Three chairs · Brooklyn

Three chairs. No choosing.

You get the next man free. That is how a walk-in shop works and it only works if all three chairs cut to the same standard, which is a training problem we have been solving one apprentice at a time since 1928.

Heritage & Sons / The barbers

Chair No. 1 · since 1994

Joe Vitale Jr.

Third generation. Took the first chair in 1994 from his father, who took the second chair after the war from his father, who opened the shop in 1928.

Classic cuts and straight razor work. Does most of the first haircuts, because he has the patience for them and because his own first haircut was in this chair.

Will tell you if the cut you are asking for is not the cut you want. Politely, once, and then he will do what you asked.

Classic · razor

Chair No. 2 · since 2011

Ray Delgado

Fifteen years in the second chair and the fastest hands in the shop, which on a Saturday matters more than anybody likes to admit.

Fades and clipper work. If you want a skin fade on a Saturday afternoon, Ray is the reason the queue is moving.

Also the reason there is usually a pot of coffee on.

Fades · clipper

Chair No. 3 · since 2019

Marcus Okoye

Came in as an apprentice in 2019 and took the third chair two years later, which is the same route Joe’s father took and about the same timeline.

Beard work and textured cuts. The best in the shop on curl and coil, which was not true of this shop before he arrived and is now the reason a lot of people come.

Does the neck clean-ups that nobody charges for.

Beards · texture

Why no choosing Next man free

Ask for someone
and you wait
for that chair

We will tell you
how long

Nobody minds
either way

The next man free

You do not pick a barber here. You sit down, and when a chair opens, that is your chair. It is the only arrangement that lets a walk-in shop move at all, and it depends completely on the three chairs cutting to the same standard.

That is not automatic and it is not modesty to say so. It is what the apprenticeship is for: two years in this shop watching, sweeping, and cutting under somebody’s eye before taking a chair, which is how Joe’s father learned and how Marcus learned.

Unless you ask

You can ask for a specific chair and plenty of regulars do, particularly for beard work with Marcus or a razor shave with Joe. Say so when you come in and you wait for that chair specifically, which on a Saturday can be an extra forty minutes.

Nobody in here takes it personally in either direction. Sitting down for whoever is next is normal; waiting an hour for the man who has cut your hair for eleven years is also normal.

Sit down. We will get to you.

Tuesday to Friday nine to eight, Saturday eight to six. Ask for a chair or take the next one free.

Plan a walk-in Check the wait