Tattoo Shops in Carroll Gardens, Cobble Hill, Gowanus & Red Hook, NY

Getting tattooed in Carroll Gardens, Cobble Hill, Gowanus and Red Hook mostly means a small private studio or an artist-owned shop rather than a big walk-in floor. Six tattoo shops sit in Kings County, in Brooklyn, and together they carry 344 Google reviews at an average rating of 4.9. Custom work is the common thread, and the way you get in the door varies from shop to shop.

Smith Street Tattoo Parlour is the busiest name in the area by review history, rated 4.8 from 179 reviews. It works by appointment, so a visit there is planned ahead. Brooklyn Tattoo is rated 4.5 from 91 reviews. It is a studio owned and run by New York natives Willie Paredes and Adam Suerte, and its focus is quality custom tattooing and personal, original work. Walk-ins are taken when an artist is free, and calling ahead is recommended.

The smaller studios lean toward one artist and a personal setup. Oblivion ink tattoo is a private studio in Carroll Gardens run by a Ukrainian certified tattoo artist with six years of experience and a focus on detail. It has a 5.0 rating from 38 reviews. Clients can book or walk in, a consultation is available before a session, and bookings come by call, text, email or Instagram message. Moonlight Tattoo Studio, which also goes by Luna Tattoo, is a private studio that works by appointment only. Its artist uses disposable needles and instruments, and a client who wants numbing can have the area numbed during the appointment. Moonlight holds a 5.0 from 7 reviews, so the sample is small.