Great Lakes Tattoo

Great experience with artist and great artwork. Very happy with my tat. One downside: the front desk guy was pretty rude. A bad first impression.

Had my second visit in the last few months to the shop. I chose to go with Mario Desa due to his color palette. He’s also a true pro and really nice guy. I intended on JUST booking my next tattoo today when I stopped by, but he was available for a walk-​in so why not?
Clean, efficient work. I’ve now had two tattoos from Mario and I would recommend him to anyone, and I do.
The front desk is very receptive to questions, and the whole shop seems to be very open. Each time I’ve been, there have been artists checking out other artists work.
A final note, I picked up a dope «The Wire» flash sheet from Kevin Leary to put up in my house and couldn’t be happier. Never even had any ink done by him.

This shop specializes in traditional «old school» tattoos, and I highly recommend it for fans of that style. I tracked down artist Erik Gillespie, who’d done a couple pieces on me over a decade ago, for a new piece, and was glad to discover this shop. He is super talented, friendly and chill, as was everyone else there. My only complaint would be that they don’t seem to have a female artist on staff, but that wasn’t a concern for me as I was there to see Erik. Also they were a bit expensive, but what do I know, having been out of the tattoo loop for several years — I would guess their prices are on par with other shops of comparable location and quality.

This shop is amazing.
First, you can make an appointment with any artist at any time. One of my pet peeves is that a lot of shops have terrible communication among the artists. This is not the case at Great Lakes. I was able to make an appointment for myself and a friend and it was easy as pie.
Second, this place is a Chicago History Museum. I could spend all day looking at the collection of Chicago and tattoo related art work and photographs. These guys know the history and study the fine art of tattooing.
Third, the artists are amazing. Look at the portfolios, different people specialize in different styles. I have been tattooed by Mario and Erik (when he was at another shop). Mike tattooed my friend, and all three of these guys do amazing work. I have not been tattooed by everyone here, but I have seen their Instagram feeds and all these guys are top notch.
Clean, friendly, professional. I will never go anywhere else.

Erik did my tattoo of the Blackhawks logo this weekend. Everything was awesome about the shop! Everyone was helpful and friendly, and Erik was great with respect to the actual tattooing. My wife and I were in Chicago for the weekend and decided in advance to get Hawks logos. The phone arrangements were relatively easy to make, we arrived at our appointment time, filled out some paperwork, got tattoos, and were on our way to lunch in about an hour. Really great time at Great Lakes Tattoo!

I went for their first annual Great Tattoo Walk Up to get my first tattoo. It was a blast and I got a tattoo that I absolutely love from visiting artist, Jennifer Lawes. Even though it was insanely busy, everyone was very nice and helpful. I’d love to go back for some custom work. I can’t recommend this place enough!

Yesterday I finally went in to get my first tattoo and beforehand I felt sick from nerves! Walking in the place is amazing and yes very clean! The front desk guy was so polite, helpful, and upbeat. I showed pictures of what I had in mind and Eric came up with the perfect design. Eric made me feel so at ease making sure we were carrying a conversation the whole time and the tattoo was done perfectly! Will definitely be making this my go to place!

I had a 3 year old outline of a tattoo that I had gotten elsewhere and decided to go to GLT yesterday to get it fixed up and filled in. Kevin Leary gave me a beautiful brand new tattoo, his rose work is awesome. I probably won’t go anywhere else for a tattoo after visiting GLT.

GLT is the best in the city. Have multiple tattoos from Beatdown, who is the man, and one from Mario Desa. Friendly, and a good time whenever you’re in there. For American Traditional Style tattoos, this is by far the best shop in the city. No Doubt.

This shop really is the best in Chicago. The space is absolutely beautiful, incredibly clean, and full of great art! I’ve been tattooed here twice and both times have been fantastic! I would recommend any of the artist here because they are all super talented!

I had a tattoo done by Mario Desa on Saturday, on a whim. I had decided I wanted to visit this place after being repeatedly recommended by Rob Benavides from Flying Panther in San Diego, and Travis Antoni. Two tattooers I respect and admire very much.
The tattoo process was quick, I came just at the right time. Front desk help was courteous and considerate — not at all rude as I read in a previous review.
Mario was unreal. He was very polite and of course extremely talented. I really enjoyed my time at Great Lakes, and Mario will definitely be my go-​to-​guy from now on.
Thanks guys.

Best tattoo shop in Chicago. The space is beautifully filled with talented artwork and flash. The staff is always friendly and helpful. The artists are amazingly skilled at their craft, Beatdown is super cool. Check it out, you won’t be disappointed!

World class service! #GLT #chicagosfinest
Fast. And so accommodating. My mom and I got matching tattoos to celebrate our birthdays. Nick & company made sure the drawing was ideal and the placement was spot on! For her first and only tattoo, mom enjoyed the experience. Thanks guys!

I’m by no means an expert (I only have 4 tatts) but Nick and his staff made this my best experience ever!

Holy cow these guys are fast! This was only my second tattoo (both small), but Matt did a better job in less time, for a tattoo about twice the size as my first. Granted, I got my first tattoo from a young guy in a back alley place in Vietnam (not advisable, but at least everything turned out ok…).
I walked into Great Lakes on a Friday at around 3:30pm (no appointment), and by 4:10 I was done! My tattoo is Hebrew script about 2.5×3.5″-ish and he made it look even cleaner and nicer than my original print! I knew I wanted the tattoo on my shoulder blade, but I wasn’t sure where, especially since I have these crazy «winged» shoulder blades. Matt was super nice and advised me on where he thought would look best, and I’m really happy with it! Everyone was incredibly friendly and the salon is impeccably clean and well kept up. Obviously, I’m not well-​versed in tattoo pricing, but they charged $ 150, which I thought that was pretty reasonable!
I will definitely be back for any future tattoos I get! Thanks again, Matt!

Great experience! My friends and I walked in on a Sunday afternoon. They were able to see us within 15 minutes, and they were very friendly and helpful! Reasonably priced and great quality work. We were all pleased with the experience! Thank you!!!

Excellent work, great staff and a nice shop. Ted took care of me as a walk-​in and Mike delivered two great tattoos exactly what I wanted. I highly recommend and will be back.
A+

Absolutely great experience.
Tattoo Artist, Miles:
Just started working with Miles (check out his instagram at @milesmaniaci) and couldn’t be happier. From the beginning he has been great to work with and understood immediately what I wanted. His portrait skills are amazing — very much looking forward continuing with my tattoo.
The Shop & Staff:
Very professional and nice. Had to make some changes to an appointment and had no problem. The shop is extremely clean and always busy (a very good sign).

Best shop in Chicago/​Midwest/​America/​The World.
Let me break it down for you.
IF YOU want a naked girl, (illustrated of corse) inside of a martini glass, (definitely illustrated cause martini glasses are small) then this is the place where you and you’re tattoo fantasies come true. We’ll mine did.
IF YOU want luxuriously hand crafted cursive text this is a place where not only you would find that, but an employee will inevitably say «her/​his name can always get covered up with a very black panther.»
IF YOU have any idea, what so ever, this is the place for you.
And on top of all that!!! The shop has a very pleasant atmosphere. It’s very spacious and clean and not to mention — they have impeccably framed art on the walls.
Great Lakes Tattoo is an A+ #1.

Friendly, knowledgeable and professional.
I recently got a piece of work done on my shoulder from Matt at the shop. I came in with a picture of sort of what I wanted and talked about what I actually wanted with Matt for a few minutes. He took a drawing of the area and told me his opinions on what he thought would look good and where. When I came in to see the picture it was amazing, and just what I had pictured in my head, I loved it instantly.
Getting the work done everyone in the shop was very friendly and made me feel very comfortable. Mid way through my session I started feeling a little faint and everyone was very attentive immediately. Candy and water was brought over while Matt didn’t make me feel rushed to finish. Its defiantly my favorite tattoo and will be going back.