J R Lala Barber Shop

When I came in, the barber was sleeping (at 3:30 in the afternoon). That should have been my first warning sign. He then proceeded to give me the «trim» I asked for, which consisted of taking out the shortest clippers he could find (hardly any scissor work, even on the top) and rubbing it roughly against my head, exposing my bare scalp in several places along the sides, back, and top (why you would cut hair that short is beyond me, and I definitely didn’t ask for it to be short).
Unless you actually have a desire to be butchered, don’t go here. If you don’t care about getting a nice cut, then go somewhere cheaper and friendlier. I honestly don’t see why anyone would come back to this place. I won’t be back.

tony is the man, his precision is that of edward scissorhands

I go to this place because it’s by my office. It has no real appeal aside from convenience, but I will say that they cut your hair in a pretty timely fashion and they also use a straight razor to get the back of your neck which gives you that nice clean crisp feeling back there. I guess that’s worth something.
Also the décor is basically a bunch of posters with one of two themes: italian american sports heroes led by Rocky Marciano, and Chicago Bears glory days from the 1980’s. It hurts a little every time I go in there and have to stare at the Super Bowl XX poster which glorifies the defeat of my beloved patriots at the hands of the 1985 Chicago Bears.
Finally they have a tiny television that looks to me like it is still using antenna tuning. I haven’t seen anybody tune their TV with an antenna since I was like nine years old but I imagine the barbers coming in every morning and going through an elaborate process of fine tuning reception by holding the antenna in just the right place and banging on the side of the television set until a precious channel comes into place. Then nobody’s allowed to touch the TV the rest of the day. Come on guys, spring for cable already, I promise you’ll be much happier.

It’s a butcher shop, at least from the guy who cut my hair. If you are looking for a bit of craftmanship in your haircuts, look elsewhere.

Great option for getting a haircut in the loop– I only like to go to real babers where they’ll shave your neck with a straight razor, and this is one of them. My sideburns were a little shorter than I had originally asked, but overall the haircut was thorough and just what I needed.
The shop is inside the lobby of the CBOE building, which shares its entrance with the 400S building. So it’s easy to miss the front entrance to the building (the 400S sign is more prominent than the 141W).
$ 20 haircut, $ 5 shoe shine. I typically go to Gabby’s in Lakeview (which only charges $ 14), so this is on the moderate side for me but overall a good deal in the loop.

Ever wondered what happened to barber shops the way you saw them on Leave it to Beaver? Thats the feeling you get when you walk in to J R Lalas: an old school barber shop in the south loop, replete with barbers in uniform.
And its really the complete experience. Walk in with a shaggy head, 3 days growth, and a pair of beat up shoes … walk out with a hair cut, barbershop shave (the best kind), and a shine to make your shoes better than new.
If you’re through with metrosexuals, and want to join us retrosexuals, have yourself a manly barbershop experience at JR Lala’s. (Edit: Ok… there IS a manicurist for those of you not completely done with metrosexuality)

One of the few true barbers in Chicago. $ 18. Playboys while you wait. No appointments. Just walk in, they cut it, you walk out. Bears paraphernalia from the 60’s, but real bears stuff that they have had hanging since then.
Not clean, not particularly friendly or the greatest haircut, but a quick, efficient, authentic experience.