The Ink Spot

What an amazing experience. Pierre did a FANTASTIC job. Everyone at the shop is extremely professional, friendly, and courteous. Pierre does great tattoo work, I gave him a base idea, and he ran with it to place I couldn’t have imagined myself. The place was very clean, and the entire staff was extremely knowledgeable of their crafts. Thank you again, and I can’t wait to go back for more.

I needed to get my ears re-​pierced. And we were driving by. I checked out their website and the place looked great. I didn’t have an appointment. They were knowledgeable and professional. And experienced !!! And yes clean!!! Dan was the one who pierced my ears. So friendly so thoughtful. Listened to what I wanted and answered all my questions. Would definitely recommend going here for any of your piercing needs !! Dan is the Man!

Update (Response to shop owner’s comment):
I guess I will add my response to Shawn here since they do not allow follow up comments:
Unilocal is all about customers giving their honest opinion. You can’t get offended because I didn’t like your shop. I explained in my review that maybe I was just not aware of tattoo prices in recent times. I am still entitiled to give my opinion. That is what Unilocal is all about.
You claim the artist redrew the tattoo twice? I don’t know who he drew it twice for. He drew it ONCE and then made changes to it on my skin. I have the right to mention that in my review. AGAIN, that is what Unilocal is all about.
I do plan on bringing my business somewhere else. No need to come on Unilocal and tell reviewers that. If you don’t want people to give their honest opinions on Unilocal then maybe you shouldn’t come read them. Sadly not everyone is going to be happy with your business. It is life.
You could have just explained the price breakdown and I would have edited my review to thank you for explaining it. However, you came on here defensive and rude.
The «sweet» girl you claim was drawing, she was actually on her phone. Maybe you are remembering what you want to remember.
The artist should have told me the $ 10 was tax, that would have saved a lot of trouble.
I also love how you had nothing to say about me having to ask about aftercare.
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Ok so I emailed them from their website and uploaded a picture of something I had designed. My tattoo request was for a 1.5 inch in length tattoo, super tiny in my wrist and I was quoted $ 80-​$ 100. I ended up getting it SMALLER and I paid MORE! Lol go figure. Maybe it has been way too long since my last tat but I paid $ 125 for my last one which was about 10x the size! What I honestly think was that they thought this was my first time around and they figured I wouldn’t know I was over charged. This is my 6^th tattoo. All mine before were done in NYC so I KNOW when i’m being over charged. Sadly it was already too late. I would have been ok if he stuck with $ 80 but don’t go and charge me more when I got less work than originally planned.
Anyway, so I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt that MAYBE tat prices have gone up in the last 6 years. Or maybe Ottawa is just too small and there aren’t enough tattoo shops so they have the luxury of charging that much! Maybe I just don’t understand the prices.
Ok so you have to go in person to make an appointment plus leave a deposit. For me it was pretty Inconvenient having to go in person. Maybe accept payments through PayPal online and book appointments that way so people don’t have to drag themselves downtown twice just for a tiny tat.
Ok next, when I went to make the appointment the person that was there was a super rude chick. I wasn’t even worthy of her stopping what she was doing to look at me and answer my question. Anyway… Maybe that Is their style. Not cool.
Next — they make you sign a 2 page waiver that basically says they are free of any liability EVEN IF THEY MAKE A MISTAKE. So in other words they could totally fudge up your body and they just walk away clean. Not to mention you have to pay their legal fees If you sue them! Lol
Oh what is even funnier??? They make you sign that you were given all the care instructions etc right??? I finish my tattoo and the artist doesn’t even ask me if I know how to take care of a tattoo. I had to ask for a refresher on how to take care of it. I mean it’s been 6 years after all.
Anyway — I will not be returning for my next 2 tattoos and that is a shame for them because my next piece is going to be my entire hip side and flank area. To bad they lost my business.
They just aren’t friendly. I’m sorry but if someone is putting needle to my body and over charging me for it they might as well be nice to me right?
Nate was my artist and while he was very welcoming to me making changes to the design. I didn’t like that he didn’t even offer to redraw my 1 inch tattoo. Like it would have taken him 5 secs. Anyway, it still came out great but how can you really mess this up?
I am giving it 1 star just because my experience was BAD!
The work was good but again I didn’t get anything too elaborate.
OHHH and he asked me what I was quoted then charged me 10 $ more dollars after I had already left a deposit. What I thought would cover the tattoo.
I paid $ 90+ almost $ 100 for a tattoo that to me was not worth that much. He took maybe 10 mins to tattoo me.

I hate going into tattoo shops because I don’t have any (visible) tattoos and I feel like I’m walking into a meeting of the cool kid club and that someone is about to throw me out.
When I walked in I immediately relaxed; I didn’t feel like I was being judged for not being covered in ink.
My piercer was great; everyone claims to sterilize their equipment, but I saw him changed his gloves *every time* he touch something other then me or my piercing.
The selection is good, and the price reasonable.
If you want fast and cheap head downtown to Dalhousie; if you want something worth keeping make the effort to visit this shop.

Went back for another piece and am super thrilled with Shawn’s work! 5 stars for quality, service, cleanliness, price, etc.

The Ink Spot is an established tattoo shop on Bank St. that has been around for 13 years. The shop is small, but it is very clean and recently went through a renovation earlier this year. It is a little far from the downtown core, but that is part of the charm. I do not see The Ink Spot as a «street shop», like the shops that you see on Rideau St. The Ink Spot has a regular and loyal clientele that keep returning, myself included.
I have been getting tattooed exclusively at The Ink Spot for about 2 years now. I have been tattooed by Shawn, Pierre, and Greg. I have also been pierced a couple of times by Chris. Everyone at the shop are super professional and courteous.
I highly recommend The Ink Spot to anyone in the Ottawa area looking to get inked! You will not be disappointed!

My brother and I both got tattoos a couple of years ago when we were in town for the weekend. We made an appointment last minute and they were able to fit us in. I would highly suggest making an appointment well beforehand, however, as some artists are booked solid for weeks.
My brother needed to get a couple designed and I wanted to get a cover up. We had an idea of what we wanted, but we didn’t have an exact picture. Rob was our tattoo artist and he gave my brother a bunch of books to get some ideas. My brother wanted to get two dragons, one on each calf, and chose a picture from one of the books. Rob suggested that he design another dragon based on the original picture, one to compliment the other, facing the other way. The design was fantastic and the tattoo was even better! It was incredibly detailed, shading and all. It only took just under 3 hours for the two, black and white tattoos, including design time.
My cover up was also amazing. I had a black and white tiger done with a bit of orange on my right shoulder blade. The size and shading was done perfectly to completely conceal what I had, and Rob made sure I was always relaxed and comfortable the whole time. I’m pretty sure I even fell asleep for a little while during the tattooing!
The atmosphere is very casual and has an alternative, skater type of feel. They had metal playing when my brother was getting his tattoos, and the Beatles during mine. Some of the tattoo artists also have their own art and canvases for sale in the shop, so it’s great to take a look around. All of the guys are so nice and even if you’re lying on a bed with another stranger being tattooed next to you, you still feel like you’re just hanging out with some friends. The pricing is very reasonable, but if you ask me, they should be charging a lot more since their artists are incredibly talented and have even won awards for their tattoos.