Following them from their old Yonge location, this new location is a nice upgrade. It's a bit harder to spot with the smaller logo from the outside, but when you see the "we welcome walk-ins" sign next to subway, you know you're there.
Upon entering, I was greeted by the receptionist who still remembers me from last summer (nice). I then waited for my artist (guest Robert Zyla) to show me his photoshop edits and he continued reworking them until I was satisfied. It was a bit longer than I would have liked (appointment at 1pm and the needle broke my skin at 3:20pm), but I am thoroughly satisfied with the end result. We had one 10 minute break and a shorter one a bit under 5 minutes. The resident artists were pretty cool; some came to check on Robert's progress, and the booth next to me was doing smaller tattoos and gave thorough aftercare instructions to their clients.
This location, like the Markham one, is open concept, but there are curtains for privacy. Relative to the Markham location, Markham seems to have more room to move around. But this location had books! I didn't pick any of them up to read, but I liked the selection. There are two sofas where potential clients do consults with the receptionists. While I was waiting, I watched/heard two of them go down. The receptionists here are great. The studio was packed around 12:40pm when I arrived, and finally died down around 1:30pm.
I am now waiting for my tattoo to heal. This was one of the better tattoo shop experiences I've had. Everyone was on task and friendly. I am definitely coming back. Thanks CIT Toronto!