Wise Owl Club

Yes, this place is a bit pretentious with its walk ins only and really long waits. It can certainly feel like you are asking employees for a favor rather then giving them business.
BUT, this is the best place to get a haircut in DC — hands down. Every barber/​stylist i have been to is knowledgable, wants to give you the cut you want, and skilled. Yes the wait is long, but that is because each barber is taking their time to satisfy clients completely. Don’t you want that sort attention to detail for your haircut?
If you know how to go about it, going to Wise Owl Club can be a pleasant experience.
1) Immediately go put your name down. There is always at least an hour wait.
2) Go get lunch/​dinner/​coffee/​a drink at any of the near by food spots (you’re in Adams Morgan after all). I like to hit up the Pleasant Pops around the corner personally.
3) Go back to the shop. By this point you should have killed most of your wait time.
4) enjoy the vibe at the shop while you wait for them to call your name.

My boyfriend got a haircut and it was ON POINT. Totally worth the wait! Highly recommend!!!

«There’s never a second chance to make a first impression.» Wise Owl’s wise a** receptionist was obviously never taught this adage by his grandmother.
I went at 11 and he told me an hour wait, but that the afternoon shouldn’t be busy. Then I got there at 2 and he told me 2 hours. When I pointed out his inconsistency he just shrugged it off while he was texting away on his phone. No apology or sign of sympathy.
I won’t be back.

This is a review about my boyfriend’s experience at Wise Owl, since he is too kind to post one himself. But I’m not. I don’t have a whole lot of shame.
The first time he tried Wise Owl (he wanted to go because it was a local shop in our neighborhood) it was a 3 hour wait. That seemed like a while for a haircut, but hey, it was in the neighborhood and it had a nice ambiance.
He wanted advice about whether he should grow his hair out a bit more and then trim the sides very short, or whether to keep the whole thing short. I guess they kinda took the middle road, which was basically not cutting it at all and then charging him $ 25. I could not tell that his hair had been cut.
We chalked it up to miscommunication. We thought, let’s give it another try, and we’ll keep Bang Salon (the place he normally goes) on backup. He went in another time on a Saturday at about noon and was told that they’re full for the day. He could wait 6 hours, or try again some other time. Keep in mind that he often works into the evenings, and Wise Owl is not open on Sundays, nor is it open before 11 AM. So that sorta leaves Saturday as his haircut day.
So he didn’t go back, and doesn’t plan to. To try to get a haircut here has been a waste of time for him. Some people are willing to show up early, or wait in line outside, and so forth. But maybe he’s just not one of those people (for the record, neither am I; his experience hasn’t persuaded me to switch barbers).
I believe another reviewer said «any good place in DC is booked for weeks, if not months in advance.» I’m sorry, but I call BS. Just my personal experience. I don’t doubt that Wise Owl Club could give a good haircut, but just because it’s impossible to get in doesn’t mean it’s better than any other salon that will fit you in when you call ahead.

Best Barber shop in DC hands down. Yes, there is a wait, no they don’t take reservations. With that said its always worth the wait. If you aren’t willing to wait a little or if you are in a hurry this isn’t your type of place. I’m sure the Hair Cuttery would be happy to rush you though and give you the Jim Carey bowl cut from Dumb and dumber if you are in a hurry. The barbers at the Owl take their time to give you the best look possible. I won’t get my hair cut anywhere else. Make sure to ask for Rosa, she goes the extra mile and is always friendly and her cuts are always on point.

After 8 years of searching for a good barber, I finally found a consistently good place. These guys couldn’t put more attention and care into every cut. I’ve been going here for two years now. Highly recommended!

Love WOC! Jerold does an amazing job cutting my hair. Although it is very short now, he always manages to keep it feminine. I have never had to wait more than 2 hours, and if that was my wait time, I usually managed to get something else done in between like grocery shopping or anything else. No big deal. It’s a great atmosphere, and the times that I did stay and wait, I saw amazing work leaving each barber’s chair. I would highly recommend!

I’ve been coming here for quite some time, and the haircuts are always good, but recently the attitudes of the employees have gotten very uppity. You can’t call to see how long the wait is, so if wander in from across town and there’s a 3-​hour wait you’re just out of luck, rather than being able to call over in advance and see what kind of waits you’d be dealing with. It’s a shame that this is such a great place, but I will not be coming back.

The haircuts at this place are good. Hipster. Fine. But this shop thinks they are so cool that not only can you not make an appointment, if your wife is nice enough to go in to put your name on the list for you so you can wait (two hours) for a text that your stylist is ready… they give you attitude. This place is just not considerate of their customers’ time.

I hear a lot of bit**ing and morning of the no appointment rule.
Bottom line, come early, get in line, put yre name down, wait for the call.
Any good place in DC is booked for weeks if not months in advance. The ones that aren’t, give mediocre cuts.
Wise owl got it right.

This past summer, I was looking for a high-​end shop where I might get a shave and a beard trim before a friend’s wedding. I Unilocaled this place (I believe it was 4 stars back then), but Adams Morgan was a little out of the way for me, so no dice. Ended up going to a 5-​star Capitol Hill establishment instead. (Still my favorite barber in the city.) And while I won’t disrespect WOC by naming their competition in this review, I will say that the management at WOC could learn a lot from Jared, the proprietor of that small shop.
Having recently moved to AdMo, I remembered this place from my previous search. I like to treat myself on Veterans’ day, and a nice beard trim before dinner with the family seemed an appropriate way to do it. I thought I’d avoid the trip to Eastern Market and save time by giving this place a try. I was wrong; I ended up waiting nearly 2 hours and walking out of the shop with the same unkempt beard I had entered with.
My experience:
2:45– Walk in armed with the name of a barber (Darrell) who has been lauded in other reviews for his skill and professionalism. I am told the wait will be 2 hours. A little tight given my dinner plans, but I take the risk. I leave my number and head out.
3:20– Receive a text that reads: «Wise Owl Club will be ready for you in 15 minutes.» (Awesome, I think. Way earlier than expected.)
3:35– Walk back in, take a seat.
3:50– Directed upstairs and told my barber is ready for me. Get up there to find that someone has just sat in his chair, but I will be next. (A little annoying, but I’ve already waited more than an hour. What’s another 30 min?)
4:25– As Darrell is finishing up the client’s cut, I am told that he goes on lunch break at 4:30, but he will be happy to take care of me when he gets back. I explain that I have dinner plans, and must leave by 5:00. He apologizes for the confusion and exclaims, «It’s Veterans’ Day!» (I somehow withhold the «No sh*t!» that immediately springs to mind.)
4:27– I’m out the door.
To be fair, this place is not all bad. The interior is beautiful; clean and well-​appointed. The staff is friendly. They are walk-​in only. (I’ve seen other reviewers complain about this system, but this seems fairly rational for a business located in an area where there is a steady stream of foot traffic.) There is great energy to the place: good music, lively conversation, and a variety of drinks offered while you wait. As mentioned earlier, they have a system where they text you when your barber is ready, so that you don’t have to wait in the shop. (I’m sure that when this system is executed properly, it works out well for the customer.)
Perhaps the barbers here are fantastic, but of course I was unable to find out firsthand whether that’s true. I’m guessing that, between their current regulars and the AdMo foot traffic, WOC doesn’t particularly feel the need to go out of their way to attract new clientele. (The idea that a barber would be unwilling to put off lunch for 15 – 20 minutes to take care of a new client tells you all that you need to know about the prevailing attitude toward newbies.) Their worst Unilocal reviews seem to be from people frustrated by the wait time and newcomers who, like me, were treated as one-​offs, rather than potential regulars.
When you’re prepared to shell out $ 25-​$ 30 for a beard trim, you expect a level of service and professionalism that this place simply didn’t offer. Fortunately for me, other places do.

What you need to know: Stay away from this place. Poor treatment of customers. Mediocre haircut.
The staff is extremely rude, barely took the time to understand how I wanted both my hair and my beard cut. My barber never once addressed me, or looked at me in the eye.
The barber’s were focused on making profane and disgusting jokes with one another, watching TV, and smoking blunts. Literally, they all took turns smoking a blunt in the back room, as if us white-​collar folk wouldn’t notice.
Because I wasn’t laughing at their sexist, racist, and perverted jokes, the men working there began talking about me behind my back. I want to like this place, but unfortunatley it is a disgusting establishment where they treat newcommers like shit. Stay away, and take your money elsewhere.

great cuts, but shitty service for the price. a regular guys cut is $ 45+tip and they DO NOT offer the service you’d expect with that price: appointments, good customer service, a beer/​coffee when you check in, etc. since they only take walk-​ins, expect to wait upwards of an hour and a half.
tl;dr: good cuts, too expensive (expect to pay $ 55+ after tip) for the crappy service and lack of appointments.
update: weekday morning was quoted 60 – 90 minutes. waited over 90. not worth the time.

I’ve been going here for about 3 years. But today was my last. Greeter today was unnecessarily really rude.
Mac and Rosa very good. Most other barbers good too.
New customers can typically be treated a bit cold at this place but usually when you’ve been a returning customer for so long they are a bit better.
Well, today was not a good day for the greeter/​coordinator fellow to be short and oddly rude to me. I know he must’ve recognized me but even if he somehow didn’t still wasn’t necessary.
I’m guessing they are getting a ton of customers so they don’t need to focus on the customer service but if a person that lives right up the street who has been coming in for three years is deciding never to come back because of it, perhaps you should reconsider.

I wish I could give this joke of an establishment zero stars. I don’t care how hip the proprietors of this place think they are or how good of haircuts they may occasionally give, you shouldn’t be rude to people who try to give you business.
Stay away.

Strike 2. Not very welcoming. Allot of standing around. Walked in. Guy told me I have someone coming back from lunch. I waited. He then asked his buddy if he wanted the apt first even though said buddy had a request name on the list. Buddy said yes he tells me 1hour.
I guess I’ll never know if they can cut. If you want to sit and wait without being able to make an appointment this is your place. I don’t need a place that acts like they are doing me the favor.

I don’t understand these guys’ business plan — are they trying to alienate as many potential customers as possible by not taking appointments? I went on a Tuesday afternoon at 2:30. There were two guys waiting and one or two in the chairs. Some inked-​up guy comes up to me and asks if he can help me. Uhhh, I’m in a barber shop dude, what do you think I want? He tells me that the wait is at least 90 minutes and I can sign the waiting list and he will call me when someone is available. Seriously? Like I’m going to put my entire afternoon on hold waiting for his call?
I walked down the street to Bang and they took me right away as a walk-​in. In and out in 30 minutes. Excellent haircut. Sorry Owl, I won’t be back. I actually have other stuff to do than wait for your call.

I signed up for Unilocal just to make this comment:
Wise owl has barbers who can give a decent haircut, sure. But the «no appointment» thing makes it completely unmanageable. I’ve never been in there and waited less than 2 – 3 hours, and a couple times I sat there for up to 4.
Who has that kind of time, and is a mediocre haircut really worth it?
Hells Bottom is a bit pricier but worth checking out.

You know you’ve found a new place to get a haircut and beard trim when you’ve entered a «worst tattoo I’ve ever seen» contest mid-​trim. Akil did an incredible job. I came in with a year-​beard and a six month mullet, and he hooked it up. On top of that, I left shirt and tie immaculate, sans 12 inches of beard.
People complain about the fact that they don’t make appointments. I think this is awesome; it gave Akil the freedom to get the exact cut I wanted. Quality is far more important than quantity. If you want an appointment, hit Super Cuts. If you want it done right, head here.
I’ll be back monthly.

I highly recommend Wise Owl Club. I have put in my list of Pro’s and Con’s. But the cons are what you would expect for a top notch popular barbershop. So I wouldn’t rate the place low because of that. Quality is much more important. If you want less than a 5 minute wait time, go to a generic barbershop and roll the dice on a good haircut.
Pros:
The place is really nice.
Each barber seems to be very experienced.
You definitely do not feel rushed and the quality of the cuts is great.
Cons:
The wait time is crazy.
The haircuts are a bit pricey, but pretty comparable overall to any top barbershop in DC.