Skin Kitchen Tattoo

I got my first tattoo ever at Skin Kitchen thirteen years ago. I now have over 100 hours of work and I have never gone anywhere else. 99% of my work has been done by Jack, but over the years I've come to know all of the artists there very well.

People consistently stop me to ask where I got my work done. On multiple occasions people have told me how they hate tattoos and think they're trashy or unprofessional, but the work I have is extremely impressive and they "never see tattoos like this"!

If you're looking to get work done, I absolutely recommend without any hesitation. Whether it's a highly detailed piece with intricate line work, old school traditional work, portraits, flash, etc., etc., they have you covered - they even have great piercers on staff.

*PLEASE* look at any artist's portfolio before getting tattooed anywhere. You should be able to see many pictures of their work, as opposed to just a few, so that you can see that they are consistently turning out great tattoos. Additionally, *please* remember that you will have this for the rest of your life! Spend the money to get it done right the first time! There's nothing wrong with always looking for a deal, but getting tattooed is not one of the situations in which to do that. You don't want to be the person that is always laughed at while people point to your train wreck of a cheap tattoo. You also don't want to wind up on a website like Ugliest Tattoos.

Now head into Skin Kitchen and setup and appointment! Amazing artists and piercers in a very large and very clean shop. You absolutely cannot go wrong.

Came in for a piercing and were made so uncomfortable by a tattoo artist and the receptionist we left.

I rated this one star, but it deserves a 0/5 stars. This place was awful. Pretty sure they tricked me into paying money up front, even though i didn't get the tattoo, and then refused to give me a refund, and then another tattoo parlor I went to insisted that I was robbed of my money. The people were extremely unprofessional, whenever I tried asking a question they would either be talking to each other or playing games on their phone. When I told them what I wanted, they denied giving it to me and would be very pushy into giving me something I didn't want. Also when I was there, I could here them making fun of other tattoos that they had given to people that day. Overall, it was a terrible experience, and I highly recommend finding a different place.

Love these guys just got my 3rd tattoo and it's great. Fun ppl to be around and very good customer service would recommend to all my friends. I'm also the 4th member of my family to go there and we all love jack. And westley is amazing as well love his personality very easy to get along with

First tattoo ever. Great experience. Will go back for a second!

Got my first tattoo at skin kitchen with Brent. He was great and the tattoo turned out awesome!

This is the ONLY place to go when it comes to tattoos. Josh did an awesome job! He is extremely talented and has a real passion for his work. I've had 4 tattoos at Skin Kitchen and I'm already thinking about # 5. Never disappointed!

I went in to skin kitchen with my friend who was getting her first tattoo. She was wanting an OUTLINE on her SMALL WRIST of a couple roses. They told her it would be 300 dollars. I believe it was josh that talked to us. He ended up lecturing us like we were children and preaching that you can't get a good tattoo for under $100 dollars. Well I had a jacket on but little did he know I have 3 tattoos on my arms that were all 100 or less (one with color) that are very detailed and amazing and professionally done.
Josh was also very cocky and rude, acted like he knew everything about tattoos, which I get it dude, you're a tattoo artist, that's your job, and you have to make your money. But make your money in a fair way, and don't act rude while trying to tell someone how much you charge. He treated us very poorly, almost like he was better than us or something. He also tried saying it would be horribly unfair if he charged her anything under $300 and he wasn't willing to work with her budget. This place is absolutely ridiculous and treated us, new possible customers terribly. They lost 4 customers today, my friend and I, and her parents who have been going there. I highly advise anyone who goes to skin kitchen to just expect being treated poorly. The lady at the front desk had a bad attitude, but the main issue was Josh.

My boyfriend and I came in to both get (different) tattoos. We had Kade and he was awesome. He had great customer service and made the experience really easy and comfortable. Would definitely recommend to a friend or family member. But be careful not to look into his eyes. (He knows what it means! 😜)

I really wanted to Love Skin Kitchen tattoo after moving to Des Moines from Minneapolis. However, we didn't even get to make it to the tattoo phase. My husband (tattooed at skin kitchen) and I dropped in the other night to discuss what I had in mind.

The second I mentioned a white ink tattoo and that I was looking for an artist that has photos of their ability with a solid white ink tattoo I was told:

1. Any tattoo artist can do a white ink tattoo. However they can turn out badly and that they disappear.
2. tattoo artists don't photograph them because people always (emphasis on always) bring in photos from online... the same three he said.

As a graphic designer, I found the customer service skills/people skills to be quite lacking. If they hadn't mad the assumption that I was a cookie cutter copycat Hannah Montana wannabee, I might have considered their feedback. However I know as an artist, who works with different mediums, that some people cannot oil paint just because they are painters. I was looking for a professional to do a sleeve piece that could guarantee me quality work with white ink exclusively.

As a result, I know that I will not have any tattoos done here white ink or not. Maybe if I had a tattoo clearly inked on my face they would have treated me more like one of them. But artist to artist... you cannot ever judge a book by its cover.