The Optician

I had a broken pair of Persol sunglasses and went in to The Optician to get a new pair of glasses. I showed Karen the broken sunglasses and she said «I can fix these», and she did! The screw was broken off in the frame. She was very accommodating and saved me hundreds of dollars — she could have just as easily sold me a new pair of glasses rather than fix my old pair. In the end, she happened to have a vintage pair of Persol frames that I purchased in case my current pair break. Her honesty and integrity are exceptional and her ability to fix something that another optician — Walnut Square Optometry — told me would have to be sent off to an expert is remarkable. I highly recommend Karen and The Optician.

I had a screw fall out from my foldable Persol sunglasses and was told by 3 other eyewear/​optician stores that it wasn’t possible to replace and I’d have to go into warranty discussions with Persol.
I then went to Karen’s store, where they fixed my shades in 5 minutes, free of charge. I can’t recommend this place highly enough for their wonderful service and range of eyewear. Best in Berkeley, by far!

LITERALLY HUNDREDS OF POOR AND HOMELESS PEOPLE IN OUR COMMUNITY GET FREE EXAMS AND EYE GLASSES BECAUSE OF PROGRAMS CREATED BY THE OWNER OF THIS SHOP. Hey, the service and selection are uniformly excellent at «The Optician» in Berkeley.. . But frankly there are plenty of good optical shops in the bay area — so why do I come from SF to patronize Karen’s shop? She takes her optical skills and puts them into practice in the most direct social service you can imagine.
We need to back that commitment. Lets walk our talk people!
Support others who support your values — Let her feel the love and spend your money well

I just got my third pair of glasses from Karen, this time a pair by Moscot. I love the looks and the fit. She just recently moved across the archway to larger spot at the same address, so there are even more glasses to choose from. :)

When I discovered Karen left OPT Optometric in SF, I was really bummed. But then I learned she opened up her own shop in the East Bay and I became ecstatic! I have not yet visited her new place, but based on the photos I can already tell that she’s infused the space with her impeccable sense of style and incredible attention to detail. The frame selection looks awesome and with Karen’s expert guidance, I’m sure she’ll help you find a great pair that fits your face perfectly!

I’m so happy I found this place! I went because it’s one of the few retailers for Salt frames in the Bay Area. Turns out the owner worked at a high-​end SF shop for many years and has great connections in the industry – so she carries a lot of hard-​to-​find brands and designers. She has great taste, too – you will find more adventurous frames here than a lot of other east bay shops, although she has plenty for the more tame buyer as well. She also has a fab vintage frame selection. Karen is incredibly nice, knowledgable, and will not let you buy something that doesn’t work for you. She is also a fanatic about getting the fit just perfect! I love my new glasses. Thanks Karen!
p. s. A tip for finding the shop – walk into the brick arch and then look right. If you need parking on a weekend, turn into the Berkeley campus a block away – lots of metered parking for the public on weekends only, on campus service streets.

Today I came to understand why Karen gets 5 stars from everyone. I’m from Australia, travel a lot, and don’t treat my Silhouette frames very well. So, I broke one frame and went to five different Opticians in Berkeley looking for a replacement. Noting under $ 120 and a turnaround of about a week or more. Then, I found Karen through Unilocal and sure enough, she had a matching frame, fitted it, and I had my glasses next day. Oh, and one third the price of other Opticians. Karen also took time to adjust my glasses so they were fitting neatly on my odd shaped head. I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend Karen to anyone, which is why I’m writing this review I guess.
God bless…

An update: I don’t think there is any optician as skillful as Karen is in adjusting and fitting glasses. She worked meticulously on my glasses today until they were fitted perfectly on my face. Due to the nature of progressives (no line trifocals), the lenses must be positioned correctly to maximize vision; and she did just that for me. Karen never ceases to amaze me — she is an awesome Optician

Karen gave me the best pair of glasses I have ever had, and the most fun time I have ever had trying on frames! Her collection is vast and you can tell she really knows a lot about how glasses should fit, look, and feel. She’s extremely precise and strives for the perfect fit, both in the physical lay of the frame on your face and in finding something that fits your personality.
I will absolutely be returning to Karen’s shop for future eyewear. Best experience I have ever had with getting new frames. I am a student and bought my first pair of glasses alone here, and I felt so welcome in this shop.

Shout out to Karen Flynn and The Optician! Best spot in Berkeley for eyeglasses. I have a hard prescription and finding a perfect, great looking glasses frame is tough! Karen has new a vintage frames. Is highly experienced. And everything in her shop is Vegan/​reflects Vegan values. Who knew a glasses shop could be Vegan!

When you walk into Karen’s shop you know right away she has impeccable taste! It’s beautifully decorated and her selection of eyewear is like no other you’ll find in the Bay Area!
Karen helped me pick out the perfect frames for my face, personality and she does it with great care and warmth. I love my new glasses!

Karen has a unique gift of finding that perfect pair of frames that fit person’s face and personality. I purchased my first frames from Karen over ten years ago in San Francisco and I had been following her since then. I completely trust her expertise and her sense of style. Although that very first time I took some convincing but since then I let her pick the all the frames for me. She may recommend a frame that I would not have considered for myself but inevitably those are the frames that I get complimented on the most. Every friend who I introduced to Karen agrees, she is a real pro.
In addition to vintage frames, Karen also carries a great selection of unique frames that are not as pricey as one might think. I like frames that above all fit me well and that are somewhat stylish but I do not want them to be the latest fad so that after a year they are out of style. If you are buying glasses for first time or if you already have a pair, you owe it to yourself to stop by and try on a pair.

When it comes to vintage selection, you cannot beat the stock here! Karen, the owner, is kind, patient and dedicated to helping you find your dream frames. My friend and I both bought 2 pairs that not only are perfect but the prices are truly fair.
Try it out, you will be so happy you did!

Karen helped me find the perfect frames, the moscot lemtosh. She is incredibly helpful. I’ll definitely be back.

So glad I met Karen! I visited today to see if she could fix the fit on my glasses. She was super friendly and adjusted them on the spot for free! They fit so much better now. She was very thorough in the adjustment and explained how each part of the fit works. You can tell she knows her stuff and enjoys what she does. Her shop and selection are also really unique and cool. I will be back to buy a pair soon!

I trust my eyesight to my optometrist, but I trust my face to Karen Flynn!
Karen is the owner of The Optician. I started working with Karen as my trusted optician about 20 years ago now. I have diligently followed her as she has moved from one shop to another and I am thrilled that she now has her very own place.
Why do I trust Karen so much? Because:
(1) She does not ever push for a sale — she knows that the chemistry has to be there between you and the particular frame you want or you won’t be happy or look as good as you can.
(2) She is willing to say (in a very polite, professional way) that the frames you just put on and you think make you look great really don’t fit your face as well as you think they do. This sounds like a strange thing to say, but she doesn’t want you to spend money on frames that you are not going to be pleased with in the long run.
(3) #2 above notwithstanding, she is always ready to work hard to understand your personal style and the image you want to present and then she will come up with several options that fit that style and image (and stay within your price point!)
(4) I’m tough on my glasses, and Karen has always been a wizard at taking the mangled heap of plastic or metal that I bring back to her and somehow recreating the original frame out of it again.
I have and will continue to recommend Karen to all my friends as THE person to work with for all their eyeglasses!

The Optician…
Every now and then, due to events out of your control, you change opticians, hairstylists, shrinks, move towns, whatever the cause, you loose contact with a skilled technician/​craftsperson/​magician who made challenging activities fun, warm, creative, collaborative and, well… honest.
Years ago, I chose an optician in San Francisco and one of the reasons I chose this particular optician, was Karen. After you have the pleasure of working with Karen, you’ll know what I mean.
For the ten plus years I worked with her, Karen was able to find — out of a maddeningly overwhelming variety of frames — THE frame for me. It didn’t matter how long it took, how many frames I tried, she focused on me and found a frame to fit.
Recently, after a series of strange events, life brought me back to Karen and I couldn’t be more thrilled. She’s taken the leap and started a beautiful boutique frame shop in Berkeley, behind Jupiter, and the shop is as wonderful as Karen.
If you want a skilled mind, focused attention, a warm heart and a shop of some of the most amazing and hard-​to-​find vintage and new frames go to The Optician and meet Karen. She’ll match your frames and your prescription and get you back into the world seeing the best and looking the best.
I’m thrilled to help promote her on Unilocal and excited to share the news.

Karen (the owner) is so helpful, knowledgable, and nice! She has such an amazing collection of rare and vintage frames, and they are not prohibitively expensive. I had no idea really what I wanted or what to look for in sunglasses, so she walked me through it all. I’ll definitely be back to get another pair in the future!

Haven’t bought anything yet, but the owner is wonderful. She is very warm, knowledgeable, non-​pushy, and has a gift for figuring out what frames will work with your face.
It feels like an optical shop from the beginning of last century transported into modern times, where you get personalized attention. Totally different experience from most of the other shops, where you typically either get no advice on what frames will work or get someone pushy trying hard to make a sale.

As an optician, I’m always searching for new optical shops. I love discovering new brands & seeing what each optical shop has to offer. I happened to stumble upon The Optician during a trip to Berkeley & I’m so glad I found Karen.
The first time I went into Karen’s shop I was impressed by the selection of frames she had. Her collection of reconditoned vintage frames caught my eye. I ended up purchasing a vintage pair of Revo sunglasses. I’d also like to add that Karen’s attention to adjustments is impeccable. As an optician, I can appreciate the time & effort she put into adjusting my frames.
After adjusting my frames, I told Karen that I had wanted a pair of frames similar to the Rayban Clubmaster and she pulled out a pair of vintage Rayban Clubmaster II. Karen told me she would recondition the frame and sell me the frame.
Fast forward to a couple weeks later, I returned to The Optician & purchased the frame.
All in all, check out The Optician. Karen is extremely personable, knowledgeable & passionate about what she does. Also, if you’re looking for a specific vintage frame, she’s the woman to go see.