Barbershop Confidential: Sonny's

Sonny's Barber Shop
282 Main St., Medford (near Frederick Ave.)

In Bostonist's continuing search for masters of lowbrow coiffure, a diamond has been found in Medford.

Sonny's Barber Shop is located on Main Street in Medford, just 2 blocks from Bob's Food's, which is a great place to get a sangy after a fresh cut.
Even there are two barbers' chairs there for some reason, Sonny's is a one-man show. Sonny has been cutting hair since the World War II era, and has some very long-time and loyal customers. The best part about Sonny is that in his 50-something years of experience, he has become THE MAN at splitting hairs in record time. A boy's regular, or a trip-the-top-and-fade-the-sides-and-back takes five minutes at most, depending on how much conversation Bostonist feels like having with a man with more stories than trimmed locks on the floor of his shop.

Sonny charges $15 for a men's cut. He also offers hair wash, shaves, facials, and other services. This Bostonist has been seeing Sonny for over five years, especially since the infamous "Medford Massacre," as a friend called it, when we went to a DIFFERENT barber while Sonny's was closed for a week. Needless to say, after that, Sonny's was our only choice.

Sonny's usually has little or no wait. The only downside is that Sonny is partially retired so he works the kind of limited and sporadic hours we wishe we could (except for the early mornings part): Mondays, Thursdays, and Fridays, 6:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. and Saturdays 6:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. So if Bostonist needs a quality cut executed at blazing speed, we must work around Sonny's schedule. But we know we won't be disappointed.