Hong Kong Barber Shop

Came in today for a faded cut, you just can’t beat the price! $ 7 for a haircut! You typically know within 5 seconds if you’re in trouble just by the way a barber manipulates the hair clipper. I was relieved when I found out my barber knew what he was doing. The result was exactly what I asked for so needless to say, I will be coming back!
My word of wisdom: if you don’t speak Chinese like me, find a picture of the cut you’d like and show it. Ask for Li Jian, he took care of me and is a legit barber at least for non-​fancy cuts (I don’t know about the rest of the staff). Another customer was waiting for him while two other barbers were free.

Cheap hair cuts and washes. The barbers don’t know much English so be ready to talk in Mandarin or Cantonese.
The cuts are $ 7 each and a head wash for $ 3. Hair wash is optional but they will try and hustle you into getting a hair wash for the extra profit.
The only thing I don’t like is the limited hair styles the barbers can cut. Other than that this is a very cheap place for hair cuts and they do it well for the 1 style that they are mostly used to.

This tiny shop is a hidden gem. I always always come here for my cuts and they never let me down. I always have the man to the far end (near the mirror) cut my hair. He’s the best. The haircut is the best. The haircut is definitely worth more than $ 10. But I hate hate the fact that he is so freaking rough with my scalp when he is washing my hair. His nails are soooo long! They can’t speak English so when I come in, I plop myself down on the chair and the barber knows exactly what to do. It always works out.

I think the conclusion I draw about this is that you need to get a friend to introduce you to a good barber here, or you will get a lousy haircut from a fob who smells vaguely of chinese rice wine. True story. :(
’tis cheap though, can’t deny that.

This review is for a men’s shave only.
An elderly man did my shave — and he did’nt seem to know what he was doing. He took a crack at it three times but left me looking like I had an shadow from a day before shave. When I pointed out the extremeley shabby job — his and the lady’s response was «it is not good for your skin to shave that close». How close? I could get a cleaner shave by plucking hair with my fingers.

$ 10 for a hair cut and wash? That’s pretty awesome.
This is my second summer interning in NYC, and whenever I’m here for an extended period of time, I always come here to get my haircut.
The people inside are old, nice, and skilled at what they do. You can probably give them suggestions on how you want your hair cut, but I usually just let them do whatever they think will look best (hasn’t turned out wrong yet!).
This place is great and extremely affordable if you’re an Asian male. The only reason I say that is, in my experience, non-​Asian barbers don’t really know how to cut my hair in a way that suits my hair type or head shape. These guys know exactly what to do.
I always found it funny that I was getting my hair cut by people who barely had enough hair to take care of themselves. They’re great at what they do though!
If it’s your first time here, ask for the lady!

(New) Hong Kong Barber Shop is the one barber shop I go to each time I make a trip to NYC.
It used to be a $ 8 men’s haircut/​wash, but they recently upped it to $ 10. Regardless, it’s totally worth it. I’ve tried all four of the barbers here and have determined that the short Asian guy is the best, while the lady is likely the worst. The hair cutters at Hong Kong Barber Shop really know what they’re doing. They’re good with the hair thinning scissors, can cut a variety of styles, are detailed-​oriented, and give you a nice final cleaning around the side burns.
For an extra two bucks, you can also ask them to do an entire facial shaving with knives (mustaches, beard, side burns, unibrow, etc.). It’s scary, but effective and feels good. Overall, this place is a good buy. The salon itself might not be visually enticing, but it’s the hair cut that actually matters.

As an Asian, I’ve found that haircuts at non-​Asian places usually end in disaster for me. I’ve come out of place after paying 50+ dollars and thinking, «Well darnit, I probably could have had that homeless guy at the corner cut my hair and have it still look about the same.» *NOTE: Please do not ask the homeless guy to cut your hair.*
A friend of the family recommended this place, as she had been living in New York City for much longer than I, so, one rainy day, I took the train down to Chinatown and got myself a haircut.
This haircut is cheap. If you’re wanting some fancy stuff done, this isn’t the place to go. However, if you’re looking for a clean cut that is hassle-​free, I highly recommend this place. For the guys, ask for the older man to cut your hair. He’s the best.
For the ladies (and I’ve seen lots of them use this place as well), the lady working there is seems to know what she is doing. I’m a guy, so I wouldn’t be an expert, but everyone seems to leave happy!
Don’t forget to tip! They’ll remember you and treat you even nicer!

I go by reviews when deciding on a haircut for myself or my son. We have gone from upscale salons to places like these and have never received a cut like this.
I live fairly close to the barber shops on Doyer St, so based on such good reviews for the Hong Kong Barber Shop on 19 Doyers St, I went right in. They were empty and the other barber shops I passed by had people getting cuts in them, but I didn’t mind… I thought, the quieter, the better. This way, they can better focus on my son’s haircut.
I was wrong.
I don’t mind at all that they don’t speak English. Motions and hand language sometimes is enough. I just wanted my sons hair even and shorter, a basic cut, nothing fancy, nor was I expecting anything fancy for the $ 10 cut I paid.
Most of the time, the woman here used thinning shears and acted like she didn’t care or know what she was doing. I didn’t want my childs hair completely thinned out or unevenly layered up, yet that is what she was doing. I was being patient though because I have seen stylists do cuts that look like there is no rhyme or reason to them and it comes out looking fairly decent.
This wasn’t the case here. The end result was that the back had long parts and short parts. The crown had hairs sticking straight up. The sides were in my sons ears. It was a complete mess.
So much a mess that the moment I paid and left, I went to another barber a few shops down on 10 Doyers that was 100% better and fixed the ridiculous cut that my child was just given. I’m about to write a review on that cut next.
There was a reason this place was empty and after such a horrendous cut, that place should stay empty.
Btw, when we got home, my 6 year old said he didn’t like the first stylist he went to because «she kept grabbing my face hard and turning it». I didn’t notice that and he didn’t complain during the cut but I did notice that she didn’t so much as smile at my son once during the cut and he just sat there quietly. Well, there is a first and last to everything.
This is the last time we are going to this place and I recommend that no one who reads this chooses to make the same mistake as I did and go here based on any of the «good» reviews.

The best. Friendly and helpful staff, great cuts (do white hair fine, though occasionally it comes out with kind of an Asian feel to it), and inexpensive. Definitely go for the $ 3 wash — the woman practically gives you a head massage.

Stemming from Bowery and Pell, Doyers was one of the city’s grittiest streets which has seen plenty of shady biz back in the day. Now this small street is home to one of the main post offices to Chinatown, is a frequently used photo shoot spot, is the site for the elusive Apotheke (
) and an extension of Barber Shop Alley (
). And that’s why I’m at Hong Kong Barbershop.
If the barbers seem familiar, that’s because they’re from the now defunct Sun Wah (
) Barbershop, just across the street on Pell. They all operate on independent spots now, no longer part of a group that gets the same commission. Other than that, it’s the same old story: English speaking is practically nil, the haircuts are fast, the price is cheap. Other than the fact I’ve still have yet to see females step into this place, I’ve seen plenty of children. That’s really about it.
HK Barbershop is smaller than Sun Wah by a long shot. The place is smaller than a bedroom and it has four barber chairs. In addition to that, the waiting area consists of two lowly chairs, there is only one sink for hair washing, the make shift coat hangers are ghetto rigged, the bathroom is … not very ideal, and there are hair follicles everywhere.
So 4 stars for what? For starters, the service has always been pretty good. Everyone is amiable, friendly, and they often stay late whenever patrons come close to closing time. I’ve seen people «forget» cash and the barbers play it so cool they tell them to bring it with them next time. My man, Mr. Pang is a wizard with the scissors and a master of the fade. At only $ 7 a haircut, these recession special prices seem to be rising everywhere but here. I’ve never been one to turn down a dive, let alone a barbershop one.

Barber shop I’ve been going to since I was a baby. Got my first hair cut there in fact. The original shop was Sun Wah Barbers which unfortunately closed due to the owner not wanting to continue the business. As far as I know, almost everyone from the original store moved to this new location.
I’ve been going to this store for close to two decades. I can walk in and not have to dictate what kind of haircut I want, everyone already knows me and knows what I like.
Service is absolutely top class. They will go over every inch of your hair to make sure it’s up to what you want. They pay attention to the smallest details.
A regular cut is $ 7 and with a wash is $ 10. Can’t get any cheaper than that.
Just as with Bo Ky (another review), I’ll be heading to this place to get my hair cut as long as they stay open.

Mr. Carmen Fan made me look exactly like Jacky Cheung circa 1986

SInce Wun Wah Barber Shop «closed» down, the people moved to this location. Everything is the same. Just a lot less store space. Times must be tough.
I have upgraded their rating because of their attention to detail and customer satisfaction.
Please refer to my review of Sun Wah Barber Shop for the full review.

$ 6 haircut. Well, with tip, it was $ 8. But seriously, can it get any cheaper?
Hong Kong Barber Shop met and exceeded my expectations. My $ 6 haircut did not look $ 6. (It looked like a $ 15 haircut). Yes, I will admit that a more expensive salon would have done a better job, but at what price? If it matters, it was a middle-​aged lady who cut my hair.
Guys, let’s be honest, there only so many ways to get our hair cut. And it grows back in a week anyway. So save some major cash, get a quality cut here at HK Barber Shop. I will be going back!

Ok you know me (Just play along and quit complaining will ya? Gosh!). I never write reviews for anywhere I can’t stuff my mouth and/​or fill my stomach.
I’ve been in desperate need for a hair cut for the past month. I’ve always been a short hair kind of guy and this stuff was threatening to swallow up my ears at any moment. So I finally decided to get off my lazy ass (well actually I was already off it since I just finished class) and find a barber in the area. I figured I’d hop onto a bus to Chinatown and check out the barber shops on Pell Street and Doyers Street. I swear they are starved for business on Doyers Street. Every place I walked by I could see the barbers fast asleep in the chairs. Then this one place had a shady, pervy looking Asian guy standing outside winking at me and motioning for me to go inside. Whoa dude. Whoa.
I quickly turned to my left and spotted a sign saying «Haircut $ 6.» Bingo. I walked in and of course they were all sleeping. It was kind of amusing actually when they noticed I walked in. The head barber/​owner quickly jumped up and motioned to take my book bag and even hung up my jacket for me. Now that’s service.
When I sat down in the chair I was secretly dreading telling him how I wanted it cut thinking every barber around here spoke Mandarin. When he asked in Cantonese and I nearly choked from amazement. He quickly got to work and I noticed he was spending a lot of time on one part. This guy was going over everything over and over again to make sure he didn’t miss a single strand of hair. Wow. When he got to my sideburns and forehead he took the buzzer and carefully started shaping everything and measuring the lines. Did I say wow? No barber in my entire life has ever took so much care in cutting my Asian hair before.
He asked if I wanted to wash my hair and figuring I wasn’t heading home anytime soon and I didn’t want stray hairs all over my ears and face I agreed. He got my collar wet =(It’s ok though he apologized and I forgave him. He then sat me back in the chair and rather than drying my hair he took out a single blade razor and went to shaping the edges of my hair again. Ok I did say wow right? When he finished he blew dry my hair partially and went to put some gel in my hair. I might as well start off by saying wow this time. He spent several minutes rubbing the gel in and shaping it. Then he decides it didn’t look nice enough and went to grab a comb and went about brushing, pinching and shaping every strand til it was perfect. I haven’t gelled my own hair in a while but even then I never spend so much time or put so much care into getting it perfect. This guy is quite patient.
I recommend this place to anyone with Asian hair or doesn’t might a simple cut. Go with the short hair guy. His colleague has slightly longer hair and is quite unprofessional. Not that they should be prim and proper but the guy was quite audibly hacking up all this phlegm/​snot and spitting it out while cutting another guy’s hair. The other colleague, a woman, slept there in a chair the whole time singing with her mp3 player.
Total price for cut, wash and tip? $ 10. I spend that much with just a cut and tip normally. I’ve heard stories of a place in Chinatown that charges $ 4 for cuts but then again I also hear stories of sushi restaurants in Brooklyn owned by Japanese people.

What a great deal. If you’re a guy, especially if you’ve got Asian hair (which would probably make you Asian, but who knows), and you have six dollars, go for it. Nice job, quick cut, not sketchy at all, and air conditioned by the way. Sure beats a $ 25 hair cut anywhere else in Manhattan.

$ 6 haircut. They don’t speak much English here. I’m not real picky so all I said was «short» and I was done in like 10 minutes. That’s how I like it.
Btw, it would be best to learn Cantonese before you go here if you want something other than «short».