Route 9 Tattoo & Body Piercing

Mat Park is a fantastic tattoo artist. I have three pieces by him, and I get so many compliments! I've always had a good experience with him and the studio.

Their piercing services are also excellent!

My daughter was eager to have her ears pierced, and a friend recommended Rob at Route 9. I called and easily made a same-day appointment. Everyone at the shop was knowledgeable and kind; they knew my daughter was nervous and helped her feel welcome and at ease. Multiple people also took time to ensure we both understood how to care for the piercings, and the shop was very clean.
Rob was extremely professional, swift and reassuring. I highly recommend him and will take my other daughter to him for her own ear piercings if she chooses to have them done.

Got my first tattoo done yesterday with Bosco Layne as I'd seen a lot of his fine line work on Instagram and felt it would suit the design I wanted perfectly. He was very kind, easy to work with, and the tattoo came out perfect. I cannot express how happy I am with it. The lines are sharp and clean and the tattoo looks beautiful.

I've gotten 3 piercings and my husband got 2 tattoos here. Staff is super friendly and helpful. They will work with you to make sure you're getting what you want while making sure it'll last. Highly recommend!

I came in today with my friend for a third piercing on my ear lobe and for herself a nose piercing. We called before we came in, once we got there we were greeted by one of the guys at the front desk. I don’t know his name, but within 10 minutes of conversation with him we knew we didn’t want to spend our time there. Disagree with me if I’m wrong but a piercing/tattoo is something that will permanently scar your body so making a good choice with the stud is important. This guy has the most condescending voice while speaking to us as if we were to know everything there is about body piercings. I asked him if he could pierce my ear with a stud and then he proceeds to laugh and scoff “We don’t pierce any of our clients with studs.” My friend asked him questions while picking out her nose stud, she asked if they had any gold and he proceeded to say “We only use titanium in our items” so she said “I always thought gold was the best metal to prevent infection” to which he responds sarcastically “cleaning your piercing is how you prevent an infection”. On top of this he did not have the patience to answer our questions about some of the jewelry on the rack and made it clear we were annoying him. The energy we were getting from this man is not one I would recommend to anyone when seeking ANY service, ANYWHERE. We are your clueless customers, it’s true I would never in a million years know that TiTaNiUM iS thE beST meTAL fOr PierCiNgS (like what??) that’s your position to educate me but if the delivery is going to be condescending, rude and honestly just uncomfortable for all, I would rather just go somewhere that my time is valued. This man needs serious pointers on customer service, as well as to humble himself. He needs to a remember a time when he too did not know anything about anything. Do not recommend.

My daughter paid for her and I to get memorial tattoos of my deceased Mom for my birthday.
Steve the tattoo artist was amazing!! Very very talented and so nice!
All the guys were very friendly! I highly recommend this place.
Prices are good too!

Do not go here for a piercing!!! The piercer was extremely unfriendly and rude. I went there to get my cartilage pierced and the only options were hoops. All the piercers I have talked to always advise to not pierce with a hoop. They all recommend piercing with a stud. I was so surprised when he told me that he only pierces with hoops. He rushed into my piercing and I was extremely uncomfortable. I will never go here again for a piercing.

While I have had a great experience here with Natalia for a small tattoo, I would not recommend piercings here. I got my second lobes done here a few years ago which got infected quickly but have since healed. I also got a double helix piercing about two years ago, which finally healed recently, though not well. When getting the jewelry changed at a different shop I was told they were pierced at a bad angle, too close together, and that I was lucky they healed enough to keep at all. It also seems that piercing with hoops is an older, now outdated practice, but is the only option at route 9. A friend who got her helix pierced the same day as mine has just abandoned hers completely. I have received multiple piercings since then at other shops, all done with studs, and all healed fantastically.

I’ve had 2 very different experiences at this place. My first was a tattoo by Bosco which went great and I got exactly what I wanted and the staff was super friendly.

The second visit was earlobe piercing for my 7 y/o daughter. I thought I was making the best decision by taking her to a professional piercer but not only was he unfriendly and made us feel rushed (you shouldn’t pierce children if this is the way you work, IMO) but he botched the left side. About 8 months after the piercing we took her earrings out for a sports event and 3 days later when we went to replace them to left side had completely closed up, while the right side had remained open. We went to a different piercer who works more with children to have it redone. This piercer was able to point out how the initial piercings were not symmetrical. Additionally he said that the left side had been pierced at an angle instead of straight through, and that the needle had come out a little too close to the cartilage, both errors ensuring that the piecing would have problems and that he was completely unsurprised that it had closed up so quickly. The original piercer from Rte 9 told us he only pierces with hoops, which second piercer said is considered an outdated practice in the piercing community.

So in conclusion: tattoos at Rte 9 - yes. Piercings - no.

I just left Rt 9 a few hours ago and started looking for where I could write this review. The long story short: 5/5 I recommend it to anyone in the area.

Full story: A few months ago I went in to sit down with artist Bosco Layne, and give him an idea of what I wanted. I had trouble voicing exactly what I wanted but I brought reference pictures of other work I liked and some of his that I liked. A few weeks later I saw what he came up with and was thrilled. I was still booked a little while out so I had two sessions booked to just make any revisions I wanted and then the appointment. Bosco came up with something I liked so much I didn’t need any revisions so these meetings were moot, but I’m glad we had the time to sit between them and reflect that I didn’t want to change anything out.

That leads me to today. The appointment went great, and the tattoo came out better than I could have hoped. The pricing was more than fair, and I couldn’t be happier. They take COVID precautions seriously, I was temperature checked and everyone was masked the entire time I was there. I will be coming back to them in the future if I add on to this or get new work done for sure.