James at Empire was amazing! I contacted him the day before Christmas Eve on instagram @jamesbart and he worked with me to set up an appointment for the next day. I called the next day and was able to confirm everything. When I got to the shop, it was a chill environment and I felt really excited and at ease with the set up. I trusted James with my first tattoo and he did not disappoint!! We talked throughout the entire thing and it was over before I knew it. He was such a professional and everything was super clean and comfortable. I definitely recommend Empire and James-especially if it's for  your first time. The tattoo is on my inner arm/bicep area :) Read Less

I wish zero stars was an option. Walked in guy was sitting on his phone and asked us "what do we want" without even looking up. Another guy came up front and was rude as well he acted as if we were a pain. He also was hesitant when we asked about a tattoo like neither of them even tattoo. We'll go somewhere else thanks for being great a-holes!!!! Don't bother with this shop go to granite city. Read Less

Great little shop. Damon is phenomenal. Hes been doing my tattoos for years and ive always been happy! He recently did a water color calf and mom elephant for me and he went above and beyond my expectations Read Less

I came in as a walk in a couple of days ago. I wanted my cat's (who recently passed away) pawprint done. I was taken in right away and my artist was Keith! (who is amazing by the way) I'm in love with my new tattoo and I feel that it is the perfect way to honor and remember my beloved cat. I couldn't be any happier! I highly recommend this place. Read Less

So happy with my NEW tattoo thanks to Keith M. I couldn't have been more comfortable during my visit. I got to watch " the office" during my tattoo appointment. I laughed during the whole session.  I love my new tattoo! It's perfectttttttttt  thank you Keith!!! Read Less

The lady with the blonde shaved hair was insanely rude. I went with my friend to get her first tattoo and she was really nice to my (white)friend but she was rude to me (im hispanic)shes a racist i would be talking to my friend and she would interject with a rude retort when noone was even talking to her. And after when i looked at my friends tattoo the lines werent even completely filled in you could see lines within them and they were very shaky. Everyone else was nice Read Less

Tattoo came out great, but James was about 30 minutes late. On top of that, he came unprepared to tattoo me. Weeks before our appt, we met in person to discuss what I was looking to have done, so to see him showing up late and unprepared was extremely unprofessional Read Less

As a very picky client I walked into Empire in Quincy skeptical and walked out more than satisfied! Artist James was friendly, professional and a pleasure to work with! The staff worked with me on the design of the tattoo without any hesitation and were 100% responsive to my ideas and suggestions. Not to mention the price was phenomenal. Highly recommend! Read Less

I walked in on a Saturday to check out the place and walked out with my first tattoo. The guys there were cool and my tattoo looks good. I am happy and will definitely be back. I recommend this place! PS James did my tattoo, he's a cool cat for sure. Read Less

Had a spontaneous trip to get a small tattoo today and Keith took great care of me. They were able to get me in and out pretty quickly and I went home with a beautiful heart on my wrist. Thank you so much! I will definitely be coming back. Read Less

I have been to Empire twice, and had a great experience both times, working with James Brandão. He was so friendly, fun, and versatile. He put me at ease with my very first tattoo and did matching tattoos for  a me and a friend. I'd highlyhly recommend Empire and James. Read Less

My tattoo artist Damon Ferb Butler is an amazing talent. He is pure, raw talent. Is personal approach and interaction makes me want to keep getting tattoos just to keep having business with him, I've recommended him to everyone who ever asks me about were to get a tattoo. Every piece is original even if it's something people commonly get, he adds his own personal touch. I get so many compliments on my pieces. He has a wait list but it's worth the wait. Read Less

I walked in last month looking to get a tattoo. James was available and he helped me choose a font and finalize the design of my arm band. Being my first tattoo, I was a little hesitant so he advised me to wait on it a bit. I called back later that night and booked an appointment with Keith two days later. Keith put a lot of time and care into making sure my band and the words accompanying it were straight and even. When I was done I decided to get a second smaller star tattoo on my wrist. Both tattoos took about an hour and cost me $80 (he threw in the star for free). I'm really happy with my tattoos and I'm thankful for the team here putting so much care into them. Shoutout to James for being so patient and helpful and shoutout to Keith for being so precise and amiable (it really helped my nerves). Thanks guys!! Read Less

Great experience for my first tattoo! Laid back and clean. Walked in spontaneously and got lucky because they had a cancellation. Damon really took the time to sketch it out and figure out what I want. Got to watch hulu and chill the whole time. I plan on going back. Read Less

I made a spontaneous decision to get an outline of a small heart tattoo on my wrist and walked in and Keith was able to take me right away. It was my first tattoo and he made me feel so incredibly comfortable! He was supposed to leave I think when I walked in but he still took me in last and I'm so glad he did! He was so sweet and made me feel so comfortable and helped ease my nervousness. Not only that BUT he did it for me no charge!!!! He could've easily made 60$ out of this tattoo so it's nice to know this place doesn't just care about money. That made my day and he overall made my first tattoo experience, although it took less than 30 seconds, the best. :) I highly recommend this place and Keith!! From what I've noticed and experienced, they are so friendly and caring to their clients. Read Less

I walked in one day after deciding to get a tattoo was taken care of immediately, the guy at the front desk was very friendly and helpful. Vinny did my tattoo and he was great! Very professional and talented. He drew the design directly on me before tattooing and it came out beautiful, it's one of my favorite tattoos. Read Less

Everyone in the shop is very professional, polite, and super friendly. I entrusted Keith with designing my tattoo based on a comparison picture and an email description. He went above and beyond what I wanted w not over the top design, and a very cool take on a sugar skull.. I'll be back. And I'll be sending people your way ! Read Less

I've had been wanting a foot tattoo for a long time. After reading all the great Yelp reviews I decided to try this place. Keith was amazing, he was professional, friendly and did a great job. He did such a great job that I went back to have an old tattoo covered. He did an AMAZING job! You can't even see the old tattoo. I have since referred 3 friends to this place and they all loved it there. Not all of them saw Keith but they all raved about how great this place is. I will definitely be going back to get my next tattoo here! Read Less

James was awesome. So talented and friendly. He put me totally at ease. I was 200% satisfied with his work. The whole experience was positive...even fun!!! I would highly recommend Empire Tattoo.Sincerely,De Billings Read Less

I came here for a walk in tattoo almost a year ago. I had james do my tattoo, just a simple one on my foot, and i loved it. It was so quick and a year later it hasnt faded at all. James was awesome, he was so friendly and also a great artist. I definitely will come back for my next tattoo Read Less

Go see Keith! I hadn't had a tattoo in so long and really wanted to get one that had a lot of meaning to me for my 34th birthday. After a ton of research, I came across Empire in Quincy. I went in for my consultation and got my tattoo the same day. Keith Miller is phenomenal! Not only does my tattoo look amazing, but he was the friendliest tattoo artist I've had thus far. I HIGHLY recommend Keith!! Thank you!! Read Less

Just like all of my other tattoos I was feeling spontaneous and had the day off and decided I wanted to get a tat. I was recommended to this shop by a customer at my job and her work was beautiful. I made a call and was told to stop by so I jumped in my car and headed over to empire.When I got there Damon was there. We did a quick consultation I showed him what I wanted and he proceeded to do my tattoo. The whole process lasted at least 20 minutes. He charged me $80 for a tat that starts at my neck and ends on the side of my shoulder (a steal!). To this day it's my favorite. His work is amazing and he was professional and everything was clean and sanitized. I was so happy with what he did I absolutely had to tip him. I haven't been back in a while but this is a place I'd definitely go back to again and again. Read Less

Ive been a client of Vinny for a few years and he is by far the best artist ive ever had. The detail in his work is amazing. He was able to re work a piece i had done somewhere else that had been bothering me for years. He has most recently created a beautiful half sleeve that I've been contemplating for a while now. He approaches each piece with such enthusiasm and talent that I just know im in good hands and I  always love the  end result. Vinny is such a great example of a passion and a talent coming together! Read Less

I highly recommend Empire, i walked in there not even fully determine to get my tattoo the same day but when i spoke to Vinny all that changed. This was my first tattoo ever and i wanted to make sure i had the right person to do it and i was happy with my choice!!! At first i was spectacle because Vinny told me that it would only take him an hour and all the previous place i went told me it would take about 3-4 hours and then he hooked it up for a good price. But still i was spectacle because the money didn't matter to me i just wanted the job to be done right, and i read this one negative review on yelp that was negative about Vinny and i was worried if he was not good enough but he guaranteed that he would hook it up and i trusted my guts and gave him a chance. That was probably one of the best decisions i've done in a very long time cause the guy is an absolute genius and a master artist. In one hour he finished my entire tattoo which i believed would be impossible because of the size and the amount of details in there. Vinny is the man for that and after i went to one of the old shops to pick up my friend who was also getting tatted and they couldn't believe the work Vinny did with my tattoo. So i would strongly recommend anyone who is reading this to go to empire in quincy and get tatted by Vinny , you won't regret it! Read Less

I finally decided on the type of tattoo I wanted and did my research.  I discovered Damon and decided he was the guy I wanted.  I booked in June and was able to secure a September appointment.  Trust me: he's well worth the wait!I wanted a three-tier ribbon with words:  Courage to start, Strength to endure, Resolve to finish and requested it be very "3-D" (meaning with shading and shadows).  I provided a rough sketch and Damon got to work.  He was concerned with that amount of words (meaning, some would be too small and/or would get lost and blurry).  I told him I'd defer to his expertise.  He started by sketching on my arm the ribbons (which were amazing in their own right) and then tried to fit in all the words.  All the while he was explaining his concerns but did his best to fit what he could.  In the end, we both agreed that all those words would be too much (I definitely didn't want a "to be continued..." mark on one arm simply to fit in all the words!!).  So he simply used each "main" word:  Courage, Strength, Resolve.And it was all free-hand and amazing!He popped on Netflix and started to work.  Even though it was on my inside forearm, it did hurt, but after a while I either became emotionally and physically numb or just decided to suck it up!  :-)He took enough small breaks (to refill his ink or something - my eyes were too watery to focus on what he was doing!), but they were just enough for me to regain my composure and reset for him to continue.He's very easy to talk to, and I'm sure if I were more of a "gabber", he would have accommodated.  As it is, I figured I'd let him concentrate on the artistry, and I would just focus on not becoming a screaming old lady getting her tattoo!!The whole process took a little over an hour and the price was very reasonable.  I'm super happy with my new ink and am already planning on incorporating my existing wrist tatt into this latest one.  I would highly - HIGHLY - recommend Empire and Damon and will definitely use them again.  My only "feedback" would be a reminder phone call would help.  Since I made the appointment about 3 months ago, a reminder call would be helpful.  However I called Empire ahead and they gladly gave me the date / time so I could ensure I didn't miss the appointment.Thanks guys!! Read Less

I could not be any more pleased with how my visit to Empire went, I was a walk-in and within 15 minutes was in the chair! Vinny did my tattoos, he was super friendly and nice, I really enjoyed having him do them & they came out amazing. His linework is done sooo well I'm absolutely in love with how they came out! Read Less

So last night I was laying awake thinking about how I have to just stop messing around and go get the skull tattoo that I was thinking about. Today I did just that thanks to Damon at Empire Tattoo. I couldn't be more happy with the outcome I called the shop just asking if they take walk ins. The person on the phone ended up being Damon so I told him I actually wanted to get the tattoo from him because of all his work I looked at online. He told me that he had a six o'clock scheduled but if the guy didn't come in then he would call me back. Welp, the guy never showed and Damon stayed true to his word and called me back. I headed across town and got there at seven. Right off the bat Damon was personable and easy to talk too. He figured out where and what size I wanted my tattoo to be and got to work. He was awesome. He got down to work and we shot the shit the whole time. He made it easier for me seeing that the spot I got it in was incredibly painful. The tattoo took about two and a half hours and it turned out sick. It's exactly what I wanted. Damon will take your idea and your design and use his skill as an artist to put his own custom spin on it. The dude is no joke. I recommend this guy for everyone, looking to get any tattoo. Read Less

My friend and I came in last week for a walk in and they were so welcoming and inviting! Damon did mine while James took my friend. My friend's piece came out fantastic! And I am so pleased with mine. I only had ideas and a couple pictures to work with but Damon assessed it all and asked if he could draw on me to get the ideas flowing. Shortly after, he started tattooing all the while making sure I was comfortable offering water and candy and letting me watch Netflix on his tv I couldn't be more happy with how my tattoo came out and I'm so happy I found somewhere so local. I will definitely return when I come up with something for my next tattoo - and I've already started recommending this shop to my other friends! Read Less

I found Damon and Empire Tattoo through his Instagram page where he posts all his work. I learned that Damon was a contestant on the show Ink Master and is known for his amazing cover-up work. All his work is impressive and I thought to myself 'finally an artist that seems trustworthy, clean and has over the top skills.' My first tattoo from Damon was in September 2014, I meant to come in for a consultation, but luckily he didn't have anyone booked at the time so I got my new tattoo right then and there. I got a small ohm lotus tattoo on my forearm which took less than hour. In that hour, Damon was very nice, informative and made sure it was everything I wanted. The ohm lotus came out great and I did not hesitate to let him know I would be returning very soon to start my half sleeve. I am a woman of my word, I did return a couple months later for another consultation. I was disappointed to find out that Damon was not available for another month since he was all booked up, but it was well worth the wait. Before my appointment, Damon sent me pictures of the design I wanted for my half sleeve, I was 100% satisfied. I told him exactly what I wanted and he drew the perfect design. During the 4 hour session, my half sleeve outline was finished and he managed to cover up an old shoulder tattoo. He would've started the coloring/shading, but unfortunately I did not have time so I have another appointment coming up to finish my tattoo. I am super anxious to finish this half sleeve and cannot wait to show off the finish product! If you are looking for a flexible/accommodating and reputable artist with great skills and follows safety procedures, definitely ask for Damon.Some tips:- Free consultations, they take walk-ins or you can call ahead of time- Book in advance for your actual appointment- Check out Damon's work on his Instagram @ferbzilla Read Less