Barbershop Confidential: Amarildo's

Amarildo's
18 Union Square, Somerville

Bostonist favors a simple haircut, and the truth is that practically any barber can do it right. For that reason, what makes one barber shop different from another is as much sociological as tonsorial. This is why we like Amarildo's: it gives us a chance to sit in on everyday Brazilian life in Somerville.

Being non-Brazilian and speaking some Portuguese but not fluently, Bostonist might ordinarily feel a little out of place at Amarildo's. Luckily, we have an in: The daughter of Sonia, one of the women who works there, was a nanny for Toddler Bostonist, back when he was Baby Bostonist. As a result, by the time we went in for our first haircut there, Baby Bostonist was a regular and his picture is prominently displayed at Sonia's work station. When word spread that we were his father, we were, for a fleeting moment, almost a celebrity, our barber's chair surrounded by excited Brazilian women peppering us with questions in Portuguese: "You're Max's dad?! Did you know he can say my name?" (It's true - "Angela," pronounced Portuguese style, was among his first words.) After a couple visits, though, we settled into being just a regular customer, able to sit back and enjoy the steady and amusing stream of local gossip. (And gossip they do! Nothing motivates us to keep practicing our Portuguese as much as the lively debates and discussions that fly across Amarildo's. We actually managed to participate once when the subject was the current administration's foreign policy, but the more popular topics are always related to romance and infideilty and involve people we don't know and slang we can't understand.)

As a barber shop, Amarildo's is serviceable and inexpensive (a men's haircut and wash is $10). There is almost never a wait, as there are about ten chairs, staffed by a varying group of barbers, mostly young, mostly female, all Brazilian. While most of them speak little or no English, the place is always presided over by someone of quasi-managerial authority (not always the same person), who sits at the front desk, makes change, and directs customers to one chair or another. This person usually speaks decent English and could, we imagine, be called upon to translate the finer points of a stylistic request (Bostonist, for better or worse, prefers to take our chances in Portuguese). The cuts are quick and workmanlike, though one doesn't get the sense of witnessing an artisan plying his trade. We always enjoy the end, when the barber uses an extra mirror to make sure we approve of how she's done the back of our head: in most shops, every barber has a handheld mirror for this purpose. At Amarildo's, one rather large, rectangular mirror in a heavy frame is shared by everyone in the shop and must be carefully handled with two hands.

All in all, Amarildo's is fun, educational, and slightly above average in terms of quality for a rock-bottom price. We understand that fancier services (coloring, perms, etc.) are available, but can make no representation as to their price or quality.