Phoenix Optical

Felicia is amazing! She took care of a pair of glasses I bought from this store 18 months ago, they have new lens and look like new! She also created another pair of glasses for me with custom colors and found the perfect pair of glasses for my girlfriend. She’s nice, helpful and very knowlegdable. I highly recommend going in and letting Felicia work her magic. She also submitted our insurance reimbursement for us so we didn’t have to mess with it.

Had a great experience here. I was visiting family for a week and 2 days before leaving I carelessly put my glasses on the bed and sat on them — ack! Found Phoenix Optical based on 5 star rating and travel time and — Todd Manning, Manager, offered to try the repair! He was very quick and very effective — no remaining sign of my self inflicted damage! Thank you, Todd! He then gave me a short tour of the shop. I have never been to a vintage frame shop before and it was very impressive. Other reviews will give you more info on the frames. For my part I was very happy with our brief encounter at Phoenix Optical.

First of all this place is open on Sundays. I am not sure why other places are closed but it’s annoying that they are. This place fixes glasses on the spot for a very fair inexpensive fee. This place is boutiquey. With fancy glasses but not dainty. They have a hardy /​massive collection that I am guessing is over 2000 pairs to choose from. Great customer device as well. Smart and precise and nice.

Felice is so knowledgeable about EYES! I would without a doubt recommend Phoenix Optical for your next pair of glasses! Best for design and quality in Oakland!

This place is amazing! They have a huge selection of unused vintage and new frames to choose from. The staff are super friendly and take the time to help you find frames that look good and fit your personal style, especially if you can’t see very well when trying on glasses. It’s always a fun experience to go here and pick out some new face accessories!!!

I had a great experience here. I read several reviews and was intrigued by the vintage frames I read about. I actually had picked out a different set of frames when Ray pulls out a couple from the «hollywood» show case. I fell in love with both frames but opted for a pair that look like copper and have some nice tooling and some adornments. My boss saw them on me and told me how great they look. When you spend as much as I did you want to get just that kind of feedback. The glasses paid for themselves right then.
I also bought another pair of vintage metal frames as sunglasses. All told, I dropped $ 1,750 at this store, by far the most I have ever spent on glasses. But I’m glad I did. Each is unique, stylish and well made. Plus, I hit it off with Ray and he sent me to his store in SF to look at hats. I bought a vintage summer hat and also got a hand-​made messenger bag. Back at the Oakland store, I saw a bag similar to the one I bought but that I liked better. Ray told me to go get my bag out of the car and he would trade it straight up. Now that’s what I call service.
So, I bought two pairs of glasses, a hat and a nice leather bag that’s how much I like the shopping experience. No reservations recommending to other Unilocalers.

This place has a beautiful assortment of vintage and vintage replica glasses. I felt welcomed when I walked in, and was encouraged to try things on, but not in a pushy way. Todd (I’m pretty sure it was Todd who helped me) was incredibly knowledgeable and allowed me to take all the time I needed. He knows glasses and has incredibly useful information to share on the subject. He was candid and honest in his opinions about what looked good and what looked less good, but he wasn’t overly pushy about which glasses I should go with. I was free to roam around and try things on and do my own thing, but there was always someone there to help me if I needed it. I now have a pair of beautiful progressives and the folks at Phoenix Optical spent real time with me, trying to help me find the right pair. I highly recommend them! And also their sister store in the Mission in SF!

My bf bought a groupon for for these crazy expensive glasses at Phoenix. I thought he was crazy but when he picked up the glasses they actually had a slimming effect on his face. The sales man had explained he had been wearing frames that were too small for his head. The next time I needed new glasses I decided to give them a try as well. What delightful experience! I must have easy tried on over 100 frames. I got amazing no pressure service and a really in depth explanation of why, I too, was wearing the «wrong» frames for my face shape.
If you value excellent customer service and don’t mind paying for quality I highly recommend Phoenix.

I was looking for some new glasses and found this place just by chance, and they have some of the best service I’ve ever received. I want to emphasize the word service because the customer service was one of the main reasons I decided to go ahead and buy the glasses that I found.
My consultant was Felice, and she was great. At first, I didn’t think she would be able to help me that much because she was working with another customer when I got there. But she seamlessly worked with the other customer and, just by asking me a few questions and looking at my style, picked out some dope glasses for me.
Not only that, Felice met my needs by perfectly fitting my glasses to the shape of my head after a few days of trying them out. I told her that my biggest fear with getting new glasses was having them always slip down my nose. Well, they’re not slipping and I really feel like I finally found the perfect glasses. Felice must have magic pixie dust in her hands or something because she knew exactly what to do.
Also, I just like the vibe in the store. It has a cool, kinda retro Southwestern feel that really makes you feel like you’ve found an oasis in a sea of eyeglass store deserts.

Education and customer service I received today exceeded my expectations. I had already purchased a pair at the store down the street that I was very unhappy with, but Phoenix Optical took the time to listen and educate me and came up with two sweet frames that I purchased on the spot. I will buy exclusively from them in the future.

Amazing service and huge selection. I was impressed by the time and care they took helping me find the frames I was seeking, truly above and beyond the usual. They also educated me thoroughly, so I better understood what I needed as well as refining my hunt so I at last had success. I expect I will be going back later for those one or two other options that keep calling to me.

I rarely write negative reviews and I’m honestly sad to write this one. But buying eyeglasses is an expensive proposition and you’ll need them to last several years so to the benefit of my fellow 4 eyes people I’m sharing the long view on the quality of the glasses from Phoenix optical.
In 2008 I bought a fashionable pair of glasses and frames from Phoenix optical. I ended up paying more than I needed to but said hey it is fashion so it’s worth it. Everything went stellar for the first 12 months, and then exactly after the 1 yr mark I had issues with the protective coating on the glasses bubbling up and cracking. To this day I will never get anti glare coating again. So maybe that’s a one off thing and not something I should hold against Phoenix. I’m a generous soul.
Come 2010 now I’m just shy of 2 years with the frames. I manually had scrapped all the reflective coating off with my nail so the glasses were wearable. But the hinges started to seize up. It got to the point where I would not close the arms on my eyeglasses for fear for damaging them, not ideal and then finally one day the inevitable happened. A friend saw my glasses on the bedside and decided to close them to protect them and the arm snapped off right at the hinge. Now the hinge is in great shape, the frame literally separated plastic from metal hinge as if it was never connected. Its a clean clear separation and easily slides back together but without some type of epoxy it falls apart again. I literally tried to superglue it together, but that only lasted for 1 month before it would tumble apart again and was way too dangerous to risk driving.
Figuring this would be a quick fix with industrial epoxy or some magical eyeglass-​building compound… since supposedly these were a custom eyeglass design that Phoenix had made especially for them. I figured they would have a fix. I took them into the shop, it’s only been 2 yrs (most of my glasses last 4 yrs or longer, not that they are still fashionable but they are still functional, I take care of my stuff) so I bought them back to Phoenix and asked if there was some way to fix them. I was bluntly told I was out of luck and there was nothing they could do to fix them. Plus according to them it was not a design flaw as I had assumed but wear and tear. Not the best customer service experience. I have never been back, and want you all to be aware that while these glasses are cute in the short term but are poor quality.

I love Todd, Ray and that big dog too. Todd teaches, he’s the casual guru of optical sciences.
Huge array including pristine yet pricey vintage frames. They also have extra stashed trays of hundreds of frames, enormous and interesting selection. For my first pair of glasses ever, I went with a prototype of a new brand. Made half from wood and half from textured resin. I look kind of cool in them.
I still hate wearing glasses, but working with these guys was great.

This shop really knows their stuff! I got a pair of custom (non-​prescription) sunglasses here in 2013, and returned yesterday for my partner to get some new frames and corrective lenses ordered. They are patient and encouraging as you try on zillions of really cool frames. Just when you think you’re done, they tell you they actually have EVEN MOAR FRAMEZ! than what they have on display.
They were able to make a new set of lenses for a pair of Cole Haan sunglasses I bought several yrs back at Nordstrom Rack and instantly scratched, even inviting us into the back workshop room to watch the magic of the new lenses being cut and prepared. Amazing! My glasses were like a PHOENIX rising from the ashes of my carelessness. Two eyes open for these folks!

I’ve bought a few frames at Phoenix Optical over the years — and, during that time, I’ve been helped by every staff member at least a few times each. Each time, I’ve received great high-​quality frames and fantastic levels of service.
My last trip in was with a broken frame — I won’t go into the specifics, but it was due to a friend’s carelessness. I explained the story, and I was fully expecting to fork over the cost of a new pair, when the gentleman who helped me — who, during the visit, shared a similar story from his past that had consequences for him that outweighed a simple broken pair of glasses — ended up offering the replacement pair for free.
I couldn’t accept that offering — it was too kind… so I volunteered a financial compromise, and he accepted. That’s simply great service. Above and beyond the call of duty, and despite the frames at Phoenix Optical costing a bit more than they would at a more mainstream shop — they’ve earned my continued and ongoing business.

Went in a couple of weeks ago to get my new glasses and had such a great experience. Really cute and hip shop with a sweet selection of frames. The owner, Ray was knowledgable, super mellow and patient (not pushy at all!) in helping me choose the right frames for me. My frames were done promptly and even earlier than the time he quoted them to be ready to pick up. I will definitely be coming back. Helpful hint: frames and lenses are done in-​house meaning they don’t send them away to have them done elsewhere making it very convenient to pick up sooner…

Came in looking for some glasses for my hubby and found too many to choose from.
We were in the store for about 20 minutes trying on shades for him and myself and it was a little overwhelming. There were just too many awesome shades to choose from.
I was mostly looking for some bright red shades for myself and asked what the starting price was and the rep said $ 295.00 not including exam or prescription, which seemed a bit pricey.
I kept looking around and the guy did a small estimate and it would be about 450 and up and since I had already purchased some glasses earlier that week I wasn’t too keen on spending that much on a third pair.
Overall this place is pretty cool and sales rep greeted us when we walked in and was helpful. I’m hoping that in the future when I need some crazy cool glasses I’ll come here and they’ll have some sort of sale going on, which would make that visit that much more awesome!

I walked by once when I couldn’t really go inside… But looking through the window, I KNEW I had to go back. Awesome frames!
Little did I know that these guys have been here over 50 years! Oakland, whasup?!
As soon as I walked in, the guy behind the counter greeted me and said «try anything on!» I giggled and said I’d wait until he was free. He shouted across the store and said NO! Do it! Hhmmmm all these wonderful frames that I can touch and try??? Ok wow! 20 minutes later I’m still busy touching and trying and he comes by and says they make all the glasses there and are truly vintage, and yet new. Love this! He gives me space to keep looking… And I finally bring 3 frames to him to inquire. He says, you really should try them on outside to see them in natural light. But let me get a few more of these for you to see… Off he goes and brings out a box of other natural horn frames. Cool!
Ray was very helpful, very attentive, very patient. Obviously he knew I’ve worn glasses longer than the age of most of the customers in the store. Maybe that why I was treated with respect? Who knows. I read some reviews here– my buying and fitting experiences were both excellent. Todd fitted my two pairs a week after I ordered them. He also took my order for mid-​range glasses and was very thorough explaining the field of vision and what to expect. Patiently.
I’m giving Phoenix 5 stars because my experience so far has been excellent. The quality of frames and lenses are awesome. The service was also excellent. I prefer local community stores any day over the chain stores. I recommend Ray and Todd and this great boutique to anyone looking for a unique and quality pair of glasses.

They have some cool frames here by some rare manufacturerers and I almost got a pair but they didn’t take my insurance so I was let down a bit by that. They guy who worked there seemed to to already know I wasn’t going to be buying anything form Phoenix Optical Co as he seemed a bit put off by my questions. I guess I’m just a bitch, huh?
Too bad for us all, nobody got what they wanted.

I’ve never had such thorough and attentive assistance at any optical shop I’ve used.
I wanted cute glasses that didn’t look too hipstery and was able to find a really cute pair after looking at and trying on many, many pairs. Todd is really good at knowing what looks good on you and fits well. He wouldn’t let me leave until he was sure my glasses fit me perfectly. I dropped off my rx on a Monday and my glasses were ready by Thursday. It costs a little bit more than other places, but well worth it.
They have a dog in the shop who is super mellow and cool, but if you don’t like dogs, you may want to take note.