Aardvark Tattoo Company

Category:	Tattoo Shop
Address:	14804 SE Powell Blvd, Portland, OR 97236, USA
Phone:	+1 503-477-8902
Site:	aardvarktattoocompany.com
Rating:	4.6
Working:	12–8PM 12–8PM 12–8PM 12–8PM 12–8PM 12–8PM 12–8PM

Location

Photos 64

Reviews 5

PlantsAre Nice

I got my first tattoo here last December by Gina Niemi, I had been texting her for weeks about what my friend and I wanted and I told her I could only get it this one specific date because I dont live close to Portland and neither does my friend. The day of, I texted her about an hour before I was scheduled and asked if we could come in early because we had finished everything we wanted to do earlier than we thought. She texted me back and said she had no idea who I was and told me to call the shop, long story short, the shop manager didnt write me into the schedule. So she had to scramble to get my tattoo drawn up and my friend didnt have enough time to get her tattoo from Gina since she was going to be working on mine, so another artist in the shop started working on her design, (Nate). Nate did a beautiful piece on my friend so no complaints with him. Gina rushed through my tattoo and halfway through said "Yeah everything will be fine as long as Im out of here by 4:30" which it was almost 5, so she proceeded to rush more. I got a white teacup and this was my first tattoo so I had no clue how things worked, she told me how she had to "pack" in the white, and went over it several times. Afterwards my leg was leaking plasma everywhere and I could hardly walk. The walking pain increased over the next week to absolute excruciating throbbing pain any time I put my leg down. I thought I was having some kind of allergic reaction because my tattoo was scabbing up with a very thick and really grotesque looking scab. Eventually I realized she had worked the absolute life out of my skin and when the scab fell off weeks later, the tattoo underneath was bright pink and scarred. After a couple more weeks the owner of the shop offered to redo it for free. He was very confident that he understood the style I wanted but it ended up being very uneven and it looked very sloppily done. I appreciate him offering to fix it, but it was not what I wanted. As of now, months later I have gotten it done for a 3rd and final time by a lovely artist in San Marcos, TX who captured everything that I wanted finally. If I could include pictures I would love to show the different stages of my tattoo and how much money and pain this thing caused me. Research your artists! Update: I uploaded photos to show the process I had to go through. I also received an email from Aardvaark apologizing and informing me that both artists who worked on me no longer work there. They said if Im ever in town theyd like to make things right by giving me another tattoo, but I have no ties to Portland and currently live in TX so that clearly isnt going to happen, and I obviously dont want to get a tattoo from them again in the first place. It seemed like a weak attempt at compensating me for the $300 I spent at first + the 3 hour drive we had to make twice to get there, (once for the first time getting it & a second time for the rework) + the $200 I had to spend to get it reworked for the last time. (Whenever I look at my review it only shows the picture of the last rework that I had done by the lady in San Marcos TX. Just wanna specify that @_plantmom does not work at Aardvaark)

Tiffany Coleman

My sister wanted us to get matching tattoos with my mom. She had been tattooed here previously and I liked the half sleeve she had gotten done so we sent her artist our idea of a flower with daughter/mother as the stem. Tattoo shop is clean, organized and professional. Relaxed atmosphere. My mom went first and got hers on her wrist. Immediately she started groaning in pain and the artist never stopped to ask if maybe she was going to deep or if she wanted her stop. I went in and asked her to stop and checked in with my mom to see what the problem was and she said she didnt remember it hurting that bad. She has 2 other tattoos. Artist never said anything and my mom finished with the tattoo. I went next and got my flower on my tricep. This lady was digging in my arm like I had spit on her mom and ran over her cat. Ive been tattooed on my chest, ankle, spine, wrist and foot and have never had someone do it that hard. I finished for the sake of finishing and knew I wouldnt be back after that. It took 3 months to heal and I developed sores that scarred over and now my "h" looks like a "d" and I have multiple scars in my tattoo. This was my experience with the one artist and no way reflects the establishment as a whole. I will personally stick with artists that I know from now on.

Tony Brown

My girlfirend got a Groupon to have some work done by Taylor, and it was simply amazing. The entire shop is clean, brightly lit, and welcoming, everyone there was friendly and ready to chat with you. We had an appointment, and it took us a little while to get in, but good shops are busy and we understand that entirely. We emailed back and forth with Taylor though, so when we got to the shop she had what she had everything pretty much ready, and had a great design done up for the tattoo. She did her work well, and was extremely friendly the whole time, ready to chat some, while still getting work done too. We are both extremely pleased with the final work, and even more that Taylor went above and beyond the groupon, which covered 2 hours of work, finishing the tattoo up and not charging us for the extra time it ran over. She was also surprised, and grateful for the tip we left. (Should have had to been surprised! She does great work, everyone should leave at least a little something!) We will definitely be coming back to Aardvark in the future.

Livvy M

I just finished up my first big piece with Risa at Aardvark Tattoo. The whole experience was great from start to finish. Risa was great she listened to my ideas and understood what I was going for but was straight with me when she felt some of my ideas wouldnt work out the way I imagined which I really appreciated because I was relying on her expertise. I am over the moon about my finished tattoo-its cooler than I ever imagined! The whole shop is clean and comfortable and everyone who works there is very friendly. The staff memeber at the desk was very helpful in scheduling my appointments and I love their text message appointment reminder system and they keep you informed if any extra appointments become available because Risa seems to be in very high demand. Over all a great experience. Time and money very well spent. I have an original peice of art that means the world to me. I love showing it off! I highly recommend this shop and this artist and will for sure be giving them a call for my next tattoo!

A Private User

If you ever wanted that totally unique and totally personal tattoo, even if you have only an inkling of an idea of what you want, meet with the artists at Aardvark! The artists are some of the most amazingly talented and creative Ive ever seen! I had an idea, and that was it. I described my idea, the meaning behind my idea, and what I wanted out of the feeling of the tattoo. What I got was carefully created and drawn to perfection. Its as if she knew EXACTLY what was in my heart and mind when I thought of the tattoo. I got colors and lines beyond my imaginiation. My tattoo looks like a painting, not a coloring book. I couldnt be happier! The place is pristinely clean and consumately professional. So, thank you, Risa and Aardvark.