My husband made an appointment with Riley months ago, to get a tattoo during our vacation in Vegas. I decided last minute to ask if another artist happened to be available for me. Luckily, John B's appointment was a no show. I told him I wanted something abstract to represent the sculpture "Venus of Willendorf." He pulled up some Google images on his phone, I picked one, and he did the tattoo as a portrait (after discussing it with me), far exceeding my expectations!
John was friendly and we had a great time as he did my tattoo. Clean, informative, and answered all my questions. He was excited to do a tattoo he hadn't done before, and I think that might be the key at this parlor - they'll do the same old, same old flowers and birds, but the experience is really great if you have a unique idea.
While we were there, we met Dirk briefly and a few others who work there (there's a friendly woman there whose name I didn't catch; she and I talked about the Erotic Heritage Museum for a bit). Everyone was friendly and professional. My husband was happy with his tattoo, too.
Prices seemed reasonable to us. We're from the Delaware/Philly area and based our expectations on the prices in our area. I later realized that we never signed any waivers prior to tattooing, which was unusual.
Despite my luck that John had an opening, reservations are usually necessary. You can see some of John's work on his Instagram account, @tattooerjohnbates.