John E McHale OD

Dr. McHale is very blunt and has a dry sense of humor, but is extremely knowledgeable and tells good stories. He takes his time, explains everything in detail, and even assists you when trying on frames! I had a great experience here and will come back again.

I have been going to Dr. McHale for at least a decade, back when he worked in Winchester. I've got an elevated risk of detached retina, so I am supposed to get almost yearly eye checkups. I'm in my mid-50's, and he is the first eye doctor who really explains stuff to me the way I like it. I'm smart, and I like to know everything (I even ask him about all of his optical gear.) He humors me, and really seems to enjoy taking the time to talk to me. This is relaxing, and I don't feel rushed when we are trying to figure out the right settings for my eyes. He knows I'm like this, so he tells me all sorts of stuff. I think he is a pretty good judge of character, so if you are the kind of person who just wants to breeze, in, get you eye test, and move on, I suspect he'll respect that too. He gives me the unvarnished "truth" the way he sees it, for example he knows that I am incredibly fussy about how accurate my prescription is, so he told me that the laser surgery is right for lots of people, but not for me, because I might not be happy with the quality of vision I would end up with. Given that I don't care what I look like, glasses are a necessary (but acceptable and appropriate) evil for me. Now that he has moved to Reading, and has his own optical shop, I was surprised to find that he is just as good at picking out the right frame too (with his great assistants.) He told me that his philosophy is if he sees a frame in the big mall optical shops, he stops carrying it. If you want cheap, go elsewhere, but he CAN do inexpensive, and you know that the quality can be trusted. Although the selection looked small when I first went in, and I thought I was going to go elsewhere to buy, it almost made it easier. I still had a stack of frames I liked that I had to decide between. I trust him when he says one frame will last longer than another etc. This sounds like a paid ad, but its just a very happy customer who hopes Dr. McHale does well.

I can't say enough in favor of Dr. McHale. I've always enjoyed visits to his office and find him to be a great combination of professional and friendly.

I have worn glasses since second grade, am now 56, and have never received as much information or insight into wearing glasses and contacts. Excellent!

Really smart guy... immediately identified a misdiagnosis I had been struggling with for years that three other optometrists missed. I can see now. Thanks Dr. McHale

Visiting area an had an emergency with my glasses, Doc saw me right away an fixed the glasses. If I lived in Reading this would be my Doc.

A little unprofessional. He left me in the dark in the chair while he went to the lobby. He left me there for a few minutes.