John’s Barber Shop

First of all, this is not the John’s in the Village, contrary to the map and subway listings. This is the John’s down in the 42^nd Street/​8^th Ave/​Port Authority Bus Terminal subway station. Even if you’re not riding the rails, though, it’s worth the $ 2.50 surcharge to get to John’s. The key to getting a great haircut at this place is to make sure you’re there when the owner, John, is there cutting hair (I know he’s there on Thursdays and Fridays — call to find out about other days). The woman who worked their in the past (subject to scathing 2010 review below) is no longer there, and there’s another older gent in her place. He does a decent job, but no barber I’ve ever been to compares to John and the care he takes in cutting my hair. He’s got a great sense of humor, and is a stickler for detail — exactly what you want in a barber. (If you don’t want to chat, he can work quietly too.) The only caveat is that this is not a 5 minute buzz job. But the end product is worth a little extra time. Whenever I want to look great for a special event, I’m sure to visit John. If you want a good conversation to boot, ask him to tell you about Feta cheese!

If I could give this place no stars I would. I stopped in Saturday afternoon, I thought I might as well support the new barber shop in Hells Kitchen and get a $ 13 dollar haircut. I should have waited…
I walk in with my kids to an empty shop. I get escorted to Liza’s chair and I asked her just to give me a trim and don’t cut the front too short.
She takes out the buzzer and starts buzzing away. Sides and the back of my head. My thick Italian/​Greek hair is just falling off me. I look like a mushroom and I’m starting to get worried.
She takes out the scissors and starts to cut wildly. Then she says DONE. I look in the mirror and say what the heck is this? One side of my head is uneven and the sides are just a mess.
She starts spraying my hair with water and start to cut before the dude next to me pushes her out of the way and then starts to fix her mistake. He does better but then he goes back to his station and talks in a foreign language to his customer and they start laughing.
Laughing?
Guess what jerko, I speak Unilocal. DO NOT GO TO THIS PLACE.
I left Liza a $ 3 tip and just walked out. And I wont be seeing you in three more weeks to fix the chop job you gave me. Until then I’ll just be the dude with the Jets hat on…

For anyone who has taken a look at my profile picture, this review may seem to be irony in the extreme. Despite appearances however, I choose to shave my head mostly out of expedience and the lack of desire to fuss with gel to make my hair do cool things. I usually go to a place in Chinatown or near my job, but on this day I was out of range of both places and in the middle of my trip, I remembered that in the underbelly of the Port Authority Bus Terminal is a barber shop, John’s Barber Shop.
It was early morning on a Friday when I visited this shop so there was just John himself and no one else to be seen. The shop has a row of chairs and then a solo chair off to the left. It was very clean and didn’t look dusty or dirty as you’d expect a business buried in a subway stop to be. Most barber shops I go to show their age somehow, either with photos taped to the mirrors, but falling off or bits of furniture falling apart such as cracks in the corners of drawers. This one was kept in fantastic shape, this is a man who takes pride in his business.
I sat down to get my cut, expecting the normal buzz leaving a fine layer of hair, perhaps a shave on my sides and back and that would be it. However, John went the extra mile, using a separate electric shaver to shave my head down smooth. I explained to him this was new and he said that most barbers may not do it so you’ll come back faster. He was more concerned about quality. This was much appreciated. I also appreciated the fact that his price was the same as other places ($ 12).
John is good at small talk, but knows when to stop and hunker down and get to work. This isn’t the easiest balance to strike and I was happy he had it.
I recommend John’s if you’re in the area and need a quick, efficient cut in a clean, friendly environment.