Ben's Barber Shop: A South Pasadena Tradition That Carries On
The man who built that reputation is gone, but the shop he made is still open and still busy.
For more than fifty years, if you wanted a real haircut in South Pasadena, you went to Ben's Barber Shop. You still do. The shop at 444 Fair Oaks Avenue holds a 4.5 out of 5 rating on Yelp, and the reviews land on the same few things again and again: the classic feel, the friendly barbers, and the kind of cut that comes out the same good way every time. A standard haircut runs between $35 and $45.
The Man Behind the Name
Ben Miranda bought the business in 1973 and ran it for 55 years. He grew up in the copper-mining town of Morenci, Arizona, finished high school in 1963, and moved to Los Angeles for barber school. The Army drafted him soon after, and he spent two years stationed in Germany. When he came back to California in 1968, he found work at a barber shop on State Street in South Pasadena, then bought it five years later and never looked back.
Over the decades he gave an estimated 200,000 haircuts. His chair drew a loyal crowd across generations, from longtime locals to names like Dodgers announcer Jaime Jarrín and actor Michael Gross. Ben passed away on February 24, 2026, days short of his 81st birthday. The shop he spent his life on did not close with him.
A Room That Hasn't Changed, On Purpose
Walk in and the place looks the way a barbershop should. Black-and-white linoleum floors. A red-and-white pole spinning out front. Walls covered in the kind of mixed decor that builds up over fifty years rather than getting picked out by a designer. Customers mention it constantly in their reviews, because it feels lived-in and real.
The traditional touches go past the look. At the end of your cut, you get a soothing electric shoulder massage, the sort of finish that has mostly vanished from other shops. First-timers tend to remember it, and it shows up in the reviews for a reason.
The Team Carrying It Forward
The consistency people praise did not come from one man alone. Ben worked side by side with the same tight crew of barbers for over twenty years: Robert Safre and Andrew Hunter. They learned the trade in that room, next to him, day after day.
Andrew Hunter is one of the reasons regulars keep their standing appointments. Two decades in the same chairs means the barbers here know their clients and know the cuts, and that long run together is what keeps the work steady now that the shop has passed to Ben's longtime family of barbers and stylists. If you have not been in a while, it is worth a visit to see the place and the recent renovations.
Worth the Visit
Plenty of quick-stop chains will run a clipper over your head for less thought. Ben's offers something harder to find: a real barbershop with a half-century of history, a fair price, barbers who have done this together for twenty-plus years, and a shoulder massage to send you out the door. Ben built it. His crew keeps it going. That is the whole point.
Ben's Barber Shop · 444 Fair Oaks Avenue, South Pasadena, CA Standard haircut $35 to $45 · 4.5/5 on Yelp