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 Tattoo Shops in Hollywood (Checked 2026)

Reviewed & updated First published 1 designs

This list was written in 2016 and has been checked shop by shop in September 2026. The most famous name on the original list, High Voltage, has closed, and one of the most famous shops still open has moved.

Hollywood tattooing has a particular character worth understanding before you book: several of these shops keep hours you will not find anywhere else in the country, some running to two or three in the morning, and they exist partly to serve people who finish work at midnight. That is a genuine convenience and it is not the same thing as quality.

Tattoo shops in hollywood design, idea 1

Sunset Strip and West Hollywood

Mark Mahoney's Shamrock Social Club

Now just off the Strip on Horn St, having moved from its original Sunset Blvd address. Open seven days, walk-ins accepted.

Mark Mahoney is one of the most influential black-and-grey tattooers alive and largely responsible for the fine-line single-needle style that spread from Los Angeles to everywhere. He still tattoos five days a week. Note the new address - older listings, including the previous version of this page, point at Sunset.

The Honorable Society Tattoo Parlour & Lounge

8424 Santa Monica Blvd, Unit B, West Hollywood. 10am to 10pm, seven days.

Opened by Marco Cerretelli in 2009. The broadest style range on this page - fine line, American traditional, realism, Japanese, neo-traditional, Thai traditional, illustrative, Chicano and blackwork. Largely appointment-based but they take same-day requests by text, and walk-ins when they can.

Tattoo Mania

8861 W Sunset Blvd, West Hollywood. 2pm to 2am Monday to Thursday and Sunday, to 3am Friday and Saturday.

Thirty-five years on the Strip, and the late hours to go with it. Everything from a first tattoo to full body suits.

Hollywood and Los Feliz

Dark Horse Tattoo

4644 Hollywood Blvd, Los Feliz. Noon to 8pm, seven days.

Opened in 2010 by Bryan Burk and Adam Warmerdam. Appointments encouraged, walk-ins when time allows. A working custom shop rather than a Strip destination, which is generally where the better work is.

Memoir Tattoo

7377A Beverly Blvd. 1pm to 8pm Monday to Saturday, to 7pm Sunday. Appointment only, by email.

Open since 2009 and home to Kim Saigh, Christina "Tiger" Ramos, Dan Bones and Martina Major, plus international guests. They do not book by phone, so email the artist directly. One of the strongest rosters in the city.

High Voltage Tattoo

High Voltage, at 1259 N La Brea Ave, closed on 1 December 2021 after fourteen years. Kat Von D moved to Indiana. It is included here only because it is still the first shop many people search for in this part of Los Angeles, and the answer is that it is not there.

Uncertain, and not listed

True Tattoo, 1614 N Cahuenga Blvd, is Oliver Peck's shop and gives conflicting signals - listed as closed in one place, still shown as trading elsewhere. Phone (323) 462-4745 before travelling.

The Warren Tattoo has moved more than once, from Lincoln Heights to the Sunset Strip and then to Studio City, and its listings disagree about the current position. Check their own channels rather than a directory.

The remaining entries from the 2016 list - Atomic Tattoo, Luis Favela, Velvet Grip and Generation 8 - could not be confirmed as still trading and have been left out rather than pointed at.

Before you book

California requires body art practitioners to register with the county health department, complete bloodborne pathogen training annually, and work in a registered facility. In Los Angeles that is LA County Public Health, and the certificate should be on display.

Then the ordinary checks: sterile needles opened in front of you, fresh gloves, single-use ink caps, an autoclave, surfaces covered and wiped between clients.

One piece of advice specific to this part of the city: the Strip shops are priced for tourists and set up for same-day work, and the artists in them range from very good to indifferent. If the tattoo matters to you, look at individual artists' portfolios rather than at the shop's sign, and be prepared to book rather than walk in.

Details change. Phone before travelling.