North Miami Halloween Flash Tattoo, 2 for $120: Alex Chiong

Alex Chiong Tattoo Studio, at 12949 Biscayne Blvd in North Miami, prices its flash at $80 for one tattoo or $120 for two, and that pair deal is the cheapest way into a Halloween flash tattoo on this stretch of Biscayne. The studio is open Monday to Friday from 11 am to 9 pm, and Saturday and Sunday from noon to 10 pm, so Halloween itself, Saturday, October 31, 2026, gets the long weekend schedule. Walk-ins are welcome when an artist is free.

Alex Chiong started tattooing in Havana in 2003 and graduated from the San Alejandro Academy of Fine Arts in 2012, which is why his bio calls him a plastic artist first. After moving to Miami he worked in other studios and entered convention contests, taking second prize at New York No Limits in 2016. In 2017 he left to build his own shop, and the home page still counts the years with a banner that reads plus 20 years since 2003.

The business side belongs to Javier Estrada, also from Havana, who trained as a director and actor at the School of Art Instructors and later earned a culinary associate degree at Le Cordon Bleu in Miami. Alex describes the split plainly: he draws, recruits and trains artists, while Javier runs the commercial work. In 2025 the two told their story on the Metiendo el Cuerpo channel in an episode titled Defying the Impossible, linked from the studio's front page.

The flash offer lives on its own booking page, and the studio describes it as small designs and fast sessions for people who want fresh ink without a long appointment. That framing matters for Halloween. A palm-sized bat, a single candle skull or a black cat outline fits the quick-session idea, while anything that needs a stencil redrawn three times belongs in a custom booking. The two-for-$120 rate is the obvious excuse to book a matching pair with a friend.

Where the shop is strongest is black and grey realism, the style tagged on Alex's own artist card next to large-scale work, and the gallery is full of lions, tigers, crosses and full sleeves in grey wash. The published style list also runs through American Traditional, Neotraditional, Blackwork, Anime and Micro-realism. For a spooky piece, ask for a skull or jack-o'-lantern in black and grey shading rather than flat color, because that plays to what the team does most often.

The contact page states that appointments are recommended and walk-ins are welcome when available, and the artists page repeats the same line. There are two numbers. Booking forms ask you to pick a job size, from small format to matching tattoos, plus a preferred date and time, and the team calls back to set the session.

Florida law sets the age line, not the shop. Nobody under 16 can be tattooed outside a medical setting, and a 16- or 17-year-old needs a parent present, government photo ID for both, notarized written consent and proof of guardianship. Adults should bring photo ID too. For bigger Halloween plans, such as a sleeve that starts with a haunted house, the studio offers financing for qualifying tattoo projects and the summer promotion page lists financing as well.

Halloween 2026 falls on a Saturday, which means the doors open at noon and close at 10 pm, an hour later than any weekday. Friday, October 30, runs 11 am to 9 pm, and Sunday, November 1, is back to noon to 10 pm. The quietest window for a flash walk-in is the first hour after opening on Friday or Saturday, before costume parties pull people out and before the booked custom sessions stack up in the afternoon.

A smarter play is to use the flash form now instead of walking in cold. It asks for a preferred date and time and lists the North Miami studio as the only location, so you can request a Thursday or Friday slot and have the piece healing by the time the trick-or-treaters reach your street. Anyone who wants a second, larger Halloween piece can also subscribe on the same page, where the studio sends out seasonal promotions and flash events.

The crowd skews local and bilingual. The artists page says the studio serves clients from Miami, North Miami and North Miami Beach with friendly bilingual service, and a 2023 Yelp review written in Spanish praises the shop as friendly with very good artists. Piercing clients are a steady second stream: a 2020 Yelp reviewer came in for a nose piercing with Delso, who was quick and explained aftercare well. Delso Aquino and Jessica Trujillo handle piercings and also manage the floor.

Reviews are not unanimous, and the honest read is worth having before Halloween. The Yelp page holds 26 reviews, and alongside the praise sits a 2021 complaint from a client who regretted the visit and wrote that the artist lacked the skill. The fix is easy. Look at the four tattoo portfolios on the site, Alex Chiong, Josvan Copán, Sebastián Santostefano and Jarlen Pérez, and ask for the artist whose grey shading you actually like rather than taking whoever is free.

Skip the plan of getting tattooed at 8 pm and heading straight to a costume party. The studio's own aftercare page says to avoid alcohol for at least 24 hours before and after a session, and to keep tight garments off the tattooed area during a healing period of roughly 10 to 15 days. A latex catsuit or a corset over a fresh rib piece breaks both rules. Get the bat on Thursday instead, and wear something loose on Saturday.

If every chair is booked when you arrive, the closest backup worth the drive is Wynwood Tattoo Co, on NW 34th Street in Wynwood, which advertises walk-ins and has 2026 reviews on Yelp. It is a straight run south down Biscayne Boulevard, then west into the mural district. Going there trades the North Miami shop's realism focus for a busier Wynwood scene, so bring your flash idea on your phone and let their artist suggest the cleanest size.

A few blocks north on Biscayne, Arch Creek Park fills the waiting time with something genuinely local. The 9.4-acre county park protects a tropical hardwood hammock, a small museum and nature trails around the site of a natural limestone bridge that Tequesta people, Seminole War soldiers and early pioneers used to cross the creek. The original span collapsed in 1973, and a replica now marks the spot. The county created the park in 1982, and the site joined the National Register of Historic Places in 1986.

Head the other way, west along NE 125th Street into North Miami's small downtown, and the Museum of Contemporary Art North Miami sits in the Joan Lehman Building, a natural stop for anyone who spent the afternoon looking at flash sheets. Pairing the museum with an early flash slot makes a full Halloween Saturday without crossing the causeway to the beaches. If your appointment runs late, the museum is the better pick, since the park is a nature walk best done in daylight.

Metrobus Route 3 runs local service seven days a week along Biscayne Boulevard between the Aventura terminal and Downtown Miami, which covers this address without a car. The shop does not publish parking guidance, so the bus is the calmer choice if you plan to stay out after your session. Bring a government photo ID and save both phone numbers before you leave home.

Budget for the flash price before tip, $80 for one piece, and if a friend joins, the two-piece rate covers both of you. Eat a full meal first and skip numbing cream, which the studio's pre-session checklist warns against because it can interfere with the work. Follow the cream your artist recommends for seven days, then switch to a fragrance-free moisturizer and sunscreen, which keeps a black and grey skull crisp through a South Florida winter.