Salon Meraki Queen St Reviews, Prices, Services, Photos

I’ve been looking for a new salon after moving to the area and this one kept being recommended to me by many people. I am so glad I went! I am very pleased with the attention to detail from Gigi and color selection. I’m always wary when nail technicians use the drill to buff the nail since mine are so thin to begin with but I didn’t feel any burning or discomfort with the service I received. My first service could have stayed on another two weeks probably but I one of my nails started to catch my hair which drives me wild personally. It still looked perfect! I also put the dip powder through its paces and had no chips or nail breaks.

What I liked: very clean, pretty place, decent manicure (didn’t try any other services), nice color selection, staff was nice, complimentary sparkling wine, can tip via Venmo.

Would be better if they had massage chairs for the pedicures, fans for drying nails, and if they prompted you to pay before putting color on your nails. I was pretty disappointed they don’t have that new regular nail polish that lasts much longer (in fact they had no idea what I was talking about, but every nail salon in Chicago has it).

Also it’s very quiet – nice and peaceful, but I personally like when there’s some music or something going.

But overall I enjoyed and would go back!

UPDATE – my regular manicure chipped less than 24 hours after my appointment 🙁 hence the 4 stars. But I would still go back to try a dip manicure

I think my overall review is technically a 4.5, but I decided I couldn’t vote downwards because I love love love the quality here. This is the only salon I’ve been to thus far (and I’ve lived here my entire laugh) where the gel polish isn’t popping off in 7-10 days. I actually get a whole 2.5-3 weeks flawlessly (from the colors I’ve tried thus far anyway!). I also appreciate the attention to detail I have received from 3 of the nail techs thus far.

My only 0.5 rating knock is that I wish they had more gel colors! It seems pretty standard to reds, pinks, some purples…I’m just used to a touch more variety. It doesn’t stop me from booking the next appointment though!

I really tried to like this salon. The aesthetic is nice but the service is lacking. The first time I came here, the owner, Kathleen did my nails and my cuticles were cut, sore and bleeding. I brushed it off because it happens. Tommy has done my other dip powder services and he can be hit or miss. Back in the summer I asked him for square extensions and he struggled to get a good shape with longer nails. He also struggled with making sure the powder was smooth. After 2 hours of him struggling back and forth, I was completely unhappy with my nails. He said I should come back the next day and he would do it all over again. The next day I came and just requested that he forget the tips and just do my nails short with dip. The next day I came and told Gwen that I was not happy with my service. She looked at my nails and told me that they were square and this is what I asked for but that Tommy would fix them. Gwen was very dismissive of my concerns. Tommy did my nails short and they came out good. Fast forward to this past weekend, I requested that Tommy remove my acrylic nails and do short dip (I know he has the potential to do short dip well). I asked that he cut them very short and shape them square. I noticed that he started filing my real nails coffin shaped. When I asked him why, he said it’s because my nails are uneven and that’s the way he needed to shape them. I would have appreciated if he suggested adding tips that are cut short to make all my nails even and uniform (other salons have done and suggested this for me). I even suggested he add a tip on one nail. I found myself having to micromanage him through how to do my nails and he is the supposed nail technician. My nails were not smooth. He had major lumps and bumps throughout and I had to keep saying…do you see this?…this nail is not filed correctly. I was completed unhappy with the results and Tommy knew it. See pictures attached. The young lady at the desk asked how my service was and I told her that I was unhappy. All she said was that she was sorry. No one offered any solution and I walked out of the salon $70 in the hole because I can’t stand to keep my nails looking disgusting like this. I tried and I have given this salon many chances just to be disappointed. Sadly, I won’t be returning and I won’t suggest any of my friends to go to this salon either.

I typically really enjoy getting mani/pedis at Salon Meraki, but in my past few visits I’ve noticed that the newer technicians might not be receiving enough training. I usually get dip nails and have had really good experiences with Nikki and Tommy. However, twice now I’ve had technicians who don’t seem to know the correct steps for dip, the first started using gel base coat and didn’t realize it until she was 3 nails in and didn’t remove it, just kept going and then when the dip was finished it was lumpy and had bubbles which I’d never seen before?? This most recent time my technician was so rough with the file just shaping my nails she made two of them bleed with just a nail file. The dip again has some weird ridges and lumps as though it perhaps hasn’t set properly? I just find it so frustrating because I’ve had such excellent results in the past, but this last visit has made me question if I need to be looking for a new salon.