Triangle Barber Shop

Jun 2014

So after a long search I finally found a worthy Barbershop. The atmosphere in this place is great and comical; as I sat in the barbers chair and was getting my haircut I almost felt like I was in the barbershop scene of coming to America. I love barbershops like these and I believe that in Brownsville it is a place of its own kind.

Dec 2013

Ruben Gomez, owner of Triangle Barber Shop in Brownsville, Texas, is from the heralded class of old-school barbers that knows what it means to cut once, cut well, cut classy, cut it right. If what you seek is that no-nonsense, yet engaging and fun conversation with your barber, and a nice experience that harkens you back to a time when we were not inundated with the nonsense of "Super Cuts" (anything but super), "Visible Changes" (visibly d***** "Sport Clips" (asinine clips) and the ilk of chain stupidity hair cuts, then you need not look any further than Ruben Gomez and his Triangle Barber Shop in Brownsville, Texas. When you walk in, you are transported into an empire of barber basics that bestows you with a sheer sense that today, of all days, you will receive a cut unlike any other and you, sir, are a man. And you are declaring your manhood in a real, no-nonsense barbershop where you will wax poetic on topics ranging from Texas Aggie Football to local Cameron County politics to good advice on how to keep the wife happy when we menfolk fall short in the range of errand-running and remembering key dates (anniversaries and birthdays to name a few). You have walked into a fortress of awesome at the Triangle Barbershop of Ruben Gomez - and if the line gets long and winds out the door, don't be a wuss - just man-up and wait. The shop itself is nestled behind the restaurant that sits at the triangular intersection created by the odd intersection of Boca Chica Boulevard, West Madison Street, Old Military Highway, and the Military Highway (a/k/a "281") in Brownsville. The original restaurant which sits at the bisected triangle was once known as "The Triangle Restaurant" (hence the name) and Ruben's shop was once facing the intersection and visible. The restaurant expanded to fill the front of the shopping centre, and now Ruben Gomez is in the back corner of the building, so it is difficult to see, but the entrance faces West Madison and is a simple, plain, white door against a green building whose colour is reminiscent of that Navy shipyard government green paint. There's a half-dozen chairs inside, at best, and it's crammed tighter than an old college dormitory from the 1980's. A nice LCD TV with a robust Time Warner package is about the only testament to modern accoutrements within the shop. Even the pricing board is straight off a late 1950's diner with the plastic letters. Be ready for barbershop talk in Spanish, English, South Texas Spanglish and a warning to any NFL fanatic who likes anything other than the Dallas Cowboys - be ready for good-natured ribbing if you wear team colours sporting the Packers, the Texans, or anything non-Cowboy related. And like all good manly barbers, look amidst the magazines for a donated old Playboy magazine or three - let's be honest, those 1990 issues of "Girls of the SEC" still look great in the 21st century. This is a man's barbershop - for real men. Not little boys or gangsters wanting their stupid shaved emblems in their head. Real mean, real hair cuts. The line can snake around to the front. Trust me, it's worth the wait. And at less than $8 a cut for quality barbershop awesomeness, it won't suck the life out of your wallet. You'll be better off for having gone, so drop in and enjoy. And treat Mr. Gomez with respect - he's earned it. If you're looking for comfy chairs and coupons, hit the road, you nancy-boy.