Dogpatch Barber Shop Run by the Giants Team Barber: Dogpatch Barber and Shave

Dogpatch Barber and Shave works out of 2632 Third Street, San Francisco, CA 94107, opening at 10 am every day and closing at 8 pm on weekdays and 4 pm on Saturday and Sunday. Owner Christopher Cream Eliares, known in the trade as Cream the Barber, signed the lease in August 2014 in the neighborhood where he grew up, and the barber shop has since been named best in the city, added a Walnut Creek sister shop and kept its original Third Street door open.

The shop's own story page is unusually frank. In August 2014 Cream had little money, a one-year-old daughter, twins on the way, and was living in his mother-in-law's guest room driving a Ford Expedition with a broken side mirror. What he did have was the urge to open a barber shop in Dogpatch, where he was raised, so he took a small, empty, hole-in-the-wall space and called it Dogpatch Barber and Shave.

He had studied kinesiology and worked in fitness and rehabilitation before deciding barbering was his calling. Within a couple of years, San Francisco Magazine and Modern Luxury named the place the Best Barbershop of San Francisco, an award the owner page dates to 2016. When Cream asked why a small room beat larger shops, the magazine told him it saw a new art and a passion you could see from a mile away.

Growth was not a straight line. The story page describes a second Dogpatch location that later moved into a larger space, then got set back by Covid, while the original shop kept flourishing. On May 1, 2024, the brand opened Dogpatch Barber East on Mount Diablo Boulevard in Walnut Creek, so today the Third Street address is the San Francisco half of a two-shop business.

Cream is the San Francisco Giants team barber, and the owner page lists Logan Webb, Mike Yastrzemski, Matt Chapman and manager Bob Melvin among the people he has cut. He also represents San Francisco on the Gillette Barber Council, and the shop has turned up in commercials for Gillette and Chime, in Men's Journal and The New Yorker, and on Cedric's Barber Battle with Cedric the Entertainer.

Celebrity names aside, the story page says its favorite guests are Dogpatch residents, and the FAQ backs that up with family details: staff will switch the TV to something kid friendly, and lollipops wait at the end with a parent's approval. The FAQ also states plainly that there is no such thing as men or women haircuts, only hair, so the booking list makes no split by gender.

The current San Francisco roster on the booking page has a distinct cast. Sam Liotti, alias Big Red Blends, played college football before barber school. Kerry McNab was lead educator at the Skyline College barber program in San Bruno. Jan the Rebel Rouser built a YouTube following as the Pompadour King and has written for Layrite. Kameron Frugoli once ran a mobile company called The Hot Towel and warns clients to expect an hour of storytelling.

First-timers book the New Guest Rate, listed on the Square booking page at $100 for a one-hour slot. Returning customers switch to the Legacy Guests service, which has variable pricing and is open to anyone who has been in before, whether once or for a decade. The FAQ says haircuts typically start at $60 and that senior barbers can charge more than junior ones, so the barber you pick changes the final ticket.

The service worth crossing town for is the Hot Towel Shave at $60 for an hour. The menu describes a facial massage with essential oils, a series of hot towels, hot lather, shave gel, a cooling towel, aftershave and tonic, and calls straight-razor shaving a long lost trade, but not at the Dogpatch. Book it for a slow Sunday morning rather than a squeezed lunch hour, because the hour is the point.

At the cheaper end, the Buzz Cut is a single-length clipper cut all around for $35 in a 30-minute slot, and Sam Liotti's fades, tapers and shear cuts are listed at $70. Hair Art and Design, a two-hour variable-priced block, covers designs and color work. Skip the buzz if you want blending at the sides, because that service is one guard length only, and a taper needs a full haircut booking.

Walk-ins are always welcome according to the FAQ, but it adds that a free seat is never guaranteed and recommends booking ahead. Booking runs through Square, linked from the Book SF page, where you can choose first available or a named barber. Sam Liotti is listed as available Tuesday through Sunday. The Square page also has a waitlist, which is the best plan B when Saturday's 10 am to 4 pm window fills up.

The cancellation policy is written out in full on the booking page. Running behind means calling the shop, and arriving more than 15 minutes past your time may lead to a reschedule. No-shows and cancellations within one hour of the appointment are charged the haircut price, added to your next ticket, and after a third consecutive missed appointment a payment card is required for future bookings.

If every barber is booked, the simplest alternative is time rather than another shop: weekday evenings run until 8 pm, four hours later than the weekend close, so a 6 pm cut on a Wednesday is easier to land than Saturday morning. For weddings, corporate events or fundraisers, the FAQ says the team travels and takes event bookings through the contact form, with full party details requested in advance.

The Dogpatch website itself lists its neighbors, and two are easy to pair with a cut. Walk north on Third Street to Dogpatch Boulders, the Touchstone Climbing gym that shares the shop's street, and plan the order carefully: climb first, then shower and sit down for the cut, since chalk and sweat undo a fresh fade fast. Climbers on a tight schedule can book the 30-minute buzz cut instead of the hour-long shave.

Farther up the same street, Long Bridge Pizza Co. bills itself as a laid back spot for serious pizza and adds a Detroit-style pie on Thursdays, which makes a Thursday evening appointment at Dogpatch Barber and Shave the natural pairing. Chase Center sits a short T Third ride north, so a 6 pm weekday cut works as an easy warm-up before a Warriors game or a concert in Mission Bay.

Dogpatch Barber and Shave is at 2632 Third Street, San Francisco, CA 94107. The homepage notes it sits steps from the Muni light rail, and the T Third line runs right along this stretch of Third Street with a stop at Twenty-Third Street. Drivers face metered street parking only; the FAQ admits spaces are scarce, though cars come and go constantly along Third Street.

Hours on the official site are Monday through Friday 10 am to 8 pm, and Saturday and Sunday 10 am to 4 pm. The FAQ says all major credit cards, Apple Pay and Google Pay are accepted, with saved payments available inside the booking app. Square e-gift cards are sold from the site's store page alongside a Dogpatch 10 trucker cap for $35.