A Pirate-Themed Tattoo Parlor Near Me Open Till Midnight: Studio City Tattoo

Studio City Tattoo sits at 11032 Ventura Blvd in Studio City and keeps its doors open from 11 am to midnight, seven days a week, which makes it the rare tattoo parlor in the San Fernando Valley where a walk-in idea at 10 pm is still realistic. The shop has tattooed and pierced since 1992, bills itself as LA's original pirate-themed electric tattoo shop, and charges a $120 shop minimum for even the smallest piece.

The pirate theme is not a gimmick added for social media. The shop has carried it for decades, and when Time Out Los Angeles reviewed it in 2017 the writer called it, flatly, the most pirate-themed studio in the region while still ranking it among the best. The owners describe the room as always changing: their own shop-tour page says they add new props all the time, so a return visit usually turns up some new nautical oddity on the walls or shelves.

That decor sits on top of a serious working history. The shop's own pages count more than three decades of tattooing since 1992, list tattoo and piercing work for the TV and film industries, and point to a second mountain location near Lake Arrowhead Village for clients who want a tattoo on a cabin weekend.

The current roster lists eight resident tattooers, and the theme has a matching crew member. Capt. Dave is listed for old school traditional work with pirate flair and expert cover-ups, which makes him the obvious booking for a ship, anchor, or skull-and-crossbones piece that fits the room. Saul Sawooli Vargas covers American traditional, new school and what the shop calls cosmic art, while Anthony Romero handles traditional, black and gray, script and fine line.

The rest of the roster pulls in very different directions. Jim Down is the name for black and gray realism and pet memorial portraits, Emily Grant leans into comic book color, gaming and sci-fi, and Joshua Gray works blackwork, geometric designs and script. Connor Garrity is listed as a 30-year veteran doing 80s and 90s nostalgia mashups and illustrative pet portraits, and Todd Townsend adds watercolor, abstract and cartoon work. Pick by portfolio, not by who happens to be free.

The shop's booking process starts there. The tattoo FAQ asks you to browse the artist portfolios, then email or message your chosen tattooer on Instagram with reference images. The artist estimates how many hours the piece needs, and the reception desk books that time in person or by phone. Artwork is never sent out before the appointment, so the more descriptive your first message is, the closer the drawing will be when you sit down.

The price list is posted plainly on the official pricing page. The hourly rate is $200, the shop minimum is $120, and the FAQ adds, in so many words, that the minimum applies even for a single dot. Longer projects such as sleeves and back pieces can be booked as a six-hour day rate for $1000, which works out to a $200 saving against paying by the hour.

Every booked tattoo needs a non-refundable deposit: $120 for a standard appointment and $300 for a day-rate session, and the money is subtracted from the final price rather than added on top. Call the shop for a deposit confirmation number before paying online, and give at least 48 hours of notice if you need to move the date. Healed work is guaranteed, with free touch-ups for the first six months.

An honest judgement: skip the tiny single-dot or one-letter tattoo here. At a $120 minimum you are paying for a full slot either way, so spend it on a palm-sized piece of flash or a small traditional anchor that actually uses the artist's time. Also skip asking for a first tattoo on your hands, face or neck; the FAQ says most tattooers here refuse those placements on clients who are not already heavily tattooed, and finger work cannot be guaranteed.

Walk-ins are welcome, but only when an artist has open time. The pricing page spells out the deal: if you walk in and they have room, they will do the tattoo that day; if the chairs are booked, the counter staff will talk through your idea and set an appointment instead. Thirteen open hours a day give a drop-in more chances to catch a gap, and an idea that comes up over dinner can still land in a chair before the midnight close.

Plan B if every chair is taken: put the $120 deposit down for the next open slot rather than shopping your idea around Ventura Boulevard, since the deposit holds your artist and starts the drawing process. Out-of-town visitors can arrange a booking by email, though the shop says a phone call is always the fastest route. If the goal is a piercing rather than ink, Cat Zapata takes walk-in piercings on Wednesdays and Thursdays.

Come alone or with one person. The FAQ asks clients to limit their backup to a single friend because seating gets tight when tattoo and piercing customers are waiting at the same time, and it suggests that extra friends wait at neighboring cafes, bars or restaurants. A group of four arriving on a weekend night for matching tattoos will spend most of the visit standing on the sidewalk.

Half the shop's reputation comes from the piercing counter. The jewelry case stocks Anatometal, Maya, Tawapa and Body Vision, in implant-grade titanium, 18k and 14k gold, niobium and Pyrex glass, and Time Out noted that the retail selection has drawn tastemakers such as actress Chloe Grace Moretz. One Google reviewer quoted on the shop's site, Katie Stone, writes that she has brought her daughters and her mother in for ear piercings over the years.

The piercing schedule is posted by name. Master piercer Steve White heads the team, Hernan Hernandez works Tuesdays and Fridays from 11 am to close plus Saturdays from 11 am to 5 pm, Perla Garcia works only Saturdays and Sundays, and Cat Zapata covers Wednesdays and Thursdays. Anyone under 18 can get a body piercing with a parent present, but the parent must bring government ID plus the child's ID and birth certificate.

The late hours pair well with a Valley institution that also runs past midnight. The Baked Potato, a short drive east on Cahuenga Boulevard West, has hosted jazz and fusion players since 1970, opens nightly from 6 pm to 1 am, keeps its kitchen running until 11:30, and welcomes all ages. Booking a 6 pm tattoo slot leaves enough time to wrap the new piece and still catch a set the same night.

Daytime visitors have a different angle. The shop's own visitor page pitches itself to people coming from Universal Studios Hollywood, a short drive or rideshare away. If you go that route, eat before the session; the FAQ asks for a good night's sleep, a filling meal and proper hydration, and it adds a polite request to shower first.

Address: 11032 Ventura Blvd, Studio City, CA 91604, in the City of Los Angeles part of the Valley. Phone: 818-769-4049. Hours: Monday through Sunday, 11 am to midnight. Tattoos require clients to be 18 or older under California law, with no exceptions for parental consent. The hourly rate is $200, the shop minimum is $120, and deposits are non-refundable but count toward the final bill.

Aftercare starts at the chair: artists apply an adhesive second-skin bandage that the shop says to leave on for two to four days before peeling it off in a warm shower. Initial healing takes about a week, with the surface skin settling in about two weeks. Hate symbols are refused outright, and outside artwork may be adjusted so it holds up in skin rather than on paper.