The Village Cobbler

I took a boot in with a missing a button, and a brand new pair of shoes that had some uncomfortable seams. I was greeted by a pleasant gentleman who told me that the button might be hard to match, but they would try. I was told to come back next week. When I came back, the shoes were done, they did some kind of minimal treatment for which he was kind enough to not charge me. He said they were still waiting on a button for the boot. Without boring you with the details, I got the boot back 4 weeks later, but it looks great!
The pros: Polite and friendly front desk staff, very fair on the pricing and, although not done when promised (see cons), excellent work.
The cons: Work not done when promised and not great on communication
Overall, I can see why folks are so frustrated, but I will come back knowing that I have to keep checking in. They are the best cobbler in Palo Alto, so its worth the extra effort.

I dropped off two pairs of shoes at the end of March and requested to be shipped when they were ready because we were not local. An old man approached from the work station in the back to examine the shoes and said it would take about a week or two. We prepaid for repair and shipping and left.
Haven’t heard from them for a month, so I gave them a call in early May. A young woman answered and said that they were waiting for the leather they ordered for one of the pairs (, which hasn’t arrived yet) and apologized for the delay. I appreciated for the fact that they special ordered the leather to match the color.
Waited another month and gave them a call again in June. An old lady answered and she didn’t have any clue. She handed the phone over to another woman, who said that they shipped them not long ago and I should receive them soon. I requested for the confirmation number but she said she left it at home.
No shoes for more than two weeks. Gave them a third call. The same young girl responded first time answered and went to look for the shoes. She said she found my shoes on the shelf in the back and told me that they might have confused with the different shipping the other day. She remembered the delay due to the special leather order but couldn’t quite understand why they hadn’t shipped out my shoes earlier. She said that she would send them that afternoon, which was Wednesday.
Another two weeks went by and still hadn’t received the shoes. It was already July. Called back and same you lady says she shipped them out last Saturday (?!) and they should arrive soon. Again, she didn’t have the confirmation number with her.
Now it is already mid August. I was out of town, and was surprise to find out that they are nowhere to be seen. Called them around 9:30am on 8÷17÷15 several times, but no one answers.
I don’t know what is going on with them, but cannot believe that they can still survive in downtown Palo Alto with such a poor customer service.

This is where I take my shoes now. I used to take them to Anthony’s in SF, but they’ve been making some mistakes lately (sloppy taps mostly). So I now trust my Jimmy Choos and Louboutins to this place. Incredibly kind, family place. I am really shocked it doesn’t have better reviews.

I took a new pair of shoes that I had found out were too big for me, but as I had already worn them once, could not return them to the store. I didn’t know if anything could be done for them, but gave it a try and took them to the Village Cobbler.
I picked my shoes up on Monday. At first I thought that nothing had been done, as I expected them to stick something on the heel, but the shoes looked like they had just come from the store that way, although they had a different sole than the one they than when I brought them in. I was a bit grumpy at first because I wasn’t feeling well, until I wore them. What a superb job! The had not only fixed the problem and the work on the heal looked perfect but the new soles were cushioned and more comfortable than the original ones.
Another agreeable surprise was when I realized that it was the same owner that used to have the shop at Stanford shopping center and that I had faithfully patronized for years. I have missed them and had not been able to find a cobbler good enough to replace them in the years since the Stanford shop closed down.
I recommend the Village Cobbler without reservation.

I had them polish my boots. The boots looked great but the first time I wore them I left black shoe polish marks on my hardwood floors. I had to go all over my house cleaning black marks and then ruin a towel to wipe off the excess polish from the boots.

The cobbler redid a beloved pair of Dansko sandles — replace leather lining, repair tears, heal tips, remove scuffs. Beautiful job.

Work was great, however I was promised my shoes back on Wednesday… I go in on Friday (didn’t need my shoes until that weekend) and they were still NOT ready. No one call or said anything.

This review is purely on their customer service.
So I took my sandals to get them in because the latches were breaking off. I was greeted by an older man there told me they would be ready by Wednesday. Wednesday comes around, I show up, I give my ticket and an older woman tells me that they are not ready yet and they will be ready the next day. I didn’t say anything at this point thinking it was just a slip up, so I just went with it and said I would be back the next day to pick them up.
Next day rolls around, I show up and another woman is at the counter. I give her my ticket and she looks for my shoes. Can’t find them. She then proceeds to go and ask someone at the back. I am left standing there, thinking seriously? They begin to converse in Spanish in the back loudly for me to hear. Next, a younger girl comes to talk to me to say that they have ordered something for my sandals. Ordinarily I would be okay with it but I was furious. They couldn’t have called me to tell me that they would not be ready this day? This is the second time I come and they are not ready! I asked the girl that and could not give a proper explanation and just muttered «sorry». I told them to call me this time when they are ready.
They did call me back two days later saying that my shoes were ready. The reason I gave this place 2 stars instead of 1 is because they did a decent job with my sandals and they gave me a discount for my «troubles».
Even though the end result was satisfactory, I would not want to deal with such customer service ever again. Do yourself a favor, and go to another cobbler for your shoe fixes.

Well… went back a year later when the prior flip flops I bought at another store started to wear out. (They were Croc’s model of flip flops. Not recommended) Last time I was at the Village Cobbler for shoe repair I was amazed at their selection of flip flops, so I went back. I had a vacation to Mexico coming up and needed a new pair. The Village Cobbler still had a great selection. So much so that I walked out with two pair!

I took my boots and heels here to get re-​heeled. Both were done efficiently and turned out looking great. They gave me good advice and were honest about what did and did not need to be fixed. Highly recommend!

TL;DR: Had to leave boots here 4 times over three months to actually get a zipper fixed properly.
I brought a not-​very-​fancy pair of black boots with a broken zipper in. They said they’d fix (re-​track?) the zipper for $ 15, then if it turned out I needed the zipper replaced they’d deduct that $ 15 from the cost of the replacement. I appreciated that. However, I brought them in for the same fix twice, and the zipper almost immediately came apart both times. Since I was already kinda stuck with this place, I brought them back to get it replaced. Picked them up and they came right apart once again. Each time the boots were in the store for about a week.
I went back and expressed my displeasure with the situation, and the girl at the counter took the boots back and said they’d figure it out. After not hearing anything from them for 2+ weeks I dropped in again and was told «We haven’t called you yet because they’re not done yet, sorry». So I waited. They FINALLY called me back, probably 4 weeks after I dropped them off. They now seem to be repaired.
They are nice enough people and mean well, but after spending $ 40 and making 9 trips to the shop to get a $ 100 pair of boots repaired, I have to recommend that you, dear reader, go somewhere else.

I’ve taken my shoes here twice and I absolutely love the work they’ve done.
First was a pair of suede shoes that I thought might be damaged beyond repair (I’d actually contemplated just trashing them). Given their state, the results were amazing! A second pair was missing a buckle, and they managed to find the exact shade of shiny gunmetal/​black to match. So so pleased with the results.
On top of this, their prices are extremely fair and they always greet me with a smile. I live in the East Bay now but will continue to bring my shoes here as I trust that they can do anything:)

These people are way too difficult to deal with. When I dropped off my shoes, the front desk was staffed by a 10 year old girl and an ancient man who didn’t seem to understand me at all. When I asked for new stitching on the back heel, he looked confused and said they couldn’t do anything about that. Really? A cobbler can’t put stitches in leather? «Oh ok,» he says, «[mumbles something incomprehensible], that… yes…yes…ok.» Ok. Also, the insides were really worn down and the rubber outer soles, while thick and not broken straight through, had some tears. I said they probably need new soles as well. «Soles fine.» Really… they look — «Soles fine.» Yeah, says the ten year old, your soles are fine. Thanks, honey boo boo. I’m glad they staff this place with experts. It’s comforting. I guess I won’t be getting new soles until they give out for good in 3 – 5 months (and something tells me I won’t be getting them here).
Then I call ahead on the day they’re supposed to be ready and some woman, equally incomprehensible, picks up, asks me for my ticket number and my phone number like four different times, what color my shoes are, what is my number again, and what color are my shoes again, keeps having an intermittent conversation with someone in the background while she’s doing this, clearly can’t find my items, then promptly hangs up on me. I call back immediately and get the ancient one mentioned previously. I can tell it’s him because I can’t understand a word he says, but I’m not really sure if he knows who I am or what my items are, as he doesn’t ask me for a ticket number or anything. Eventually I can make out what he keeps repeating: «you come back tomorrow, everything ok, you come back tomorrow, everything ok.»
Haven’t gone back yet to pick up the boots so I don’t have a gauge on the quality of work, but at this point I don’t care. I don’t have high hopes, even though the job was a simple one. I’ll update this review if they botch it in some unsurpassably creative way. But my overall point is this: What the f*** is going on at this place? Don’t these people know that a cobbler’s shop is a place where people drop off items worth hundreds, even thousands of dollars sometimes? Might they be at all concerned about not putting their best face forward? Don’t let the convenient location near CalTrain or the fact that they take credit cards (many cobblers don’t) fool you. Take your business to Midtown Cobbler in Palo Alto or Al’s Attire in North Beach, SF. It’s an all-​out madhouse at Village Cobbler.

very fair prices and great work. i’ve not actually taken shoes here yet, but they’ve done a fantastic job with my purses in need of some love. why only 4 stars? well, every time they tell me what day it’ll be ready, it isn’t. it’s just a teeny bit annoying. so when they say thursday, just save yourself the trouble and go on friday instead. there’s always a different excuse. still for the reasonable prices and the high quality of work, i’m a customer for life. totally down to suck up the annoyance of multiple pick-​up trips.
and yes, they do have an inordinate number of flip flops for size. it’s nuts! in a good way.

I wanted to know of a good cobbler in the area because finding an efficient one is not easy, luckly this place was referred to me.
I took in a pair of heels that I ruined by getting the heel caught while walking, the damage i thought would be irreversible and so I was considering throwing them out. Once I dropped off the shoes they were ready the following day.
I was in shock, they looked good as new. I couldn’t see any damage. They really know what they are doing and they have amazing customer service. The girl VANESSA (usually at the front) is very honest and friendly. I have been a loyal customer ever since.

Okay, the first thing you should probably know about this place is that it sells really comfortable, really affordable flip-​flops in a large variety of colors. This is important because if you (like me) stupidly wear shoes to work that need repair right away, you can purchase some comfy flip-​flops and grab lunch. That answers the second question you might have — YES, they can totally fix your heels over the course of your lunch break. I dropped off my black leather kitten heels that were embarrassingly worn on both the heel taps (down to the nail and BAD) and the front tips (lookin’ ghetto and worn). I guess I just hadn’t looked at them much before leaving the house — d’oh. They repaired both in under 30 minutes and they look NICE. Not only that, but the front sole under the point of the shoe was poorly reinforced after long wear, and the cobbler put on a secondary sole there. Really nice job, extra fast, and they even gave me a discount on the flip flops (which I paid for after coming back). All and all, it was about $ 48 for those repairs, plus the flip flops. Is that more than it would be back in my former town of Pittsburgh?
Maybe by about $ 8, not counting the flip flops ($ 15). It’s not really that bad of a mark up, and it’s a heck of a lot faster then I’ve ever seen anyone work. Good deal and good service.

I had a belt shortened here and they finished a couple hours later that afternoon. Great service and reasonable prices. I haven’t brought any shoes here yet, but it seemed like they had a ton of shoes in work or ready to pick up judging by all the boxes behind the counter. Bonus for being withing walking distance of my apartment.

I’ve brought 3 items to Village Cobbler in the past month. The main reasons I came here are because I can walk here from work and there doesn’t seem to be an overwhelming «best cobbler» in downtown Palo Alto. In general, the service has been great– the woman who comes out to handle business is very nice.
1) ($ 7) Grey ankle height boots that needed a facelift after a couple years of rain, salt, dirt and snow. I normally polish my own boots but I couldn’t find polish in that color. For $ 7 they did a decent job– not the most uniform color but they look much better than they used to. Well worth $ 7.
2) ($ 40) Large medium brown leather purse. It was practically new but had gotten surprisingly dirty in the few weeks I used it. For $ 40 it now looks brand new but I suspect the color is a bit off from what it used to be. I had tried using saddle soap myself and it didn’t work– so while $ 40 was an awful lot, I’m glad it’s clean again. My bigger complaint is that I was told it would be ready on Wednesday, I tried to pick it up on Friday, and it still wasn’t ready. They had my phone number– they should have called to say it would be late. And they should have taken $ 10 or $ 20 off the price. The woman offered to deliver the purse to me, which was certainly really nice, but I would have preferred a phone call and a discount. Or better yet, getting my purse back in time.
3) ($ 25) Medium brown slouchy knee high boots covered in coffee stains… Because I apparently can’t walk down the block without spilling my coffee. These were ready on time, and are clean, but are definitely a new color– darker than they used to be. $ 25 for the boots seems steep, especially if the color ends up different. I’m not sure if it was worth it.
In general, prices seem high, but it is downtown Palo Alto, and at least the service is friendly! I’m sure I’ll be back.

The Village Cobbler has helped me from «gosh-these-shoes-don’t-fit-quite right-but-I’ll-make-them-work» to «I-​AM-​TOTALLY-​WORKING-​THESE-​SHOES!»
They have helped me stretch out shoes in narrow spots, break in stiff boots, shorten a belt — basically, help with any leather good to make it a PERFECT fit.
Friendly, knowledgeable staff. Small shop feel. A shoe lover’s friend.

FANTASTIC WORK (Ferrogamo shoes, Allen Edmonds shoes, Mephisto shoes!)
First, they have moved to Emerson Street in Palo Alto. Second, they have done outstanding work for me.
(1) Ferrogamo shoes (black leather) — I have a pair of Ferrogamo shoes that I’ve had for 12 years. They added a new sole for me — did an amazing job
(2) Ferrogamo shoes (brown felt) — ditto. Added rubber lining to the heel to my 12-​year old pair of shoes — outstanding work!
(3) Allen Edmonds shoes (black leather) — added rubber to heel — outstanding work
(4) Mephisto sandal shoes — added a new rubber sole to my 8 year old shoes — fantastic work
I love their work.