Reamir Barber Shop East Side

Great location, professional fun barbers, fun haircuts, close to Grand Central. Fun Music, magazines, tv entertainment while waiting, getting a haircut.

This barbershop is overwhelmingly mediocre.
I don’t have much hair and it is pretty easy to trim (buzzer plus a few clips from the scissor) yet they work at a snails pace and the final product sometimes is uneven.
While my hair is absolutely fine when they are through with it I have never left Reamir & Co feeling satisfied with my haircut.

Good place to go for a no-​frills buzz cut. Friendly staff.
But if you’re a dude who has nice hair and wants a haircut, beware — they have a tendency to cut it SHORT. I got my haircut yesterday, asked for a trim and to keep it long, and they went at it with buzzers (#2) and scissored off the top. Not pleased with the result.
Definitely recommend going elsewhere and paying more if you want a barber who has a good sense of style… and hair in general.

A little hungover and running late one morning I skipped shaving in order to rush to work and ran down from my office later in the day to Reamir for a shave. In sum, it was a really bad shave.
Not a fan at all, will definitely find a better barber if I need to get a shave again.
I’ll start from the top.
(1) The apron he put on me still had the last patron’s hair all over it, so he used the blow dryer to clear away the hair… which then blew in my face. I’m not a huge pain in the ass with things like this, but I was pretty disgusted.
(2) Started the shave by using an electric razor, and not very well (causing some irritation)
(3) Straight razor technique was not very good at all; he wasn’t even stretching the skin as he was swiping the blade and it wasn’t very close at all and caused some additional irritation
(4) The barber was really rough on my skin, scrubbing my face with a towel post-​shave, only adding to the irritation caused from the electric razor and poor straight razor technique
(5) Got quite a few nicks and cuts
(6) Put some very strong smelling aftershave on my face, and no balm, leaving my irritated and nicked up face overly dried
My biggest issue is that it was overall a horrible shave. I get a closer shave at home, in a rush and while fumbling around half asleep in the morning. There are parts that barely look shaven at all. I would have told him to clean it up more, but the less damage he could do the better. I still have a 5 o’clock shadow and a slight Hitler mustache to boot. Barber shop shaves are supposed to be so close that you barely need to shave the next morning. I could deal with some irritation and poor service if I atleast get the super close shave barbers are known for… or even a reasonable shave close to what I get on my own. They need to either get better help or train these people better.
Won’t be going back. Ever.

Very solid shop, still my go-​to barber in the city despite moving. I’ve had 4, maybe 5 different people cut my hair here the last 4 years, and have never been disappointed in the cut, unlike others I’ve tried in Manhattan.
Only negatives are that the eastern European staff is a bit rough-​around-​the-​edges. They’ll chatter to each other in Russian (I think) the whole time while working on you, which is a bit off-​putting and makes the customer feel self-​conscious. They smoke right outside the door, and the shop is literally 8×12, so everyone gets to smell it. They also push the overpriced shampooing a little too hard.
But in a rough-​and-​tumble city, you can’t beat a quality $ 18 haircut.

Fantastic straight blade shave done right here. Only drawback is they are very crowded at times. After the shave my face was like a baby’s butt. If you want to splurge on a shave definitely check out Reamir. Never got a haircut here so the review is only for shaves.

got a great straight blade shave at a really great price. Stan worked on me and he was very good. I’d go back. Was able to charge service + tip both on credit card but not Amex.

On my first visit two years ago, the barber was brusque. He did not listen to my explanation of the cut I wanted, but assumed he knew and started in on my hair with the electric clippers. I left with a different — and much shorter — haircut than I wanted. Swore I’d never return.
I recently decided to give them another try. Walked in at 2:00 p.m. on a weekday — no other customers present. Every person there was eating lunch, all at the same time. I was asked to wait on the bench for an indeterminate amount of time, which was not a problem — everyone should be able to eat their lunch. I sat for at least five minutes watching everyone eat. Finally one of them told me I could take a seat in the chair where I waited another five minutes as they continued to eat and socialize, with no apparent sense of urgency about taking care of their only customer. There are other barber shops in the area (which are also less expensive), so I got up and left. I will not be back.
Reamir & Co: enjoy your lunches, but take breaks in shifts, like every other business. Customers don’t want to watch you eat your lunch.
Also, Reamir & Co. hair products are garbage. You might as well buy Dippity-​Doo at Duane Reade.

Just got back from the worst haircut of my life. Made a Unilocal account to specifically save others from my fate. Have posted a picture of their fine work.

Been here twice and both times have gotten solid cuts. They spend twice as much time as SuperSluts and make sure they do a good job.
Small space but it’s not run down and have 3 chairs going
How’s your command of the Russian language? Mine goes as far as «neit». You will hear plenty of it when you are there but who cares.
Do an old school straight razor shave on the neck. Class
Overall it’s a nice barber shop for reasonable price and they spend the time to do it right. So next time you want to go to SuperSluts just say neit.

Made an appointment for 11am on a Saturday with the groupon which gives signature haircut and shave.
After reading reviews, Steve sounds the guy to go to, and because I have the groupon I am not supposed to get him. In any case, they told me it was gonna be 20 mins wait. So I leave and tell them I’ll be back, I come back and now that guy is busy. So been waiting another 15 mins to get my cut… the groupon came with the shave, which they were surprised to learn i purchased… they took my groupon number when i reserved, why wouldnt they know?
in any case, they didnt have the time then to do the shave and asked me to come back…
the cut was OK, the price with groupon was acceptable, but i will not return to this place…

Reamir & Co. is one of at least three barber shops in the vicinity. After going to others I wanted to see if anyone in the area could do a really close skin shave for my head. This sounds simple, but outside many old school barbers in various parts of Brooklyn and Manhattan, I’ve found many shops tend to cut close to the skin, but leaving stubble behind. Some don’t even do straight razor anymore which confounds me.
Thankfully, Reamir does not fall into this dubious category. Instead, they offer two types of close skin shave. Two different barbers I’ve met there had two different styles. One gentleman used all razors including one that did smooth out my head very nicely. The other barber used a traditional straight razor with hot towels and shaving cream. Both times I was extremely satisfied with the cut. The barbers were professional, friendly and quick.
As you can tell my cut is a fairly simple one that runs about $ 18 on average with some cash tossed in for a tip of course. It’s well worth it for a job well done.
The only drawback (that kept it from going five stars) is that it’s almost always jam packed. I haven’t quite figured out the best time to go (and they don’t do reservations that I know of) so it’s often a crap shoot whether or not you’ll get taken care of quickly or have to wait for the three guys in front of you to finish up.

I grew up in New York and lived in every borough but Staten Island. I’ve lived in Northern California for 20 years now but still a New Yorker at heart. I was out here for business and usually go to Supercuts or a slight step up at home but these Russian guys are a big step up from Supercuts. They do old school haircuts and really know what they are doing for $ 21.
Alex cut my hair and shaved my neck with a straight razor and warm shaving cream and warm towel, even trimmed my eyebrows both of which I never had done. I typically look at getting a haircut as a chore but believe it or not I actually look and feel much better with this cut.
Pleasant surprise and worth a Unilocal!

Great quick haircut with little fuss from attentive barbers!

Steve and the crew are great! I get my cuts done by Steve, he’s awesome, everyone has «their» barber, and this is my guy!
I’ve been going to him for over a year now, my roommate originally started going to them and he recommended I check it out.
Ever since I’ve been going to Steve, the haircuts have been consistent and timely. He remembers my exact haircut, I just down and he goes to work, if he has time to chat, makes things only better.
Last time I sat in his chair, he told me to come back at 6:50 (10 min before «close») since there were a few guys on deck already waiting. I sat down at 6:50 and he almost spent a half hour cutting my hair. Frankly, I didnt think he would put that much care and time into my cut since they close at 7pm. But he did it exactly how I like it and almost went over the top since he didnt have the stress of anyone on deck.
He changes things up and always cares enough to cut my sideburns and neck with a straight blade.
As long as these guys are in business, I’m gonna go!
I recommend any one of the crew, at one time or another I’ve gotten my hair cut by all of them w/​no issues!

The price in the window says $ 18, but they’ll charge you over $ 20.
The haircut was not as quick as I had expected after reading reviews, the space was cramped and the Russian cutters give the place a strange vibe.
If you can’t get one of the male cutters, I suggest leaving. In the 30 mins I was there no one came in to request the female one. She also did not speak recognizable english. It’s hard to describe how you want your hair when there is a language barrier.
The chairs were very comfy. Nice footrests.

Since i moved to Manhattan I have been looking for a barbershop, i went to a few places and i didn’t really like it. My coworker gets sick haircuts all the time so i asked him and he told me about this place, he told me to get a cut by his barber, Steve.
when i got there i had to wait like 25 minutes but every minute was worth it. Steve was very nice to me, he was making sure that he understands how i wanted it, he cared about my hair like no barber did. The results were amazing couldn’t ask for better, very very professional.
I’m glad i found my barber, definitely going back.

My old barber closed up without a peep so I’ve been on the lookout for a new one. Saw that this place was 2 blocks away from my office so I decided to check it out. I’m glad I did because I’m pretty sure this is the best haircut I’ve ever gotten in my life! And this includes haircuts at salons I’ve paid 2x as much at.
Went in during my lunch break from work, and waited about a minute. The lady in the middle took care of me. Had a wash and asked for a scissors cut. I swear, she was the most attentive barber I’ve ever seen. My hair came out looking perfect. She also cleaned/​brushed my face of hair multiple times. The hot towel at the end was great too. I hate to exaggerate but I seriously felt like a VIP.
Most importantly, I’ve been sitting at my desk for a little bit and there are 0 stray hairs around and absolutely no itchiness.

So I went back for my second haircut. Things got a little dicey this time around…
Since Reamir’s stupid website doesn’t have their shop hours, I figured I’d give them a call before I left work to make sure that I didn’t go out of my way on my way home only to see that they were closed. They said they closed at 7pm, so I finished up a little more work, and arrived at Reamir by 6:35. There were 3 guys getting cuts in barber chairs, and 2 guys sitting on the bench who were on-​deck. As I head towards the bench, Steve, who cut my hair last time, says that he’s sorry, they’re closed. I mention that I called and they said they were open until 7. Steve says something to the other two workers there in Russian, they argue for a second, then agree that it’s ok for me to wait for my cut… It was very awkward, but my hair was getting to be a veritable jungle, and I needed a cut!
After this awkward moment, the other guys on the bench each stepped up to have their haircuts and I waited to see who would be done first. Figuring that I was already pushing the limits on timing, I’d rather not request Steve, but just go with whoever was ready first. It turned out being the other guy, who I’ll call not-​Steve. Not-​Steve at first asked me what number I like to have my hair shaved, and I mentioned that last time, Steve gave me a scissor-​cut. Steve and not-​Steve chatted in Russian for a minute, and not-​Steve eventually went back to cutting my hair. Not-​Steve is a very faster scissor-​cutter, kind of made me nervous (especially with all the emotion in the air), and he didn’t really want to talk much. Well, he didn’t want to talk until Steve was finished with his customer and left the building to take a phone call. Once Steve was gone, not-​Steve was very quick to ask if I had been to the shop before (yes, duh, doesn’t he read Unilocal?) and how he thought it was weird that Steve didn’t want to cut my hair. I did not want to get involved, so I just said … yeah, seriously.
Anyway, my haircut ended, I got ready to pay the bill and Steve (who has since returned to the shop) says to me «try to make it a little earlier next time». Like George Costanza, I came up with the perfect response, just as I left the store «when customers ask what time you close, tell them what time you stop taking customers, not what time you’re planning on leaving to go home.»
Finally, my haircut turned out okay. I preferred the cut Steve gave me last month, and I’ve decided that these guys are bad enough at customer service that I’ll be trying out a new barber next month. Arg!
In hind sight, I guess I could have avoided this mess by just leaving when he said they were closed, even though it was 25 minutes before they told me they’d close, but then I would have looked like a schlub for one more day, and I just couldn’t have that!

$ 18 haircut + neck hair shave + hot towel + first visit goodie. This is certainly enough to make me come back.
For the first time in quite a few haircuts, I like how my hair looks like too.
Oh and I was done under 30 minutes!
Thanks Reamir & Co and see you soon (in 4 to 6 weeks)