Find the best Tattoo Shops in San Jose, CA. Discover the top tattoo artist in the Bay Area for your next tattoo. Explore tattoo shops near me.
San Jose sits at the perfect nexus of art and innovation. With a growing art scene, rich cultural heritage, and the world’s top tech industry, it is a town worth exploring. And it’s the same when it comes to its tattoo scene. Check out our list of the top tattoo artists in San Jose if you are planning to get a tattoo in this vibrant metropolis.
Best Tattoo Shops in San Jose, CA, United States
1. Players Ink – San Jose
One of the biggest tattoo parlors in San Jose, Players Ink has 5 full-time tattoo artists who provide a wide variety of tattoo styles from traditional to modern to classic. Custom tattoos suited to your personality and lifestyle is the tattoo studio’s goal and rest assured they deliver time and again.
The shop has a comfortable and cozy environment perfect for first-timers with anxiety issues. And the best part, the shop offers walk-ins.
Players Ink, established in May of 1998, has the largest selection and variety of tattoos in San Jose.
For realistic tattoos, ask for Andre!
If bright colors are what you are looking for, Skip is the man for you.
- Address: 518 W San Carlos St San Jose, CA 95126
- Phone: 408-993-8282
- Website: playersinktattoo.com
- Social: @players_ink_tattoo
2. New Generation Tattoo
With over 10 years in the business, New Generation tattoo is well versed in the art of tattooing. With a diverse variety of styles on offer, New Generation is the shop to go to if you are unsure of what you want.
Excellent customer service. Work done by their artists is extensive and includes custom tattoo work, walk-ins, cover-ups, black and grey, Asian, Japanese, Vietnamese, and traditional tattoos. You are sure to find the perfect tattoo for your body.
Walk-Ins Welcome every day! Sunday appointment only (call for appt.)
- Address: 1189 Branham Ln San Jose, CA 95118
- Phone: 408-613-2115
- Website: newgenerationtattoosj.com
- Social: Facebook / Instagram
3. Humble Beginnings Tattoo
At Humble Beginnings Tattoo, the friendly tattoo artists offer a wide variety of styles and art. From Polynesian tattoos to illustrative stunners, this tattoo parlor has a lot to offer its patrons.
We specialize in custom tattoos including Polynesian tribal, American traditional, neo-traditional, illustrative, black & gray, and script.
The best part, the shop also offers semi-permanent cosmetic tattoos, microblading, and powder ombre so you have plenty of offerings to choose from.
They are a tattoo-by-appointment shop but are taking limited walk-ins. For tattoo inquiries, please send a detailed email to hbtattoo408@gmail.com
- Address: 982 The Alameda San Jose, CA 95126 United States
- Phone: 1-408-288-6814
- Website: humblebeginningstattoo.com
- Social: Facebook / Instagram
4. Bulldog Lifestyles
In business for 3 decades, the artists at Bulldog Lifestyle take their art seriously. The shop is also well known in San Jose for its smoke offerings and is a staple of the city’s smoke culture. Linh NGO, Tommy Buth, and Humberto Junior Mejia are the three tattoo artists at this shop offering a variety of styles altogether.
In 1999 Bulldogs introduced Tattoo & Piercing to its current business model since then we have been successful in that industry.
You can get everything from grey and black realism, color tattoos, and lettering to Japanese art, Anime art, Neo-traditional, and Surrealism.
- Address: 285 S Capitol Ave San Jose, CA 95127
- Phone: 408-729-3605
- Website: bulldoglifestyles.com
- Social: /bulldoglifestyles_bodyshop
5. Soul Imagez Tattoo
Established in 2011, Soul Imagez Tattoo is a family-owned business focused on providing quality services for everyone. The shop is highly rated for its warm and professional customer service and variety of tattoo styles on offer. Whether it’s big full-body tattoo jobs or intricate smaller desings, they can do it all.
Tattooing since 2004, Joshua opened Soul Imagez Tattoo Studio in 2011. His goal is to create unique works of art for you, the San Jose community.
The best part-they do all this on a super clean premise with state-of-the-art equipment.
- Address: 2298 S Bascom Ave Campbell, CA 95008
- Phone: 1-408-889-4830
- Website: soulimagez.com
- Social: Facebook / Instagram
6. Unlimited Ink Tattoo
This tattoo studio gets high ratings from customers for the quality of service and safety precautions in place. With friendly and accommodating and a variety of tattoo artists to choose from, the place is tailor-made for people who find it hard to make decisions.
Unlimited Ink Tattoo is a full custom shop with a wide range of styles from American Traditional to realism, black and grey to color, script to tribal, and everything in between.
Super clean and great customer service to boot, the place offers cover-ups and touch-ups too.
- Address: 4213 Barrymore Dr, San Jose, CA 95117
- Phone: 1-408-217-9917
- Website:
- Social: facebook.com/unlimitedinktattoo/
7. Marks of Art Tattoo
Located in Union Ave, Marks of Art Tattoo was established in 1994 is considered one of the oldest running tattoo shops in San Jose. With a clean ambiance and excellent customer service, the shop is the place to go if you are a first-timer.
The place also offers the best after-care services with 7 in-house tattoo artists to choose from.
With great prices, helpful & knowledgeable staff & a safe & clean, sterile environment, you can’t go wrong.
Typically open until midnight Monday through Saturday and 10 pm on Sunday.
- Address: 3014 Union Ave San Jose, CA 95124
- Phone: (408) 377-1924
- Website: marksofartsj.com
- Social: Facebook / Instagram
8. KT Dragon Tattoo
A premier tattoo destination, KT Dragon Tattoos has been in business since 2004. With a team of award-winning artists, the place comes highly rated by tattoo enthusiasts.
KT Dragon Tattoos offers both large-scale fully body tattoos, cover-ups, and touchups. Customers particularly note the friendly, accommodating, and flexible service
Serving The Bay Area specializing in Asian art!
- Address: 1939 Alum Rock Ave Ste C San Jose, CA 95116
- Phone: 408-204-3526
- Website: ktdragon.com
- Social: @ktdragontattoostudio
9. Blue Rose Tattoo
Customers of this tattoo parlor rave about the owner Nick’s friendly, professional and speedy service. The tattoo shop is most well regarded for its ink work, line work, and affordable pricing. They also provide cover-up and touch-up services.
Best part-walks ins are welcome.
- Address: 3146 Alum Rock San Jose, CA 95127 United States
- Phone: 206-913-8081
- Website: facebook.com/Bluerosetattoosj
- Social: @blue_rose_tattoo_san_jose
10. Tattoo Lifestylez | San Jose
This clean and comfortable shop gets high ratings from customers for the excellent artistry of owner Davis. The place also receives top marks for cleanliness, attention to detail, and quality of tattoos. Hugely recommended for first-timers anxious about getting tattooed.
Posted on Jul 12, 2021
We are not accepting walk-ins if you would like a tattoo please book an appointment in advance and we do not do piercings at the moment.
- Address: 992 N 4th St San Jose, CA 95112
- Phone: 1-408-892-2960
- Website: tattoolifestylez.business.site
- Social: facebook.com/TattooLifestylezShop
11. Sacred Oath Tattoos
Throughout their shop, you’ll find the most experienced and local artists from all over the Bay Area. In addition to traditional, color, black and gray, and portraits, they also do a wide range of other art. For more information about their rates, specialties, and availability, please contact them.
Hiram C. Business Owner
“We are a group of like-minded Tattoo practitioners who have a passion for body art. We thrive to bring your tattoo ideas to life using our given talents as Artists”.
- Address: 1954 Camden Ave Ste 6 San Jose, CA 95124
- Phone: Sacredoathtattoos@gmail.com
- Website: sacredoathtattoos.com
- Social: Facebook / Instagram
12. Pyramid Tattoo
Pyramid Tattoo has been running since 2017 and is located on Santa Teresa Boulevard. The place offers walk-ins and almost all styles of tattoos. The owner Mark Heredia brings rich tattooing experience in the industry since 1999.
The shop also houses other top-notch, highly skilled artists Blane Curtis, Peter Tran, Kory Brown, Sofia Ripper, and Adam Defiglio.
- Address: 7034 Santa Teresa Blvd, San Jose, CA 95139, United States
- Phone: 1-408-440-8255
- Website: pyramidtattoosj.com
- Social: @pyramidtattoo
13. Black Lagoon Tattoo
Established in 2012 by Patrick Bostic, the shop prides itself on providing high-quality art with long-lasting results. The clean and sterile shop employs 4 excellent artists with many years of experience in the field. Walk-ins are welcome but customers are encouraged to schedule appointments for the best experience.
- Address: 118 E Santa Clara St, San Jose, CA 95113
- Phone: 1-408-228-4461
- Website: blacklagoontattoosj.com
- Social: @blacklagoontattoo
14. Blacksuit Tattoo
Abraham Ortega runs the BlackSuit Tattoo shop in downtown San Jose. Ortega belongs to a family of artists and has been honing his craft since he was 14. Customers rave about the chill service, professional quality, and long-lasting tattoos, and personalized service offered by the in-house artists. Also winning high points for a clean ambiance, the tattoo shop offers a variety of styles to choose from.
- Address: 17 S 2nd St #2502, San Jose, CA 95113
- Phone: 1-669-292-5554
- Website: andrebernaltattoo.com
- Social: @blacksuittattoo

15. PARALLAX ART STUDIO
This tattoo studio is appointment only but the ambiance and quality of service offered is worth taking that extra step. With excellent rates, clean interiors, and quality service, Parallax art studio is worth a visit.
The studio has a shop minimum of $150 and follows a safety-first approach.
But the main selling point is their focus on artistry, attention to detail, and high concept art offered.
- Address: 4324 Moorpark Ave, San Jose, CA 95129
- Phone:
- Website: parallaxartstudio.com/studio
- Social: @parallaxartstudio
How We Picked The Best Tattoo Shops In San Jose
San Jose is a vibrant metropolis with a variety of tattoo shops. When choosing the best shops to put on this list, we searched the net for the places with the highest reviews and most consistent service offered. We wanted to make it easy for customers needing actionable advice and set up a list of criteria that every shop had to necessarily meet.
Aside from the obvious quality of tattoos provided, we rated the tattoo shops in our list on the following parameters:
- First things first- we made sure to check that the tattoo artists have all the necessary certifications and licenses. Safety was our topmost concern.
- Next comes the equipment used and the cleanliness of the premises. We made sure to confirm that the tattoo artists on our list are working with the best, highest quality, updated, and state of art equipment. The equipment also needed to be clean, regularly sterile. Most importantly the shop had to be clean and follow all government regulations and city codes regarding safety and cleanliness.
- Total no brainer, we rated our shops on the quality of service provided. What is the shop’s portfolio like? how many successful jobs (if that information was available)? What are the social media reviews like? How long does it take for the tattoos to heal and how they looked after healing. For this, we checked any mentions of the Tattoo shop online to confirm their credentials.
- We checked to see the reviews of the shop online and the ratio of positive to negative reviews. Does the shop get repeat customers, what do long-timers say about the service? Are there any specific artists that they highlight? All this gives a sense of consistency of service offered by the shop and overall reputation in the market.
And finally, ambiance-while not the top criterion on our list-a a pleasing funky ambiance with attractive Instagram-worthy interiors- was the difference between being included or left out from our list. After all, tattooing is an art and we wanted to see how that translated into the ambiance of the shops.