300 guides

Who it is for

The same design reads differently depending on who wears it and where.

Placement

Where it sits drives visibility, pain, healing and how it ages.

Subjects & symbols

What the design depicts, and what it has traditionally meant.

Before and after

Choosing, aftercare, cover-ups, and finding the right artist.

Piercing

Placements, healing and jewellery, beyond tattooing.

Culture

Tattoos in public life.

Best 10 Tattoo Shops in Dallas (With Artist)

Reviewed & updated First published 1 designs

This list was written in 2016 and has been checked shop by shop in September 2026. Four of the ten originally listed have closed since, and they have been removed rather than left to send you to an empty unit. What remains is verified open, with current addresses.

Before booking anywhere, check the shop is licensed by the Texas Department of State Health Services - studios and artists both require registration, and the department publishes the register. Then look for the ordinary signs: sterile needles opened in front of you, fresh gloves, single-use ink caps, an autoclave, and surfaces that are covered and wiped between clients.

Tattoo artist in texas design, idea 1

Taboo Tattoo - Deep Ellum, Dallas

2650 Main St, Dallas. Open seven days, walk-ins welcome.

The oldest tattoo shop in Dallas, working in Deep Ellum since 1994, which in this trade counts for a great deal. Fully licensed artists across a broad range of styles, and a shop that has outlasted most of its contemporaries in the city.

Death or Glory - Dallas

5623 Bell Ave, Dallas. Closed Mondays, otherwise noon to 8pm.

A well-regarded Dallas shop with a strong reputation for custom work. Worth booking rather than walking in if you have something specific in mind.

Legacy Arts Tattoo - Dallas and Addison

Three locations: 13021 Coit Rd, Dallas; 19021 Midway Rd, Dallas; 4021 Belt Line Rd, Addison. Walk-ins accepted.

Custom work in black and grey, full colour, blackwork and dotwork, neo-traditional and traditional. Having three shops across the metroplex makes them one of the easier places to get seen at short notice.

Epic Tattoos - Fort Worth

6627 N Beach St, Fort Worth. Open seven days.

Established in 2004, doing custom tattooing and body piercing. They prefer appointments for tattoo work but take walk-ins all day Friday and Saturday, and carry a decent range of body jewellery for piercings.

Texas Body Art - Houston

Houston, open seven days, walk-ins daily.

Working since 1998, with resident artists covering fine line, colour realism and black and grey. Same-day appointments depend on artist availability; a consultation carries a deposit that comes off the final cost.

Infinity 13 Studios - McKinney

1970 N Central Expy, Suite 210, McKinney. Note the address: they have moved out of the Northwest Highway location in Dallas that older listings still show.

Custom tattooing and piercing, with a long-standing local following.

Removed from this list in September 2026

These were listed in the original article and have since closed. They are named here so that anyone who finds the old version elsewhere knows not to make the trip.

  • Stainless Studios, Munger Blvd, Dallas - closed.
  • Iron Dagger Tattoo, Addison - closed after ten years in business.
  • Blink Custom Art & Tattoos, Jackson St, Dallas - closed.
  • Hubtattoo, E 11th St, Austin - the shop address is closed. The artist, Michael Norris, has worked in Austin since 2005 and now works from a private space part of the year rather than a walk-in shop.

Choosing between them

Shortlist by portfolio rather than by proximity. Almost every shop above covers several styles, but individual artists do not - look at the artist pages, find the two or three whose healed work you like, and book with the person rather than the address.

Ask what the hourly or day rate is, what the shop minimum is, whether design time is charged separately, and what the deposit and reschedule policy is. Any shop worth sitting in answers all four without hesitation.

Details change. Phone before travelling.