Maximum Tattoo

I had a tattoo done there a year ago and was not entirely satisfied with the art. I spoke with Beth and she said she would take care of it for me. Unfortunately, I waited a full year before going back to have the issue rectified. When I spoke with Beth, she told me that she would have to charge me to repair the Tattoo. It turned out that I was going to have to pay more than what the original tattoo cost to fix it. Needless to say, I will not be going back and if this is their version of customer service, I would think twice about having work done there.

These cats were great! I got a small tattoo on a Saturday night and the entire staff was super cool. Sure they are very sarcastic but I love it. I’ll def be coming back.

I got my first tattoo here last week. Katie was my artist, and she is professional, down to earth, and takes her work seriously.
I arrived at the shop and she was ready to take me right around our scheduled appointment time. Once I got situated, she got her utensils ready, everything new and clean.
When the tattoo was going on, it hurt, but pretty quickly that pain dulled. I was happy that Katie did a lot of work in just over an hour, whereas I was planning on two hours. Her artistry is really impressive, and she basically designed my tattoo and the color scheme just by getting a sense of what I wanted from a few other pictures. I never saw the colors until they were on my back, but I had read such great reviews and had seen the quality of her work, so decided to trust her.
Now that I am close to a week out, it is healing up nicely, and I am really loving this piece. Katie gave me great instructions for aftercare, and just in general took great care of me.
I went into this shop worried about the pain, worried about getting something that turned out bad, worried that I was just some weird almost 40 year old that wouldn’t be «cool» enough to hang out in a tattoo shop, but I am happy to say that none of that was an issue. They welcome everyone, don’t seem to judge anyone I saw come or go, and do amazing work.
My husband also had a full back piece done by Phil, and he loves it. It goes from shoulder to shoulder and then down and across his back where his belt would be, and the work is really perfect. I think all of the artists here are fantastic, you can’t go wrong.

I went there today with my friend who had never gotten a tattoo before and to get something small. Everyone in the shop was super nice.
Phil did my tattoo and was super accommodating and friendly. Ralph did my friends tattoo and was also very accommodating. I would recommend this shop to anyone in the burbs who doesn’t want to travel all the way to the city to find good tattoo artists.

I love this place. Chris and staff are so patient and attentive. Have gotten a couple small pieces done here, one with katie the other with Chris. Getting everything done here moving forward too. They have accommodated me and my crazy schedule so many times. So nice to see friendly and talented artists like them so close to home. Thanks guys! Ps: see you this weekend ;)

I first heard of Maximum Tattoo as I was in my cadaver dissection lab, chatting over our cadaver with my fellow lab-​mates. One of the guys swore by this place, and after seeing his tattoos and hearing him swoon over their work, I decided this would be where I would get my next tattoo. I have 3, and while I am content with them, I wanted to go somewhere different for the next one. This past weekend, I decided to get my fourth tattoo.
I checked out their Facebook and website, and fell in love with Beth’s art. I walked in about two weeks ago to give her my idea and see the shop. She set me up with an appointment right away.
She made some recommendations that were different than I initially wanted, but as she is the professional experienced tattoo artist and I am a mere passerby, I went with her recommendations… I’m glad I did! The tattoo took a little under two hours, and the time flew by. We chatted about everything from tattooing to her kids to life philosophy. Everyone in the shop is extremely nice. I also went in with my friend, and she got her first tattoo on her ribs (ouch…). She was super nervous, but Chris was very professional and helped calm her down. He finished in about 12 minutes and then she was done!
I highly recommend this shop… the artists are very professional, kind and talented.

Tonight I got my first big tattoo and it was a very special family piece. Katie did an incredible job and I am so happy that I chose her to help me design it and to help with placement. I am thrilled with how it turned out :} I definitely want to give her 5stars because :}

Everyone has their «artist» and Katie Vianello (Cain) is mine. I followed her up to Maximum Tattoo when she moved from Champaign, IL. She has done 95% of my work and I make special 3 hour trip to see her. I carry her business cards with me and recommend her to everyone who notices and compliments my work.
Her work is exquisite. My Elvis & Priscilla tattoo is over 5 years old and has never needed a touch up yet.
Katie pulls no punches when it comes to telling you what is and is not possible. When I have an idea, I let her do her job as an artist and the tattoo comes out better than I could have imagined.
My friend Laura has recently become a frequent client of Katie’s. The last few times I’ve had work done Laura and I have made day trips to get tattooed together. All three of Laura’s pieces have been beyond gorgeous and I know she has plans for future trips to Maximum to see Katie.
As far as pricing goes Katie is worth every penny. Permanent body art of her caliber is worth way more than she charges, never doubt that she is giving you a fair and good deal for her skill.
Two weeks from tomorrow I will be going to see her to finish my Golden Girls tattoo and could not be more excited!
The shop is amazing and I’m always glad to be in a clean friendly environment, but Katie Vianello is truly the reason I keep going back to Maximum Tattoo time and time again.

Love this place! For someone who is a bit jittery about potential pain, I felt at ease in this very clean and calm-​inducing shop. I came in during the afternoon and was helped right away at the counter. Chris was funny and kind, and drew up some options for my tattoo to give it a personal spin. Throughout my short time in the chair, he chatted with me and I felt quite comfortable. The walls are decorated with tattoo artwork and various paintings, taking my mind off of what was happening while I was in the chair… and before I knew it, I was done and very happy.
I highly recommend the shop and Chris. I doubt it will be long before I head back to this shop!

Was recently tattooed by artist Sara Ray. Could not be any happier with my tattoo and my experience at the shop. Everyone here is professional, knowledgeable, helpful and fun to be around… and the caliber of work is amazing. The shop is full of original artwork, very clean, and beautiful. I’ve been to tattoo shops across the country and this is one of the very best. Highly recommended!

I’m not quite understanding why there are such negative reviews on here. Most of the negative reviews seem to be saying that Maximum Tattoo has rude or poor customer service, but each time I have been here, they have been nothing but friendly and accommodating.
First off, what an incredible talent pool! Their work is notch.
I came here the other day with my boyfriend, both of us wanting a tattoo. My boyfriend talked to Beth and showed her his idea. He did not have a concrete idea of what he wanted, but wanted her opinion. Beth told him that he should reconsider the location (because as he aged, the skin under his arm would become loose, thus altering the look of the tattoo) and also, to come back when he knew exactly what he wanted because she did not him to get a mediocre tattoo (especially because this was a tattoo dedicated to his deceased father). This showed us that she truly cared about her customers and their satisfaction. I know many tattoo places that try to rush you in and out so that they can tattoo you, take your money, and move on to the next customer. Not here. They are more concerned with quality & customer satisfaction than taking your money.
When I showed her what I wanted, Beth made a few suggestions and the tattoo ended up looking a thousand times better than what I could have ever imagined. She tweaked my tattoo just a bit and suggested adding some shading and it was just perfect. Beth made sure I was comfortable the entire time & asked several times if I was okay.
The space is very clean, the people are friendly and cool, and I LOVE that there is such a great tattoo studio in the burbs! Now I don’t have to drive to the city every time I want a tattoo.
THANK YOU BETH for my beautiful tattoo. I will be sure to spread the word.

Rave review for Katie here! Can’t say enough good things about her, but I’ll get to the point. Very pleasant experience when I went in with a friend last year for my first tattoo, a tube of lipstick on my ankle. They were fully booked and couldn’t take me that day, so we set an appointment for the following week. When I returned Katie had drawn up a few ideas but the one she had in mind was PERFECT and completely fit my personality. She put a little 50s astro flair in there and I absolutely love it. This year I came to Katie again with my idea for a large mermaid on my thigh. And I didn’t know exactly how I wanted it to look or how to communicate it to her so she worked so hard cranking out drawings and tweaking them to suit me. I couldn’t believe it how patient and dedicated she was to making sure this tattoo was just right. Now that it’s done, I couldn’t be happier. It looks better than I even hoped. The artistic ability in this place (and I was able to see all the other artists at work too) is astounding. They are goofy and sarcastic and creative souls there, and a pleasure to be around even when they’re pushing needles into your skin. Give them the freedom to be the talented artists that they are and you will leave a happy customer! I definitely look forward to returning to Maximum Tattoo!

Chris and Katie are extremely welcoming every time I come into the shop ! Chris is my main guy for ink and has done phenomenal work and prices are very reasonable. I always feel welcomed, comfortable and satisfied after leaving. Chris has some artistic ideas and is always accommodating with my appointments as I am in sales and it’s hard to make time for extracurricular activities like tattoo appointments.
Katie is a great tattoo artist, personable and real laid back.
Highly recommend this place for ink!

First off I would like to say that this place might have some very good tattoo artists. I saw their art and pictures and I was impressed. I had heard some very good things about the place. So I went by and I spoke to a man named Phil that worked there. Came off like a good, cool guy to me. I showed him the type of tattoo I wanted and we agreed to an appointment on a Saturday from next week. He took out his book schedule and wrote down my name and phone number in case he needed to contact me for any reason. I left the place excited and looking forward to that day, my girlfriend who was there with me at the time when I went to make an appointment with Phil was also very excited for me.
I waited the week off and me and my girlfriend drove back all the way down to Deerfield where the place is located, I lived in Kenosha WI at the time so it was about a 40 – 45 minute drive depending on traffic to Maximum Tattoo.
As I came in excited and ready for my first «big» tattoo I came in and was greeted by a female receptionist which never knew nor found out her name, and another female artist named Kate. Kate was working on a tattoo with one of her customers and another artist named Chris was in the back also working on a tattoo with a customer. As I came in with my girlfriend and was greeted by the receptionist I told them I had an appointment with an Artist. Which was Phil but at the time I didn’t know his name, I had completely forgotten about it. Kate looked at me clueless and said that if I was talking about Phil that he wasn’t there that day. She said that he was sick and had bronchitis. Disappointed and a little frustrated I told her why nobody called or said anything to me? My girlfriend also said that Phil should of called me prior to me making the drive all the way down here, she said that was a little unprofessional from them and I agreed. Kate immediately responded to me saying «well I don’t think he knew he was going to get bronchitis today» saying it a little rude. I responded telling her that it’s obvious nobody knows when they will get sick or not, but that didn’t mean Phil or someone from here couldn’t call me to let me know that he wasn’t going to be able to tattoo me today. She didn’t say anything back. After 5 – 6 minutes of me and my girlfriend just standing there like idiots the receptionist took out a piece of paper and pen and told me to write down my name and phone number so Phil could call me back and reschedule. I wrote down both my name and number gave the pen and paper to the receptionist and told them to have a good day.
Tuesday I called Maximum Tattoo since I never got a call back from them since the Saturday I had gone. And Phil answers. I finally ask him for the reason why he never called me to let me know he wasn’t going to be able to tattoo me. He said he was sick and that he apologized, his whole family got sick with him he said.
As soon as he finished saying that I decided to give him a second chance and asked him when we will be able to do the tattoo we agreed upon and immediately he said he wasn’t going to do my tattoo anymore. He said because his receptionist and Kate and Chris who was sitting all the way to the back at the time I went said that I was «extremely rude, violent and that I threw a pen at the receptionist when I left». In disbelieve I was in a loss of words for a couple of seconds, and I told him that they where liars, I told him that I would never do that. I told him and I quote «I’m not an as*hole, i’m not going to disrespect nor assault somebody over a small mistake that you did». And then he said «then all the people that I trust with my life have lied to me» I reassured him again that I never did any of that and that his co-​workers where lying to him. He rudely said that I could call him Saturday of that week to see if he «felt like doing the tattoo for me» I hung up.
I looked at some of the reviews here on google and Unilocal and asked many friends about the place and they all agreed that the female employees from Maximum Tattoo where rude, and very short with customers. I greatly advice anyone against going to this place. Very horrible customer service and very rude people.
Phil is a good guy I guess, he was just lied to, But thanks to his ignorance and thanks to his lying and rude female co-​workers he lost himself a loyal customer and a lot more thanks to me not recommending that place to all of my family, friends, and friends of friends that live around Deerfield. Very disappointed and frustrated at that place and their people. Bunch of rude liars. I wish Phil good luck and hope he finds a way to restore his business with people who actually know the meaning of courtesy and customer service.

Very poor customer service. This is not a review on the quality of their work, it never got to that point. I went in to get a very small tattoo fixed. I showed the woman the tattoo and told her what I wanted to have done. Her immediate answer was «I am not a computer.» That does not build confidence. Silly me, did not walk at that point. I explained that the person in Texas who did the tattoo did not do a very good job. No empathy from her, like sorry that happened I will fix it so you are happy. Instead she defended the person. Silly me, still did not walk at that point. She then places a form in front of me. I asked her, «What should I do?» There was a lot on the form. Her reply in the most unfriendly voice was, «Fill it out.» Smart me, put down the pen and walked out the door. As a customer service professional, I believe I can pass on some tips to the woman that waited on me. It is important to establish confidence in your customer. You did not do that. It is important to have empathy. You did not have that. It is important to make a positive connection with your customer. One way is through the tone of your voice. You did not do that. So there was a missed opportunity for the shop. I ended up going to Liberty Tattoo in Libertyville and they were everything you were not as far as customer service goes. And they did great work.

My sister and I got our first tattoos last weekend at Maximum Tattoo. We had the perfect experience.
Beth was awesome. She made sure we were getting exactly what we wanted and resized our tattoo a couple times for us to make sure it was just right. She made us feel so comfortable, injected a lot of humor into the session, and did a beautiful job. She was honest, funny, and very talented.
The cost was just right ($ 40 for a small tattoo) and I would recommend Maximum Tattoo to anyone, especially first-​timers.

Its location is perfect since there really isnt another decent shop until you get north into libertyville. Phil, one of the owners, is the man. his work speaks for itself so go check the website. Personally i feel that the other artists have both bad work and really outstanding work. i think that every tat artist has a specific style they are awesome at and im not sure who is best at what just yet but my friends and i have all been here and have walked out with great art for a fair price, not dirt cheap but not overly expensive. If you are an all around art fan, do yourself a favor and check out Beth’s, phil’s wife and part owner, paintings she is quite talented.

Professionals with an outstanding talent pool and fantastic shop. One visit tells you that their friends and clients are a pretty big deal; If you’re going to do the ink, have it done by the best in the business!

Phil and Beth have set a bar that many other tattoo shops will never reach. They are professional, honest and give you exactly what you want. Their shop is clean, and the music that they play rocks! I have already recommended them to all my friends, and even my ex wife! What a great addition to the northwest suburbs, a oasis of cool in the middle of suburbia. If you want a tattoo that you can be proud of, this is the place.

Beth and Phil are two of the most talented Chicago tattooers that this great city has to offer. I’m glad they moved their expertise to Deerfield, where even MORE people get to experience it.
Down to earth people, cool attitudes, and extremely hard workers.
The space is gorgeous, clean and an all around fun environment to get tattooed… or just hang out.
Grand Opening is May 14^th! Be there or be forever square.