River Rose Tattoo and Art Gallery

Tyler completely exceeded my expectations on my nature scene tattoo! The shop is clean and inviting and the staff are very friendly. I felt very relaxed while I was there and Tyler made sure to check in frequently to see if I needed any breaks. Awesome studio.

Most of the people working there were nice, professional, and friendly. The work displayed was beautiful, so I was excited to work with Nick. Unfortunately, I had a very uncomfortable experience. I was ghosted after paying a deposit for 2 months with no appointment date. Shook that off despite zero apology because he was recommended by an artist I trust. On tattoo day, he was in a mood, and made me feel uncomfortable the moment I walked in the door to the painful exit hours later.

1. He talked me into size and placement that I didn’t want.
2. He charged me hourly for a large piece, 7 hours total, 2 of them easily being filled with his smoke breaks. He took smoke breaks every 20 minutes (and charged me for them, which were approximately 10 mins a session). Note that I don’t smoke nor joined him, and it reeked heavily of smoke in the tiny tattoo room.
3. Another tattooer kept popping over and loudly spewing negative comments about all of her clients, distracting him with her social media drama and seeking validation. She was immature and rude to me even though I did nothing but lie there (in pain, he is heavy-handed). Instead of asking her to leave, he welcomed the banter and took advantage of every offer to go outside and smoke.
4. The music choice was high energy rap and punk, which is ok in most contexts but gave me anxiety while being tattooed, so I asked if we could listen to something more low-key, which offended him (?)
5. When I advocated for myself regarding the enormity of the piece because it wasn’t what I wanted, he dumped a bunch of stencil cleaner(?) on my leg, soiling my entire skort, which was a shock. When I automatically reached for it, he rudely called me unsanitary and shoved a large hand sanitizer in my hand instead of apologizing and handing me a towel. That was uncalled for.

I should have walked out instead of enduring more hours of all of this with wet clothing. I’m bummed and traumatized by this experience. I can’t speak to the other tattooers (except for “sweet and offbeat” who heavily trashes her clients behind their backs), but it wasn’t a good day for Nick. The tattoo looks great, but I can’t bring myself to like it because of the association to its artist. This may not be the worst tattoo I have, but this is the worst experience I have ever had in a tattoo shop, and wish I listened to my gut when he ghosted me for months after taking my deposit without apologizing. Thanks for the future blast over, laser removal or whatever approach I will take to erase this entire experience.

I was also afraid to post this for fear of retaliation because there were moments when I didn’t feel safe around him at the end of the night when it was just us and the rest of the tattooers were gone for the day, but I need to share this so other clients don’t feel or experience this as well.

AMAZING. Hands down, cleanest, classiest and most welcoming shop I've ever been to. They treat each other like family and treat clients like friends. Their work speaks for itself, it is beyond phenomenal. I cannot say enough good things about River Rose and the staff there. I have never felt so comfortable. The space and set up is remarkable, Dana is amazing and keeps things running smoothly. Everyone is genuinely kind and authentic as individuals. I will definitely be using this shop and these amazing artists for many of my future pieces.

TJ is a great artist and a great guy! He does top notch photorealistic tattoos (among other styles). He is the only artist my husband and I will go to. THE BEST!

Nick was amazing and is very talented. The other artists were very friendly and welcoming. Definitely a safe, clean, fun, friendly place!!

TJ is an amazing artist! The shop is extremely clean, TJ and Dana are very accommodating and make the experience super fun! It is always super easy to book an appointment! Thanks TJ!

I got my first tattoo here and I'm so happy that I did. TJ really knows how to put a lot of clean detail into his work. I've been recommending him to everyone.

Angela is the most down to earth honest artist and I fell in love with her personality instantly

Tj is a wizard. Top class artists and shop staff, looking forward to the next one!

Everyone there is amazing. Very clean. I feel very welcomed here