not like I have difficult hair requirements. (Hey, I barely have hair)

I went to Vidal Sassoon in SF once...luckily I didn't pay for it...the haircut was $400.

Edited by author 05-28-2003 12:08 PM
How about in the comfort of your own home!!!

"Give me the R Lee Ermey" doesn't work?