Friday, January 9, 2009

A cut above the rest: Father & son barber team share pride with gossip


BY DORIAN BLOCK
The young, the old, the new immigrant and the Bronx-born-and-raised all have a home at Robert's Barber Shop, where you can still get the traditional "shave and a haircut," — though not for two bits these days.
Influenced by 63-year-old owner Robert Castillo's beginnings as a barber in Honduras, the shop at 5824 Broadway in Kingsbridge offers shaves and cuts mixed with some urban banter.
"We do the whole hot towel with the cream. We have a massage machine that massages your face and head after the shave," said Castillo's son and the shop's co-owner, Dave, 30.
"The community comes here. People from Jersey travel to get their hair cut here."
The shop opened in 1994 when there were no other businesses nearby. Men in the community were drawn to a place that took a little more time to pamper customers.
"There was nothing in the neighborhood when we came here," said the younger Castillo. "Nobody ever gave us a shot of making it here."
Fifteen years later, the store was packed during the holiday week — with men waiting for their $12 shaves or $25-$30 shave-cut treatments.
"I love what I do," said the younger Castillo, known to his clients as "Davey Cuts."
"I've been doing this since I left high school. And for my father this was his dream," he said.

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