Nails by Kim

Nails By Kim was established sometime in the early 80’s and, for better or for worse, has not changed a jot. This is truly your mother’s salon: classic white manicure tables, small altar brandishing a «lucky Buddha» figure; nondescript art fading in black and gold plastic frames. The clientele is made up mostly of neighbors, loyal women in their 60s and 70s who have been coming to Kim’s for decades. The color selection is wanting, so consider bringing your own.
However, Kim’s is home to one of the best, most attentive pedicures you will ever receive. Done in a small plastic-​lined tub, without the aid of e.g. a massage chair or bath salts, it is simple and perfectly-​executed. The manicure, done by another technician, was admittedly a little sloppy but at THESE AMAZING PRICES (far lower than anywhere else I’ve found in the neighborhood, besides Lee’s) a few tiny imperfections are totally forgivable.
A great neighborhood gem!

I like this nail salon. I have been looking for one for a while since mine closed down. They did a great job and my manicure lasted over a week (which it i did not in other places). The downside is that it is on the street and you have to pay for street parking, and they are closed on Sunday. For me, they are a little far from where I live but if you live in that area, I would highly recommend them.

I’ve been a client at Nails by Kim for the past 4 years. Very nice, clean place, prices are much lower than other similar places in the area. I am usually getting gel mani and pedi every 3 weeks and for $ 35.00 you can’t beat it. Excellent selection of colors. I highly recommend this place. Thanks, Brenda and Nancy!!!

I get my nails done about every two or three weeks and it’s been two years since I’ve wrote a review for this place. Still loving it, the service, the people, and everything! It’s not a big store, but it’s still awesome. Their prices have been changed a slight bit, but it’s still very reasonable compared to all these crazy prices now a days. It’s a few stores down from Starbucks too, so maybe you could get a drink and stop by here. Good location.

This place is great. I love it. Was walking by and was feeling lazy to cut my own nails. It was inexpensive and they did a great job. I’ll definitely come back!

I have been a customer for more than 7 years. This is a no frills nail salon with excellent service. Brenda, Nancy and Lillie have done an outstanding job over the years. (Lillie recently retired and Lina took her place.) I was there yesterday and received a wonderful pedicure and manicure for $ 20. I only get the basics so I can’t speak about how they do wraps etc. I feel the salon is clean and sanitary and the workers are friendly, attentive and work very hard to please. They take their time. There is a big parking lot in the back that many businesses share including Starbucks. Street parking is available as well.

Great value on a no-​frills manicure in the back of a cute barbershop!
Hai was my manicurist, and she’s very nice and professional. She did a wonderful job on my manicure and was very friendly and sweet. I called at about 9am to see if she could get me in at 10am, and she did. I was in and out in 40 minutes for under $ 20, tip included. If you’re looking for a great value, and good friendly service, I highly recommend Hai at Nails by Kim. It’s easy to miss because there isn’t a big sign for Nails by Kim, so you need to look for the Berkeley Barbers sign and the barbershop striped pole on the south side of the street.

This nail salon is an amazing value for the service. The gals are very friendly and caring. The manicure is great and the combo manicure/​pedicure is very relaxing!
Extremely clean and professional. Treat yourself to an affordable luxury!

worst place to get a pedicure ever!

Every time I go here, I tell myself I’ll never go back. And then the $ 13 pedicures suck me in. But when I leave and look at my toes, I think, «Wow, I could have done a better job myself!» Seriously, stay away from here. The ladies are sweet but they use horrible oils and watery lotions and give disappointingly short massages. You truly get what you pay for. This time I REALLY won’t be going back!

Be very careful!
I needed a manicure and found this place as I was driving down Wilshire.
It’s a pretty no-​frills place (except for the big screen plasma TV hanging on the wall) but that’s no problem for me because you can’t beat a $ 7 manicure.
Well, I got what I paid for when Brenda annihilated my ring finger cuticle. It wasn’t just a slip in the cuticle trimming — there is a pretty substantial canyon in my cuticle now from the cut. She was using cuticle clippers that were soaking in alcohol (not the blue anti-​fungal/​anti-​bacterial/​anti-​viral that is typically used to clean instruments) so I was pretty scared that I might get an infection.
The cut was bleednig pretty badly and she put some stuff on it to «stop the bleeding» but all I really wanted was some alcohol to make sure I didn’t get MRSA or something crazy like that. Brenda resisted and insisted that the other liquid she put on my cuticle contained «medicine.» Who knows? Finally after pushing I got some alcohol on the cut.
Did Brenda apologize for the cut? No. Was I given a discount for her error? No (granted I know, the price is already very low).
Here I am two days later and luckily there is no sign of infection, although the area is still pretty tender. As far as the rest of the experience, the polish job was OK.
But please think twice before getting a manicure here.

Yay! What a great place…
I stumbled upon this place while getting coffee at Starbucks one Saturday morning. Brenda and the girls do literally the most amazing manicure/​pedicure I have found. EVER. I am not just saying this. On top of it being THAT amazing, its only $ 18. That is a steal these days. There are only 3 girls who work there so you need to make an appointment, but if you call ahead a least a day before, you should be fine! They only do nails here, so no waxing, massages, etc.