Matt W.
Yelp
New to DC and still trying to find my go-to barber. Capitol Barber is certainly a candidate. This is an old-fashioned barbershop where you will get a fast cut and a neck shave with a straight razor with warm shaving cream followed by hot towel.
If I was going to use one word to describe the haircuts here it would be "workmanlike." This is the kind of place where the bulk of the work seems to be done with electric clippers followed by a little scissor-work, but I'm sure they can do other things if needed.
It may be a *slight* challenge to communicate as the barbers appear to be from East or Southeast Asia and English is not their first language, but that's not to say they're incapable of understanding what you want. I'd just be concerned if you had any really specific, complicated instructions.
As I have been searching for a DC barber it's apparent that this is a town for "pampering" and fancy salon cuts even for men. Maybe I will try those at some point, as I am a professional and I guess that level of grooming is expected here. It's just hard to stomach paying $50 for a man's salon cut, even if the places serve you cookies and beers and the receptionist offers you a shoulder massage while you wait (kidding about that part, as far as I know).
Being from the South, there's a huge appeal to a good blue-collar barbershop cut. I fondly remember college in rural Southeast Alabama and my beloved 80 year old barber who'd been cutting hair in his little shop with a woman's salon in the back and an old Coke machine out front for more than 50 years. He wasn't the fastest, but it was the sort of place you'd get to know the barber, listen to the farmers talking about their crops coming in, and get the full-treatment, shampoo, neck shave, everything, for around $10 plus tip. Some off my best stories from that time come from that barbershop. An elderly man with a private nurse came in once and the barber leaned down and said "You know who is that is son?" "No sir, who is he?" "Why that's Mr. X, he's a regular Daddy Warbucks 'round here son." How could you not want to keep going to a place like that? A good local barbershop is one of the best ways to get acquainted with a new town. By the time I left that sleepy little town I knew every street and all the local lore and personalities, much of it thanks to that shop.
I'm waxing nostalgic here...BUT unless you want to be stuck in Southeast Alabama for the rest of your life you're going to have to gird yourself for an expensive Big City cut at some point, right?
As of this review, prices were $23 for a cut. Based on my research it seems like the average barbershop cut in DC in 2017 runs you about $25, so this is as good as or cheaper than anything available (though rumor has it there's a Supercuts with a $20 cut, it apparently is poorly reviewed, and who wants to go to a soulless chain?).
As others have said, there's a buzzer at the door with instructions, but I guess I was looking too slack-jawed so the barber came and let me in before I'd had a chance to play with the system. The barbershop has no personality, but as suggested above, sometimes that's a sign ion the BEST barbershops. The chairs were a little close together for my taste but obviously every square foot counts in this neighborhood.
As a Capitol Hill resident one huge bonus of this barbershop is it has a bar-none great local for Hill residents. Midway between Eastern Market and Union Station and just down the street from Capitol Hill Supermarket, I'd wager just about anyone living in the area will be walking by this barbershop on their way to or from Union Station or downtown (whatever you call it -I keep wanting to say CBD but that's New Orleans, right?).
Bottom-line: Well worth your time to check out. They took off a little more hair than I wanted, but a barbershop is such a personal decision, you may absolutely love how they do your hair. I am going to keep searching for now, but I may very well make this my go-to shop.
