I first started getting tattoos when I turned 18 and after the first, it became a habit. I quickly started getting tattoos almost every other month. My first artist was Arnie, and then Johnny, and unfortunately I even had Robert. I loved and still love all of Arnies work same with Johnny. I did have an unpleasant experience with Robert, but it's my fault. I went in on Johnny's day off so my tattoo to say the least wasn't what I imagined and wanted. Today after 7 long years and putting it off, I went into Lefty's, and to my relief, I didn't see Robert. He no longer works there. Johnny did an amazing job redoing and adding to my tattoo. I am so happy with the end result. Thanks Johnny, you're awesome! Read Less

Great place. Very clean. Friendly atmosphere. Susie did an outstanding job with my piercing. She answer all my questions. Taught me the proper way to take care of my piercing. She also is affordable. Please go check this place out. Read Less

Yesterday for my Birthday i went to go get my tongue pierced (snake eye). The lady that did my piercing did an amazing job and very nice. Will definitely go again, in fact I will be stopping by on Friday. I cannot wait. :) Read Less

I got tattooed as a walk-in at this shop about 3 months ago. My first reaction was that both the artist were very polite and It felt comfortable and welcoming. I got tattooed by a guy named Johnny. As soon as I started getting tattooed my comfort level went from 100 to 0 real quick! The guy smelled of alcohol and he was very unprofessional! All he did the whole time was flirt with me and make sexual comments. I felt very violated and harassed! The tattoo also has a few crooked lines, I am so unhappy and I would not recommend this place to anyone unless you want to get sexually harassed and have crooked lines! I should have read the yelp reviews before walking into this dump, this loser Johnny has priors of sexually harassing his clients and of crooked tattoos!!! People, do your research! Read Less

My review is based on my experience with the piercing part of the business, didn't touch the tattoo parlor. Generally dont write reviews, unless my experience was either interstellar or amazingly horrible.Welp, amazingly horrible this one was. If I could rate with a 0 star I would in a heartbeat. Twas my first time getting my nose piercing, came in and "Susie" gave me a clipboard and said sign. Took me into the back, without a warning caught me by surprised and stabbed my nose, answered a question, offered a paper towel, and thinking I had already paid, walked into the back of the store, literally kicked her feet up on the desk and went on her phone. So I had sat in the chair for a couple of minutes using up a full paper towels worth of blood, wondering what happens next. She finally came out and said "I completely forgot you hadn't paid" as im still in the chair bleeding out. No tips/tricks, no cleanup, no aftercare products, it literally was the worst service experience I've ever had in my life. Was recommended to lefty's by a friend, but when I called the friend back, he said he got pierced by a guy (assuming Johnny). So this Susie employee is quite literally an embarrassment, please I highly recommend staying away as far as possible. Your better off grabbing a hot sterilized needle and doing it yourself for an 1/8th of the cost. Read Less

Once upon a time, I was heavily under the influence of pain killers and went about getting inked up. So as I proceeded to drift from cloud to cloud I stumbled upon a friend of mine whom was also very lit, blown into the skies. He did tattoos, and well he tatted me. What appeared to be a "dope" piece ended up looking like an old drawing a kid could have sketched up. Once my mind had came back to reality I had figured that the piece would need work in the future.So, yesterday I walked in after I made an appointment with Robert and yo I was out within the hour. I showed him the tattoo and he determined that due to the size there wasn't much modification we could do so he offered to clean it up. He quoted me a very fair price and went on. He's a very chill dude, nice and easy to get along with. He does a great job in his field. Wish my piece could reflect a lot of his skill but it's definitely a lot better now than before. I'm really looking forward to coming back and adding stuff to it. Read Less

I never do reviews but this one was a must. I didn't get a chance to get the piercers name but she has purple hair and super pretty! SHE did what no other piercer could or would do for me. So I had got my web under my tongue done at the chula mall, the lady did it CROOKED AF. I mean noticeable crooked. I didn't notice until I got home. I came here to lefty's and she took it out and re pierced it a little higher PERFECTLY. She is confident and knows wtf she is doing. I'd highly recommend all piercings be done with the pretty purple hair girl there at lefty's tattoo. Read Less

My girlfriend has been wanting a couple of piercings and was referred to Leftys by a friend. So we walk in and the girl says "yes"?? We assume she isnt talking to us because shes on the phone. She says it again "yes can I help you"? My girlfriend asked her a few questions and the girl gave her half assed answers and it seemed like her phone conversation was more important. We expected undivided attention especially for someone getting their body pierced for the first time. I am sure they do good work, but customer service makes a big difference when deciding to give your money to an establishment. We went somewhere else... Read Less

Johnny did both my dermals along with a little mermaid tattoo! I was super lucky he attended me on his busiest day. Besides that both my piercings 100% clean and my tattoo AMAZING. Johnny along with the other people who work there are very friendly too! Read Less

When we called asking about piercings the person who answered was very friendly and polite. The woman that helped us when we went in for the piercing, I believe her name is Suzy, was very polite and explained the procedure and after care thoroughly. I would definitely recommend Lefty's for piercings!! Read Less

Same owner that has been there as long as I can remember. His name is Johnny, he's extremely down to earth. My piercings we're quick, I got a piercing on the right & left ear. No pain no gain! My older sister, got matching piercings. I'd like to say she also said the pain was tolerable, but I'd be lying. She was a baby cry. Lefty's is a cool place in Cali, go check it out & say hi to Jhonny. Even if it's your first time meeting him, you will feel as though you've known him forever. Read Less

My friend went here to get a piercing fixed and was not happy with Johnny's services at all! Johnny made several transphobic and sexist remarks towards my friend. He continuously misgendered him. He also didn't use my friend's preferred gauge of 14 and used a 16 instead because of his gender identity. He said my friend could not handle the 14. Would not recommend for any LGBTQ people. A girl that worked there also did a horrible job repiercing his lip piercings and was not gentle at all! Read Less

Went to go get my smiley done for $35, the woman didn't make me mouthwash before she pierced. And then when she did go to pierce she bent the needle, never have I had a piercer do that. Wouldn't really recommend. Read Less

My daughter got pierced by Johnny. Was he professional?NO.  HE TOLD HER SHE HAD NICE BOOBS AND SLAPPED HER ASS !!!!!!!!  He hit on her  during the piercing process  . She's 18!!!!!!!!!! He said don't tell your bf and I won't tell my gf.  What a prick Totally irresponsible ,unprofessional and sleazy. Will be reported   This man should be fired. Total sleaze ball. Read Less

I got a nice tattoo from here with a great price, with the artists creativity added to it which made it look so amazing. A few sketchy lines in it, luckily it is fixable and also I've seen some of their other work and some aren't so great. I guess i got lucky for the most part, not necessarily recommended Read Less

Susy is awesome!! She is the best piercer in Chula Vista... hands down! Pierced my daughters and myself and we didn't feel a thing. Very clean and professional! Helped me decide what type of piercing was best for me!! I went back to switch out my stud after about two months and she did it super fast and easy. The prices are also really affordable!! If your looking for a piercing she's your girl... Read Less

Never will I go there again.. woman was very rude. Went in to get snake eyes on my tongue. And she did it crooked. I was super excited when I went in and left so unhappy and disappointed. I don't recommend this place at all. And she charged me 45$ for a crooked piercing. She wanted to re due it but big no fucked it up once how can I trust to have it done again👿 Read Less

First off Johnny is a total tool bag loser. On top of that he sucks at tattoos and will scar you good with his crooked lines. Did I mention that after he digs the needle in deep and scars you he acts like a complete prick!! The tattoo I got also didn't hold and bled into a blurry mess. That guy is a joke! Go somewhere else... ANYWHERE else. Read Less

This was an amazing experience to bring my mom in for her first tattoo. She handled it like a pro! Johnny was super friendly and caring with my mom! Made her, and my wife and I, feel at home with his spunky personality, laugh, and gentleness.Read Less

Johnny And Robert are both my artists. Took a friend in to get a cover up done on her finger. We just left her old tat place that wanted 500 bux for a portrait on her ring finger. I'm like no man , let's go see My people. Dr. Johnny was in the house. He had a client in the chair , we booked a slot n came back. Heidi was extremely happy to get her ex's name off her finger. Johnny hooked a purple rose with highlights. She loves it. Thanks Johnny for hooking up some welding sisters with some "Bitch by gone " ink. Read Less

I heard good things about this place so I went to get a tattoo and one of the guys who did my friends tattoo was super sweet and nice, the guy who did mine made my first tattoo experience bad. I just wanted to get out of there and for him to finish the tattoo. If I were to go back I would not get him. Such a rude man, not sure why if he works with people all the time. Read Less

About 2 months ago during the week in the morning. I stopped by to ask how much for a cover up (my ex name) long story short a man by the name of Robert (I believe that was his name) Started to say mean things about my tattoo as if I didn't know it was a young mistake I made. I was so happy to finally get the courage to ask and needless to say. It was a horrible experience. I heard good things of this place but, I'm guessing I showed up on the wrong day at the wrong time. "Just rude and mean" Read Less

Johnny did my tattoo , I got my father in law's first name and middle name with music notes around it , on my forearm!❤🙌🏼he passed away March 2nd , 2017 around 3pm. && it was a complete shock! He was only 62 years old 😭 It's been a hard time , so this was perfect & johnny did an excellent job , he was hella nice to me and I'm definitely satisfied.🙌🏼 Thanks dude.❤🙌🏼 Read Less

i went in one day to talk to an artist and leaven some images so he can design a tattoo for me.  i walked in and waited for a good ten minutes when the artist finally talked to me. and before i could even start to say what i wanted he tells me of sorry we are very busy come back another day.  then hew goes back to texting .  there were only a couple of kids in the place looking around.  thank you for nothing.  i will not be back i will go somewhere else.  stay away from there rude ass of an "artist"  or as i will call him an A hole Read Less

Unless you enjoy your tattoo artist breaking up with his girlfriend,  talking on the phone,  repetitively keeps you waiting with a tattoo unfinished to flirt with customers,  scar you deeply with the needle due to said breakup, and then use profanity and violently threatens solely because he was embarrassed to be confronted with customers...  Then you're still better off drawing on yourself with a Crayola and taking more time to research a way better tattoo shop.  Almost all San Diego tattoo parlors I've attended agreed.  Do yourself a favor be sure to run away from Robert.  He will potentially carve into you,  and have the audacity to justify it was due to placement. Read Less

A wonderful lady here fixed my previously botched septum piercing. A guy in north park pierced my nose skin. She took one look at it and immediately knew it was done incorrectly. She was very professional and full of information about how to correctly pierce. She gave me enough time to decide and was very patient with me. Yes, it was painful, mostly because I took out my botched piercing right then and there, but it was worth it to get the job done right. Read Less

This place deserves no stars due to the terrible customer service. Walked in today with an appointment, when we arrived Robert explains how he doesn't recall saying yes to this appointment and how he really can't take us in. He then tries to convince me to change how my tattoo looks. He made it clear he didn't want to do what i wanted. Ended up going to Avalon Tattoo ll (very welcoming, friendly, and clean) and getting the tattoo that i actually wanted. With bad customer service and a nasty roach i would never step foot into lefty's again. Read Less

A year ago I had my nose pierced at cal state tattoo and piercing. I needed my nose piercing change and had been calling none stop to cal shop. So I decided to drive over , when I got there I saw employees and as I tried to open the fort they just looked at me. The doer was locked they could have said hey we're closed or something. I called leftty's and was greeted and welcomed over the phone by Johnny. I got there in 5 minutes  waited about 5 minutes and he was done ASAP. He was not only friendly but he did not charge me. I did tip him, very friendly and helpful. Thank you. Read Less

So I wish I could give this place no stars but sadly I have to leave at least 1 star. I'm giving it 1 star due to my experience at Lefty's being a horrible experience all around. I've been to Lefty's 3x for my piercings and was pierced by a very sweet young lady with blonde hair, but this 4th time I interacted with this man who's name is Big Johnny and is apparently the owner of the shop and is very rude. So I had gotten my dermals pierced at this place (pierced by the blonde lady) and went back to go get it taken out due to one of them becoming infected, keep in mind that I'm in severe pain, the area is swollen, red, tender and very painful. So I walk in to Lefty's and I speak with big Johnny (owner) informed him that the other piecer charged me $10 to get my other one removed, he said ok , and also informed him that when I first got these pierced the other piercer charged me $40 for both, he cuts me off and states , "No, she would of never charged you that much." I then stated , "well she did." He then proceeded to tell me and cut me off while I was talking that I was wrong and he is the owner of the shop and he would of never allowed that, then he goes on to say we can argue about this all day but she didn't charge you that much. (Mind you I am a very calm and respectful person because my profession is in customer service , so there was no arguing going on) I then told him ok that's fine I'm just letting you know how much she charged me, then I said I wish I would of had my receipt ( I get receipts everywhere I go and couldn't remember if I got one or not) he then cuts me off and chuckles and says we don't give receipts and I tell him well I don't remember if she gave me one or not but I remember paying $40 for both, another customers then states out loud he basically is calling you a liar and then Big Johnny (the owner) states , "Yea , if that's what you want to call it." Big johnny then proceeds to walk to the back to make a copy of my ID and then comes back and crumbles the copy of my ID and says that he does not want to remove my dermal because of what the OTHER customer had said got him really pissed off and that it was very disrespectful. I looked at him and asked him if he could please remove it because it really hurts, it's infected and I'm in pain. He states that no he is not going to remove it because of how the OTHER customer had disrespected him. My friend then ask him if he can please remove it because of me being in pain and it being infected . And he still said no I don't want to and he kept going on as to how he was very upset about the whole situation and doesn't feel like removing it and I could come back another time when the other piercer is there to remove it. I proceed to walk out and he states , "you don't have to come back, you know what just don't come back at all." I told him no worries and left in tears. In my opinion I did agree with him about the other customer being disrespectful, but what that other customer had said had nothing to deal with me. I was confused at first when he rejected services to me because in no way did I disrespect him or get loud or say anything to upset him but had a disagreement about the pricing, which I understood and said ok well then I just want to remove it and will not get them re pierced. I work in customer service and to my understanding at my job regardless if the customer is wrong or right the customer is always right. So in my opinion Big Johnny was very unprofessional and very disrespectful to me which he had not right to be after me being very respectful to him. I honestly will never go back to that shop, it's sad to say that this is the first time meeting the owner and I was disappointed in so many ways. Even after explaining myself to him as to how badly I'm in pain and asked him politely to please remove it he still did not care and turned me away, I still don't understand it. I never cry but I cried as I was walking away because of how badly I wanted it to be removed and how badly it hurt. I use to recommend people to this shop because of how amazing I thought this place was and now I will never recommend this tattoo/piercing shop to anyone. Good luck to you and your shop sir. Read Less

Leftys tattoo is awesome. They not only do excellent work they're reasonably priced. I just got my daughter's name and footprints done and it came out better than I had ever imagined. I will definitely be going back for my future tattoos. Read Less

They were awesome. I got the tip of my tounge horizontally pierced. I have had it done before and it hurt so bad. But i can here, the place was clean, the people were nice, it was quick and didnt really hurt! Ill be going back to them forsure! Thanks yall! Read Less

My first time here was for the Friday the 13th tattoos and I had a great experience. The value for the tattoo is very good, and there is a wide variety of designs to choose from. The guys working there are friendly & Johnny did a great job! Johnny also accommodated small changes to my tattoo choice. My design was originally supposed to be a solid silhouette, but I asked if it could be an outline instead and he did it. I would highly recommend this place and their Friday the 13th event as well! Read Less

I waited a month before deciding to write a review. I wanted my review to be as accurate as possible so here goes...I walked into the tattoo section of Lefty's and was quickly greeted by Jonny. I told him I wanted a cover-up on my ankle, he looked at my ankle and gave me a few suggestions, because I had no clue what I wanted. I decided on a rose and I am glad I did!! He said I would have to use black ink and I told him my favorite color was pink and I asked if he could work that in some kind of way... Well he did! The shading from black to dark pink to light pink is gorgeous. The previous tattoo is completely covered and I love it!! I will be back for a few more tattoos and nipple piercings. Can't wait! I am a satisfied customer. Read Less

Excellent customer service, great communication  and prices are very reasonable . Professional piercing ( they used a needle not a piercing gun ), cash only, nose piercing for the basic was $35 total. We are very satisfied with our piercings and overall experience.Highly recommended! Read Less

When I got my first tattoos I went to a place called Wylde sydes down in imperial beach. However, ever since I got my last 2 tattoos here at Lefty's I was won over. They're not overly expensive & still give good quality for your tattoos.  We all know how expensive tattoos can be & add up, right? Knowing that I knew I was going to get my 5th tattoo here of my cameo/disney quote. I knew I wanted a bigger piece to start the process of a sleeve on my right arm. Robert, who has done my semi-colon & my Leo sign ( which were $40 each for shop minimum ) the person I'd hope would be able to help me out . I first came in to get a price quote for the cameo plus quote. $300 was a hell of a price considering it would be finished & large on my arm. Keep that in mind. Then the day of the tattoo I got it I was thrilled by how well it came out. It took about 3 hours to finish  (the lining was the longest because it was so intricate .) The shading was a breeze  & I only cramped up the last 20-30 minutes of it . I highly recommend coming here for tattoos as I know the rest of my tattoos in the future will be here at Lefty's. And if you have a question about who to go to Robert is very helpful & down to earth / funny guy.   Oh did I mention I got a free shirt ? (: * I only am giving a four star rating because they only take cash   , for anyone who is wondering. Read Less

Went to get another helix piercing above the one I had already and it was quick and even easier this time around than the other were. I've gotten my belly button pierced twice, and all my ear piercings have come from Lefty's and I've always had a good experience here. First thing to note is that although on the outside it doesn't look very fancy, they are very clean and professional, and the pricing costs are sensible.I always feel like I'm getting ripped off for a piercing when they want to charge me $50 for one piercing on my ear like a lot of shops in LA I've been to, and here they've always done a great job and you can get one piercing for $20 or 2 for $30, which is a great value and very reasonable. Susie has always done my piercings and she's always so calm and collected every time I get nervous before getting it, so she makes me feel a bit more confident and comfortable about the whole process.Although it sometimes seems daunting to get any kind of piercing at first, Susie is a total pro and with just the needle and nothing else, she gets the job done quickly and efficiently. Their body jewelry is not very high quality and cheap looking but it is good to wear temp during the healing process. At first, I was a bit skeptical about coming here but after coming here multiple times this has been my to-go piercing shop and from my experiences getting ear and belly button piercings, I can honestly recommend for those services and have been happy with the work I've gotten at Lefty's. Read Less

Got all 5 of my tattoos here, and decided to come back again today for my sternum piercings. Johnny did a fantastic job, as always, and the price was great. Shop is clean, Johnny is cool af, and the work is always on point. What else could you want in a shop? Read Less

Got my naval pierced, a week later it got very red, swollen, & irritated. I knew it was bc the barbell was to small (so I couldn't clean it properly). I called, told him (Johnny I think?) the situation, went in & he switched me to a bigger size & gave me the smaller barbell all for free! He was quick & very nice both times I went in Read Less

Always gotten my piercing here the girl is super nice. She makes you feel.comfortable in.her.homey little shop :) shes.not that expensive. There are cheaper out there yes but.not really in chula. I will continue on getting my piercings here. Read Less

I went to lefty's for my first tattoo, after searching other parlors in san diego. They had the best prices and some of the best work i've seen. The guys there are super friendly, and are great at helping you alter your ideas to make it look better in the long run. I got my tatoo for 60 dollars when other places wanted to charge 200. So I would definately reccomend it. Also, I loved the honesty of the guys at the shop. If they know theres another shop in town that can do a better job for what you want they will refer you. I love lefty's! Read Less