Tattoo Parlor Near Me on Long Beach's Old Pike: Outer Limits Tattoo

Outer Limits Tattoo sits at 22 S. Chestnut Place in downtown Long Beach, and its own shop-info page says walk-ins are welcome with private rooms available on request. This tattoo parlor works out of a storefront that has housed tattooing since 1927, which is why the shop bills itself as the oldest continuously operated tattoo shop in the United States. Owner Kari Barba bought the business in 2002 and held the grand opening of Outer Limits Tattoo Long Beach on May 15, 2006.

The building came first. According to the shop's history page, the storefront was built in 1921 as part of the Sovereign Building, and its first tenant was a photography studio. In 1927 the space became a tattoo studio, believed to have been called The Professionals, though nobody has pinned down the owner's name. This was the era of The Pike, a seaside amusement strip by the Long Beach Municipal pier that held twelve tattoo parlors at its peak.

In 1954 The Pike rebranded as Nu-Pike to compete with Disneyland and Knott's Berry Farm, and that same year Bert Grimm bought the studio and renamed it Bert Grimm's World Famous Tattoo Studio. Grimm, one of the founding fathers of American Traditional, tattooed Lyle Tuttle's front torso and full back here in 1957 and 1958. Many of Grimm's own photographs of his work still hang on the walls today.

Bob Shaw, who did his first tattoo at 15 in 1941 under Grimm, moved to Long Beach in 1964 and bought the shop from him in 1969. Shaw brought in his friend Col. Todd in 1973, and two of his sons, Larry and Bobby Jr., tattooed there too. The family moved to Texas in 1983 but kept ownership, and after Shaw's widow Wanda died in 2002, the sons decided to close it.

The shop survived because manager Rick Walters told Kari Barba it was about to close, and she bought it in 2002. Barba had started tattooing in 1979 at age 19, left Minnesota for California, and opened her first shop, Twilight Fantasy, in Anaheim on April 1, 1983. Before that she had sold more than 300 sheets of flash to vendors including Spaulding & Rogers, whose catalog called her world famous.

The building was in rough condition, and the renovation took four years. Her team combed Long Beach Historical Society documents, saved every item they could, and kept the original 1921 flooring in place. New wood and metalwork nod to the port's nautical past. A vintage tattoo chair and an old safe turned up during the work and are now part of the collection.

You do not need an appointment to look around. The Long Beach page says the public is welcome to come in anytime to browse the collection of original photos, framed documents, vintage tattoo equipment and memorabilia from The Pike days.

History fans should ask about the Pike artists archive the shop keeps. It records Owen Jensen, who worked a couple of doors down with Lee Roy Minugh after a 1971 falling-out with Grimm over flash, and L.L. McKeever, part of a 1950s push on The Pike to lower the tattoo age from 21 to 18. The shop also raises donations for the Tattoo Heritage Project, which aims to open a dedicated tattoo museum aboard the Queen Mary.

Her bio lists more than 500 industry awards, a Lifetime Achievement award, and the distinction of taking first place in every category at a single convention. She says she currently most enjoys realism, portraits, Asian styles and Trash Polka.

The wider crew covers color and black and grey, traditional and new school, and the shop pairs you with the best-suited artist when you call. Guest artists visit several times a year. Barba is also qualified in areola reconstruction tattooing for breast cancer survivors, and cosmetic tattooing is offered at Long Beach only.

The shop's Preparing for Your Tattoo sheet is blunt. A valid government-issued photo ID is required every time, not just on your first visit. You may bring one guest, who must be over 18, stay seated, and keep hands off you and the chair. A fidgety guest will be asked to leave the tattooing area. Children are not allowed in, and the staff will not babysit.

Deposits are handled per artist through the shop's online forms, and the forms page warns you not to fill one out unless staff tell you to. If you come in sick, the artist can refuse to work and you risk losing that deposit, so call to reschedule instead. Eat a full meal first and skip energy drinks. The shop keeps snacks and filtered water on hand.

Payment etiquette is spelled out too: wait until the artist has removed gloves and washed hands before handing over money, and settle the bill at the front counter. The artists work as independent contractors, the sheet suggests tipping at the rate you would for other personal services, and touch-ups are usually free if you followed the aftercare. Skip strenuous exercise for at least three days afterward.

Walk-ins are welcome, and arriving early in the day gives the counter the most room to fit you in before the artists' books fill with booked sessions. Bring a reference image and a size so the counter can steer you to an artist whose portfolio fits. Private rooms are available on request for more exposed placements.

One honest warning: skip this shop if you came for a piercing. The Long Beach location does not pierce at all. Piercing is only offered at the Costa Mesa shop in Orange County.

The shop's history page calls it the last remaining business from the original Pike district, and the old amusement zone is a short stroll away. Head south toward the water and you reach The Pike Outlets, the shopping and dining strip that reuses the Pike name on the same waterfront where sailors once came ashore for ink.

From there, follow the waterfront east to the Aquarium of the Pacific, an easy second stop on the same harbor. The Queen Mary, where Barba first made her name at a tattoo convention aboard the ship, sits across the harbor in plain view. Barba's first big break came there, when Spaulding & Rogers promoted her flash at a convention on board.

Address: 22 S. Chestnut Place, Long Beach, CA 90802, in downtown Long Beach on the old Pike. Walk-ins welcome, private rooms on request, no piercing at this location, and cosmetic tattooing available here. Happy clients are asked to tag #outerlimitstattoo.

Bring a government-issued photo ID, a full stomach, a charged phone with headphones, and clothing that exposes the placement. Leave children at home and limit yourself to one adult guest. Come sick and you risk your deposit. Leave time to walk the museum walls. The original Pike-era photos on the walls cost nothing to look at.