Nail Bar

After the services were performed the young son apologized and gave me 10% off. This was the right thing to do and I genuinely appreciate it. Looking forward to my next visit.

I don’t understand how this place can charge a premium ($ 17) for a basic mani and not even have drying stations, hand/​shoulder massage, hot towels, or brushes for removing polish from the skin. When I walked in, I asked how long the wait would be for a basic mani. The girl told me «there are no more appointments until 3:45.» I looked at my phone and it was 3:40… so I looked at her and said, «so in 5 minutes? sure.» then she proceeded to tell me «no like 15 – 20.» Ummmm, not the sharpest tool in the shed, but whatever.
My mani was «just ok» at best, but I don’t appreciate when the nail techs make no effort to get an even coat– so she just went ahead and did 3 coats of color, which is not ideal because the mani chips a lot faster and is chunky. Not cute.
They don’t ask you to pay before your paint job, which is another drawback, ESPECIALLY since they don’t have drying stations, so you leave with a thick, wobbly, wet mani and have to go digging through your wallet. But the real clincher for me was when I asked my nail tech if she could run my card so I could leave right away after having to sit there and waiting for my nails to air dry (obvi didn’t say that whole part– just asked her to run my card) and she basically just said no, you can do it with that girl (who was about 18 inches away from us). Are you kidding me? Way to do the absolute minimal amount of work and charge the maximal price, what a joke.

I love this location! I always go to Galdina for my Shellac Manicure/​Pedicure services. She’s VERY professional and efficient in her work. Make sure you visit this location and ask for Galdina. Ladies you will not be disappointed!

Best nail salon in Chicago! Julie is fantastic. She always does such an amazing job and is so sweet. I have terrible cuticle issues but she keeps my hands looking healthy and great. I would recommend her to anyone! The lotions and oils Nail Bar uses are top quality too. Much easier on the skin and nails than most salons.

I have been going here for a year and really love the Shellac Manicure. I usually get Galdina Uribe to work on my nails and she is great! Shellac Manicure usually lasts 2 weeks, but with her they seem to last longer (however, my nails outgrow the polish). It is more expensive than I had paid in the past, but the fact that I don’t have to go in as often is great for my time and money.
The only negative is that there is a VERY unlimited choice of colors. I like dark colors and there are not alot.

Rebecca is always great & pays attention to her work. She saved my nails from a bad shellac job elsewhere.
This has become one of my go to places for no-​chip and pedicure. Only negative is their polish collection is limited.

I’ve been shopping around for a good manicure place lately, and this place probably isn’t for me.
I went in on a Monday around 1:30pm and it was totally empty. They were able to take me as a walk-​in, but the manicurist seemed to be a bit frazzled. She was wearing those thin foam flip flops you get after a pedicure, and shuffling all over the salon getting her stuff together.
The seating was a bit awkward, and there was just an old ratty towel laying on the counter for me to rest my arms on. The hand massage was sub-​par and there was no hot towel. Most of their polish selection is darker colors, which is kind of a bummer. My nails look pretty good, though, and they dried super quick. It was only $ 17 so I can’t really complain.

Very over priced! Even charged me to take the old shellac off! Called the same day to get a nail fixed that got messed up, and wouldn’t even squeeze me in.

If I could give less stars I would! This place is horrible! I regularly get gel manicures back home in WI so when I got back from vacation and needed new gel put on I figured I would take a chance and give Nail Bar a try b/​c it was a quick walk from my boyfriends place. I had my old gel removed which went fine and then had a gel french manicure done. The artist said multiple times over the 2 hours it took to remove polish and put new on, «dont worry, we can fix that» in reference to crooked lines and bumps in the polish. My nails turned out horrible! The white tips are crooked and uneven. still! The white does not go down to my nail bed so any dirt that get under my nails shows clear as day. The gel polish does not go all the way down the side of my nails or offer complete coverage along the main nail surface which has lead to cracks and broken nail tips. It seems that rather than make my nails stronger the gaps in polish coverage left my nails exposed to more damage. I went back the next day to complain and was told I would get a full refund since they could not fit me in that day for a redo and I was then returning home to WI. I was told that the main office was closed on Sunday but that I would get a call to confirm my refund on Monday. This call didn’t come until Wednesday and then I was told I would only get a $ 45 refund for manicure but they would not refund my polish removal. When all was explained about experience I was told that was the best refund they could give. Needless to say I now need to pay again to have this horrible gel polish removed because my hands look a hot mess! Two of my nails have broken off down to the start of the nail bed and two more are on their way out and it has only been 8 days. All my nails have been chipped for days. Horrible work! Even worse customer service!!! I wouldn’t go back if you paid me!

It is a shame that the Southport location closed. Now I have to go to the Broadway location which is further for me but worth it! I’ve tried other nail salons closer to me and the manicures are total crap! I lOVE Barbara at the Broadway location!
Thanks for keeping my fingers and toes looking fabulous!

They completely messed up my eyebrows. The lady rushed and didn’t seem to know what she was doing. Horrible.

Meh.
Came here for a pedicure and no-​chip manicure 3 days ago as a walk-​in, they told me to come back in an hour so I did some errands and they took me as soon as I arrived.
Man, this place is expensive.
I had no-​chip on already from another salon. The receptionist asked me what brand of no-​chip I had on, I said OPI, she said OK. I thought this was weird, I really wish I would have asked why…
A no-​chip manicure and pedicure was $ 87. Eighty-​seven doll-​hairs ??? I almost choked right there.
BTW — if you’re not wearing Shellac no-​chip, they will charge you $ 12 to remove your current no-​chip. And a no-​chip there is already $ 40, meaning I paid $ 52 for this damn manicure. She said because it has to soak longer, which I don’t really understand because my nails were soaking throughout my entire pedicure — which I was getting either way — so why did it matter if they had to soak longer? Rip off.
I find myself coming here when something goes wrong at another salon. But straight up too pricey to be a regular thing — this isn’t a fancy dancy salon that could get away with it, in my opinion.
Remember — you are always wearing Shellac no-​chip. Or else you will pay for it.

I came here with guy friends to get a manicure. It was a last minute decision because hi-​way nails was fully booked till 4pm so we decided to try this place instead.
Note: bringing your guy friends in at a nail salon makes the experience worth while. My friends loved the place and did a really good job cleaning and shinning thier nails. The ladies they had were really friendly, and no it wasn’t flirting friendly because they were old chinese ladies.
The only con I have was when I wanted a no — chip mani, the colors I had wanted wasn’t available. I had to choose like 5 times before she could get started because they didn’t have colors. Why have a selection if the colors are not available? But anyways the color turned out nicely. And she did a pretty good job.
And the last thing is that it is quite expensive. My guy paid for mine and his and he paid $ 57 without tip. So I am assuming a regular mani is $ 20 and a no-​chip is $ 37? Gawd, isn’t that quite much.
Anyways, I give three because my friends had a good time and for a busy season and walk in to get our nails done in an hour is not too bad.

I have gotten manicures a few different places, but Bianca at Nail Bar is the absolute best. She is a very pleasant person and doesn’t take a ton of time, but she always does a fantastic job!

I did not even want to pay for this manicure.
I got my first gel no chip manicure while on vacation at a resort and absolutely loved it– so when I got back to Chicago I wanted to keep it up!
After work one day I decided to go to Nail Bar because it was right down the street from my office and they took me at the last minute. That is the only good thing about my experience.
The girl who did my nails (whose name I don’t remember) didn’t seem to know how to properly remove the gel polish that I had on already. She soaked my hands in acetone, which, after reading articles about the process, means she did a big nail no-​no. Typically you soak a cotton ball in acetone and wrap each nail individually for 20 – 40 minutes. My nails soaked for about 10 minutes and then the scraping began.
SO the gel eventually gets scraped away from my natural nail, and she starts applying my new coat. I had asked for a French Gel no chip– her hands were shaking the whole time which left the white tips uneven! Keep in mind that this is a manicure that stays on for 2 – 3 weeks! So it looked like a child had given me a manicure for almost a month.
I wanted to cry. I did not want to pay for this manicure and certainly did not want to tip the girl painting my nails.
I have since gone to Pinky Nails on Southport near the brown line stop and had beautiful nails redone.
I would NEVER go back here, nor would I ever recommend it.

2.5, but I’ll round up because my manicure’s mostly chip free after three days.
My college bestie and I made appointments here for a manicure and polish change. The space as many have mentioned, is pretty cold. I don’t understand the point of having partitions between tables, do people really hate each other that much? It was hard talking to my friend even though we were right next to each other.
Speaking of cold, my technician seriously said about two things to me. It was even difficult to get through the manicure as he wanted to move a hand over or needed one hand over the other first, but NEVER SAID ANYTHING. Child, you have a mouth, use it!
He disappeared after my manicure and my friend and I chatted while waiting for our nails to dry. My friend’s technician had left a bottle of nail drying spray on my table so I just sprayed it on myself. My technician only came back AFTER asking if I wanted the spray when he saw I had already done it.
For higher prices than I usually pay, I definitely expected better service. As mentioned, the manicure itself was a good one, but not something I’d go out of the way to show up to Nail Bar again for.

Came here because I needed a manicure to last. I was on my way to India for a wedding and didn’t have the luxury of just getting a touch up. I chose to get a no-​chip style– at Nail Bar they use shellac. If you are expecting a luxurious, comfortable manicure, the shellac isn’t for you. The shellac manicure is very dry.
Alina was my technician — a sweet and wonderful young lady who had recently come to the US from Romania. She was patient and very skilled. I highly recommend her.
I was given tea on arrival and made comfortable in one of the high chairs at the nail stations. My nails were cut, filed, and shaped. Then the process of painting and drying under the light began for the next hour. Alina was even able to do a French manicure by hand with the special paints.
They say that the shellac will last several weeks. Mine lasted about 40 minutes before chipping. By 8 days in my nails had grown out so much and had chipped to the point that they looked ridiculous. So much for it lasting– at least it looked nice with my mendhi for the wedding!
They do have a loyalty program. As you purchase services you get points that can be used for future free services.

THE GOOD: Nice space. Decent manicure
THE BAD: No drying machines. v. high price for service. Empty.
THE UGLY: No drying machines. Employees on cell phones.

Very cute salon. If you like quiet, you’ll like this place. Almost no one was talking during my appointment.
Manicure was done well, and they had a good color selection. I haven’t tried the spa pedicure yet, but the guy doing my nails was raving about it. It sounds awesome.
Oh, and the reason it’s called Nail Bar is because they’ll pour you a free glass of wine during your appointment… And, you can BYOB to make it a party!

FABULOUS!
Really, this is THE best place for a pedicure.
I live down the block and walked past so often that I thought I’d try it out. I called at 5pm, asked for a 6pm and got right in. I was paired with Marshawn — what can I say about Marshawn other than she’s AWESOME!!!
From the moment I checked-​in, I was offered tea and got it in a funky mug which I loved, great touch. Sat down and was asked what sort of magazines I wanted — nice touch.
Marshawn was fantastic; she never once made me feel rushed and she didn’t talk too much, which I loved. She was soft spoken and when she did speak, I loved the conversation she made and I just wanted to talk to her all night long!
Had such a relaxing pedicure, which is exactly what I’d come in for.
A few people who reviewed this place on Unilocal mentioned the dividers. I LOVED the dividers. It made you feel like you were in a private space, but the divider was a metal grate of sorts, so you could see right through and look around if you so desired. Even if you had a friend at the next station, there’s nothing prohibiting you from chatting. But being there alone, it was the perfect separation I needed from other gals in the seats next to me.
Marshawn moved me to the front to dry and her and a co-​worker headed across the street for a quick bite. When Marshawn returned and I was still there, she came right up to me and offered me french fries to munch on — how cool is that?!
Honestly, I’ve had a really stressful past few weeks and this was the best place to have melted away all my troubles for an hour or two. THANK YOU to the awesome staff of Nail Bar — including the manager, Troy — such a cool, nice, helpful guy.
And get this — a customer was getting a manicure worried about her meter expiring and Troy went to her car and paid the meter so she wouldn’t get a ticket.
While I was there, several «regulars» came in — always a good sign at any place.
Staff = A+
Experience = A+
Customer Service = A+
Marshawn = A++++