Primo Gentlemens Barber

I was visiting for the weekend and decided to give Primo a try. After living in LA, SF and NYC and being the son of a hairdresser, I know what to look for in a proper haircut and was pleased with the results. A young man who had just graduated from his apprenticeship worked on my hair. He was attentive and thorough. The interior is comfortable, clean and handsome. My experience was totally ruined unfortunately by the lad with whom I had initial contact upon entering. I overheard him refer to me as a «poof. This couldn’t be some term of endearment specific to Glasgow, I told myself. No, as a gay man who’s endured a lifetime of bullying and harassment, I knew exactly what that meant. Then from what I observed, he passed me on, essentially refused to work on my hair. This is bigotry and discrimination. So if you come from a sexual minority community, or if you are slightly effeminate man and don’t really feel live being a victim of prejudice or a bias motivated crime than I wouldn’t recommend Primo to you. If you like discrimination and some casual gay bashing/​homophobic humour with your cut then head to Primo! There’s some great coffee and pastries next door, if after your cut you need a moment to recuperate from your trauma had while having a hair cut.

As an American exchange student not knowing the area I found this place on here and I was amazed at how professional they were while still having a laid back atmosphere.
My barber Haider (goes by Shaun) was cool and collected with plenty of experience and did an awesome job. They even shampoo/​style your hair!
They have a student discount too so pretty worth it for 16 quid

Primo is a classic gentleman’s barber with a smack of hipsterness thrown in for good measure.
I’ve been on a few occasions and each time have had to wait for well over an hour to get a hair cut.
The staff do not like to rush their work, which is pleasing and they are all really pleasant /​chatty types which means even if there are only a couple of people in line ahead of you, be prepared to get bored out of yer nut while you watch barbers cutting hair. Yes, its almost like watching paint dry, but only marginally more exciting.
I only watched once, for a wee while, but started to get infuriated by some of the fussiness (some may say vanity) of the punters. A simple short back and side seemed to be taking an age with these guys, with every single hair being given the utmost of attention and care. At least the tunes were good and helped pass the time, until Mumford and Sons came on that is.
The service here is not quite like your normal barbers. First of all, you get a hair wash before and after your haircut and secondly, the time and effort which goes into the hair cut is crazy. Expect the whole process to take in the region of 30 – 45 minutes!
Now, I’m not that much bothered by a meticulous haircut, I just want someone to somehow contain my might thik bush of a «hair-​do».
Haircuts in Primo so far have raged from decent to good. But nothing which makes me want to come back and wait in the region of hour and a half. Price wise it’s more expensive than your normal barber, about £20 a pop, but as mentioned they do spend a long time on each customer and will not rush things.
All in all, I would say defo give it a shot, especially if its quiet. Otherwise forget it, unless you have nothing else planned for the rest of your day.

And another awesome haircut from Holly at Primo.
There was the usual wait, but the tunes were great so I never mind.
But once in the chair the chat was it’s usual amusing funniness.
This time I was über fluffy and in need of a holiday haircut. She certainly had her work cut out for her today (pun totally intended).
Wonderful cut, shampoo and style. I’m yet again a happy satisfied customer.

So after being challenged to have a wee update of some of my older reviews I settled on updating here. My views have not changed one little bit since my first visit. There had been new faces come and go but the service and quality remain exquisite. This is now one of the busiest barbers in the city with almost permanent queues of repeat customers.
Now the guys here have prided themselves on a top quality cut be that hair beard or shave.
Some might describe primo as hipster but what barbershop doesn’t have some hipster staff or customers and if anything it enhances the experience.
Location couldn’t be better and you rarely have a wait over an hour although that depends on the number of staff on.
Now while I finish my coffee and get ready to go for the chop we can finish on the atmosphere. Music banter between staff and customers could not be better. So when you need to get your next trim head down to primo and enjoy the hospitality on offer.

I’ve had my hair cut in here a few times and I’ve always been really impressed with what they’ve done. I’ve tried a few of the barbers and they’ve had good chat, took their time and knew what they were doing. A haircut in here will set you back £20 but they do 20% student discount which I think is very reasonable considering how good the haircuts are.
Primo don’t do appointments, only walk-​ins. The downside to that is that I’ve always had to wait ages for a haircut, like over 2 hours. One time I waited for an hour and realised that at the speed they were going at I’d have to wait another hour an a half until it was my turn. I couldn’t afford to spend my whole afternoon sat here waiting for a haircut, especially if the girl who works there was going to go out for a cigarette break after every haircut she did, so I left, and plenty of other customers came and went during that time too.
This problem could be easily solved if they started taking appointments or if they got more people cutting hair, there’s 6 chairs but any time I’ve been there’s only been 2 staff on. I don’t want to put people off because they do cracking haircuts but I’d only advise coming here on a day that you have nothing else planned because you’ll probably be here a long time. Unfortunately, for that reason I can only give Primo 3 stars.

First visit here was when they were still in the Italian Center. Two barbers, two chairs and a bench for waiting customers. Fast forward to now and their bigger and better shop on Wilson Street is constantly packed with happy customers.
The no appointments approach has it’s positives and negatives. On the bright side, the team of barbers are all excellent, so there’s no fear of where you end up in the queue. Also there’s the obvious benefit of not having to pre-​plan a trip for a haircut.
On the downside, the queues can be massive. I’ve gone in at random times and waited anywhere from 40 minutes to 1 hour and a half. I’ve been in at opening and often been met by 5 others standing waiting for the door to be unlocked. It’s crazy what the men of glasgow looking for a quality haircut are willing to go through, and shows the potential of the niche that Primo have hit so well along with the appeal of their location.
The haircuts are great, no doubt. If you can always manage to get along for opening you might never experience to bad a wait, but for now the major downside is the crazy wait times.

My husband goes here to get a haircut and beardtrim. I’m in love with his beard so I’m glad that he’s found a place that can spruce it up. They take care in each person that walks through the door and all seem comfortable cutting hair and making men look spiffy. I also like that there is sometimes women cutting on the floor. They also sell products to oil for beards as well.

The hotel we stayed at recommended Primo’s. I am usually apprehensive about what hotels suggest due to pay off, but this was truly a great recommendation. They gave what I would say top 2 haircuts of all time for me. They take their time and pride in what they do! Hope to go their again next time on Glasgow!