Arthouse Tattoo

Mike could not have brought my vision to life in a more perfect way. His artistic eye is unlike anything I’ve seen at other shops I go to. Very welcoming, easy to talk to, and the music selection is super relaxing!! I cannot wait for my next project with him!!

Arthouse Tattoo = AWESOME! From the consultation meeting Mike to discussing ideas through to the finished product I can’t say enough good things. Artwork turned out killer & I enjoyed every session. I will definitely be back for more!

Mike did an amazing job! The whole experience was relaxing and peaceful from the calm music to him checking how I was doing throughout the process. I am blown away by the quality of work and how my tattoo turned out, I highly recommend seeing him if you get the chance. Thank you so much!

I had a great experience at Arthouse as a blank-canvas first-timer. I had a cut-and-dried design that required no creative work from Mike, but he didn't balk at that. On the contrary, he thought it was cool. As a first-timer, I was a bit self-conscious about it all, so I appreciated his graciousness.

The place itself is really cool... excellent decor and furniture. He played some really great, mellow music the whole time and finished earlier than he'd originally estimated. The finished product is clearly the work of a professional. It could not have turned out better.

If I get another, I'll be going back to Mike's place. I dig it.

I had been considering getting work done for a while, so I began researching for a skilled and reputable artist and shop when I came across Mike and Arthouse Tattoo. What I found was a really good experience with all the things that were important to me: a clean/safe shop, a skilled & personable artist, and I was able to engage in the artistic design of the work. In fact, Mike improved my original idea significantly; and he was also willing to listen to suggestions I made regarding his design. He even contacted me afterwards to make sure everything was well. Overall, I’m very happy with my experience and would recommend Arthouse and Mike to anyone looking for their first or 10th tattoo.

I can't understate just how great of an artist Mike is. Professional, respectful, and has a great attention to detail. My piece looks incredible, and there isn't even a trace of the original tattoos. Highly recommend.

My wife and I recently stopped by for one of Arthouse Tattoo’s Cause for Paws events. It was our second piece from Mike and we not love our tattoos. We also love that it supports a great cause with Austin Pets Alive. We’ve known Mike and Tanya for a while now and they’re always very nice and accommodating every time we visit. I highly recommend this tattoo shop!

I've been getting tattoos for 24 years, and this has BY FAR been my best experience. Wherever I go in the world, when I want a tattoo, I'll be coming back to Mike Metaxa for it. I did not end up getting the EXACT tattoo I had envisioned. Luckily I know enough about true artists to listen to his suggestions, and now I have a real work of art on my arm. He made sure it was true to the expression I was going for, but made minor adjustments (with my permission) to make it perfect. He needs to have the freedom to be proud of his work. If you want an assembly line tattoo, go somewhere and have a robot do it for you. If you want a piece of art that you would hang in your house if it were on paper, go here. I get stopped about 3 times a day by strangers admiring my ink and asking where I got it. Artists like Mike sometimes have HUGE waits, but lucky for us here in Austin, he's moved from NY and is rebuilding his client list. You have the best of both worlds here...an amazing artist and (usually) not much of a wait. I simply can't recommend him enough, and I won't let anyone I know go anywhere else.

Awsome shop, Mike does excellent work and I fully recommend him to do your work. His shop is truly an art studio, and the music is relaxing and good. His line work is crisp, colors are vibrant, no blowouts, and not heavy handed. Overall great experiance!

Prepare yourself readers, this is a long one.
Two stars for the art work and the private setting. Decor is artistic, music is soothing , and it’s a very clean location. Light hand artist. Why not 5 stars? Here’s my experience.

I got a tattoo from Mike and the detail on the planets I request was gorgeous. Couldn’t have gotten it better elsewhere, but the simplest part of two people standing with a background shade was done wrong.
Mike offered to fix it after he finished and we agreed I’d come back.
I travel for work and enjoy the lakes so I waited about nine months to go back.

When I texted him he was hesitant to fix it and said there was nothing he could do. After back and forth texting, sending pics of my art and what I had wanted, he finally agreed to fix it but not after him hearing sarcastic remarks/opinions and an attempt to try and make me feel naive.
When I showed up at his place, he fixed it.
He had also promised me a small tattoo at no cover after my first visit and he kept this promise which I deeply appreciate.
What I disliked was when I asked how much he’d charge for a T-Mobile logo tattoo, he told me not to get that unless I was a CEO with a horrid facial expression that read “that’s stupid”.

According to his Instagram it reads “Your Story+ Our Ink=ART”.
Exactly, it is MY story.
T-Mobile is a top company to work for and my life before TMOBILE was a massive struggle to survive, literally not figuratively.
With T-Mobile paying for my education, I plan to move up the branch. I have met my CEO on multiple occasions and accomplished so much in these past 4.5 years of being with them. But I shouldn’t have to explain my reason for wanting a tattoo.
If the Instagram quote is the ArtHouse vision/ mission statement, it definitely lacks integrity.

His response was he doesn’t do stuff like that and did not give me a price.
I would have said I’ll do two same day if it was too small to land me an appointment but then I remembered he told me to slow down on the tattoos and get them over time. Meaning he thought I was getting too many too fast...again an opinion I didn’t ask for.

The customer service needs to be worked on.
The art is spectacular but when negative comments are being said on what you should get or shouldn’t get or what he thinks looks better than what you requested, it makes you regret going here and ruins the experience.

Thing is it’s my body and I am going to have these tattoos for the rest of my life. I decide what I do with my body. I’m paying you for art and by default, exquisite customer service should be given to encourage people to come back and refer people. This is how you manage a business and it’s very unfortunate when people think they know more than you AND voice it.

I will be reaching out to the people I referred to update them on my experience and will never refer anyone here. A tattoo session should be awesome, you shouldn’t have to hear someone’s negative close minded opinions about what you are doing. It disregards the positive bond.
I understand if my tattoo is not on the list of landing an appointment but unnecessary comments shouldn’t have to be said. After all, it MY story.
I hope feedback is implemented and customer service gets better because word of month is the best advertisement for a business to continue thriving. I understand why the rudeness, but this isn’t New York anymore, it’s Texas where customer service is expected. Innovation is necessary when the type of customer changes.
Hope this helps everyone.