Ling’s Salon

Worst haircut I’ve ever had. I’ve specifically asked not to cut the top and she cut the top. She turned my comb over into a weird disorganized crew cut. I’ve should have known by the short choppy strokes she makes when using the trimmer.
Dont believe me, check out the I posted a picture.
Also she charges an extra $ 5 if you want your sideburns trimmed. I thought that was bs so I opted to walk out with supper bushy sideburns instead. Kinda funny actually.

Good haircut for only $ 9. The block its on isn’t bad to walk around, but the ones around it can be a bit tough. Great deal and a very solid haircut though.

I worry by writing this I’ll cause more people to come here, but it’s only fair to Ling. She did an amazing job on my hair for less than 10 bucks. Also, the place feels clean considering where it’s located. Cute little shop; I think she deserves a generous tip for each haircut. My hair looked better IMO than haircuts that cost 5 times as much.

Lings $ 9 special.
$ 9 bucks for a good haircut. No brainer for a budget oriented man in the ‘loin. A decent appearance for a little less than a rock of crack.
They’re on a side street, they have a shoebox for a salon, and a barber who doesn’t speak English. She does a great job and I don’t have to bother with small talk.

Great service, great haircut. I’d definitely go back.

Ling ‘s (Helen?) is awesome — the other reviews are pretty spot on. She cuts hair and does it well. She’s nice, she gives you what you want and is really fun to get to know. Great value — I hope she sticks around!

This is the sleeper of all haircut places for guys in the Tender-​Nob. Oddly, I’ve lived a block away from it for more than a decade and had never ventured in before this week. That doesn’t mean that it hadn’t showed up on my radar, since there used to be a group of tired old mannequin heads in the window with the most atrocious haircuts! It’s the sort of image that would stick in ones head. It’s a tiny place, in the middle of an otherwise residential block of Hyde Street, and the door is usually almost closed (to keep out the street noise). Still, I’ve been happily going to higher-​end salons in Japantown for years now, so I had no reason to try Ling’s, or anywhere else.
However, ITTETs, I had to economize somewhere; paying $ 70 for a haircut every 5 weeks (ergo, $ 730 a year) just isn’t in my budget for 2011. I tried an inexpensive and popular little 2-​person salon out in the inner Richmond, due to its Unilocal reviews, but found the work a bit inconsistent. And so, in desperate need of a last-​minute haircut, I remembered Ling’s and thought I’d give it a try.
Glad. I. Did.
Ling’s is truly a hole-​in-​the wall place, last decorated 18 years ago when Helen, the sweet older lady who owns and runs it, moved in. It has a sort of anti-​charm charm, with faded photos from the ‘80s, hand-​lettered signs, white-​painted faux brick walls and an «infinity mirror» effect from the mirrors mounted on the parallel long walls. No music, no beverages, and the stack of magazines looks like it hasn’t been touched since Republicans ran San Francisco. Appreciate the décor for what it is or simply ignore it; you’re not there for the ambiance, pal. You’re there for a good, honest NINE DOLLAR haircut.
(edit)
Update: Apparently, Helen is gradually retiring, and has brought on (or perhaps sold to) another, younger woman. I went in for a cut, discovered this, and walked out unhappy. The new woman, frankly, isn’t up to the job. First, because I suspect that her grasp of English isn’t good enough to understand what a customer wants. I told her that I wanted an inch off of the top, which clearly, she didn’t understand. She also didn’t seem to understand that getting hair *wet* is useful for the cutting process. She literally held up 8 sections of the hair atop my head (each of them maybe an inch thick by the length of her fingers, and snipped about 3/​8″ off the top. This means that the hair couldn’t even be cut to a uniform length, since the hair in the center of the section will be cut shorter than at the edges of the section. She used four different clipper guards around the back and sides for some reason, going over the same areas multiple times. When she decided that my hair was cut enough, she pulled out a mirror to show me the back. I said «well, I asked for an inch off the top, but it’s nowhere near an inch shorter», she replied «Oh, you want it shorter?» –and proceeded to snip a little bit more off the top (still not even an inch) and then spent a couple of minutes with a brush, trying to style the hair into what she thought would look good (nothing at all like the way I style it). I doubt very much that this woman has graduated from a barbering/​cosmetology course and I won’t let her near my hair again.
Also, for whatever reason, the salon has been «redecorated», by which I mean that they have gotten rid of the «anti-​charm charm». The window area has been painted a shade of electric turquoise and features an arrangement of day-​glo fake flowers. One *part of* the wall of fake brick has been painted white, and the old ‘70s and ‘80s hairstyle photos have been replaced with new photos of «urban youths» with novelty facial hair and fauxhawks. I don’t want to sound like some hipster who prefers vintage kitsch to new kitsch, but there’s a charm to a space that’s been allowed to gracefully fade and I had gotten used to it. The «redecoration» is strident and frankly, I don’t think it’s going to win any new customers. I’ll try to catch Helen when she’s in (apparently two days a week), but otherwise, I’ll have to bite the bullet and take my hair to Peoples Barber, for 3 times the price.
Sic transit gloria mundi.