River City Tattoo

Got my ears pierced there. Very professional and clean. I was surprised the cost was so low, but they strongly prefer cash. Definitely going back when I’m ready for another tattoo. I recommend setting up an appointment though because the wait can get long if you’re a walk in.

Went to River City yesterday for a nostril piercing. River City had a very clean shop and the staff was very nice. I was in awe over the beautiful artwork on the walls. I only had to wait for about 10 minutes because she was with another customer. When she finished with her customer I was taken in the back to the piercing room. She was VERY professional, clean, and gentle. The pricing may be slightly more expensive than some shops but you are definitely getting more than just a twenty dollar piercing would. The starter studs are very tiny which I love.
But to come to conclusion, I love River City and will return for any future piercings.
Update: Fell out exactly one week after having it and I went back in and they fixed it in a matter of minutes with no charge. I appreciate River City Tattoo more than I can explain.

Adam Marton is an amazing artist! Thank you Adam for creating such a beautiful message on my leg!!!’ Go see Adam and get Inked!!!

I had been wanting my nose pierced for years but was afraid of the pain. A couple people recommended River City & I’m so happy I went. The piercer at the Boulevard location was super helpful, thorough and pleasant — she explained every step of the process before she started, as well as how to care for my new piercing. The selection of jewelry was amazing, although they were sold out of my first choice. And — it didn’t even hurt! Just a bit of a pinch & a little tenderness that day.

After waiting over a year to get my cartilage and 2^nd lobe pierced I finally got it done! I went to the store at regency and I couldn’t be any happier. The people there were very nice and were able to answer all of my questions!

I had a great experience with Wesley the piercer-she’s fantastic! I was there to switch out some of my existing cartilage jewelry and get 1 new cartilage piercing. Wesley was super patient, offered great advice on what jewelry to place where, and then made sure the jewelry fit perfectly.
The piercing itself was quick and the placement was exactly what I wanted. And to top things off, I had previously purchased a piece of jewelry but was given a slightly different piece than I wanted, and she replaced it for me at no charge.
The jewelry selection here is really unparalleled, and they carry Neometal threadless jewelry, which is top notch. I highly recommend River City Tattoo, and Wesley in particular, for all your piercing and jewelry needs.

The staff here was informative and helpful. I needed a new piece of jewelry for an existing piercing and they were so helpful I decided to come back the next day and have my septum pierced. They eased my anxiety and made the process smooth and as painless as it could be, they helped assuage all my fears. I am excited to go back and stretch to the next gauge!

I went here with my two best friends and mom on my 18^th birthday to get my middle cartilage (midway) pierced. (After a lot of research, I learned that going to a tattoo shop was the best idea for a cartilage piercing, because they are better trained than Claire’s and use a needle as opposed to the gun).
I walked in, told them what I wanted, and filled out some forms. They asked for my id and copied it. I waited for the piercer to get back from dinner, then he took me and my entourage back into a private room.
He cleaned my ear, and then put 3 dots on my ear and asked me which I liked best. I chose one and he cleaned my ear again. He told me to take a deep breath in and let it out. I guess I was hyperventilating a little because he told me to try again, and then he pierced it. It was painful when the needle went through (obviously) but it didn’t hurt later the same day. It hurt the day after, and continued to hurt for a few days.
Leaving, he gave me instructions for taking care of the piercing. My only complaint is that I wish they had given me the instructions on a piece of paper, because it was a lot and he said the instructions pretty quickly. He gave me his email, and he said that it was the same as his snapchat, Twitter, and Facebook.
He told me to come back in 3 weeks so he could check it and see how it was healing. I did, and he said that it looked great.
It’s been about 5 and a half weeks and it doesn’t hurt at all anymore. I am so impressed with them! They were really nice and did not care at all that I brought 3 people with me. Obviously, I have no experience with the tattoo artists but I would definitely recommend it for piercing!!!
Also, I’m not sure if this is relevant, but the piercer did not allow videos of the piercing, only pictures.

I recommend that no one gets laser tattoo removal treatments here. I started out here four years ago and have since gone to three other laser tattoo removal businesses. River City Tattoo has one of the oldest models of laser which is very harmful to your skin, can cause scarring, isn’t as effective as newer lasers, & isn’t cost effective. Invisible Ink Tattoo Removers gave me a guarantee that my tattoo would be removed in an estimated number of treatments and if not, they would continue treating me free of charge until it was gone. Do not waste your money or put your body through the pain by trying the laser at River city. Find a more reputable establishment with more experience in the procedures!

This not only applies to the Boulevard location, but to those in the west end as well. Having gotten my tattoo nearly 4 years ago, I can’t move on from the horrible experience I had. I had never expected it to be so difficult to get a consultation, let alone an appointment. I was referred multiple times to different locations, only to be treated as an inconvenience and told to go back where I came from. On the day of my appointment my artist even tried to get out of giving me my tattoo so he could go home early, and proceeded to not speak to me when I insisted that I get it done on the day I am scheduled.
Moving on to trying to get a touch up… I was able to track down the artist, but was told that «he only works when he wants to, so it’s impossible to really schedule an appointment with him». The artist at the shop reluctantly offered to give me one, but said it would be $ 150 because he didn’t know what kind of black the first artist used. I ultimately declined because that was more than the cost of the original tattoo itself.
I have recently been hearing more bad things from friends and colleges and I’m just tired of hearing about them going in and being given shotty customer service by the artists and desk receptionists. It’s one thing to run a business how you see fit, but it’s something else to de-​value your clientele because you perceive yourself as somehow better. I learned that just because the shop is clean and in convenient locations, it doesn’t mean that they are professional.

I had a very negative experience with the nostril piercing I got at River City. I did a lot of research before choosing a piercer and was expecting to pay a bit more for a knowledgeable and professional piercer. Instead, I dropped a lot of cash for a piercing that caused me problems for months and eventually had to be removed.
The piercer was nice, but the jewelry selection wasn’t as good as I’d hoped. I was pierced with a 20g needle (which is standard for them, but I later realized that 18g is much easier to find jewelry for) and L-​bend jewelry was inserted. The piercing bled like crazy. I’d had a nostril piercing before and it didn’t bleed at all, so I was a little surprised by this.
But the real issues started later. I was given verbal aftercare instructions which I followed to the letter. Cleanse with an insanely expensive antimicrobial soap twice daily and do occasional salt water soaks, then switch to doing salt water soaks twice a day after 6 weeks or so. Things seemed fine for about three weeks, after which a bump developed next to the piercing. I had been instructed to do more saltwater soaks if inflammation developed, so I did. The bump would start to look better, then come back. About 2.5 months after the piercing, I went in to discuss the situation with the piercer because the bump just wouldn’t go away. I was told that if I continued the soaks, things would improve.
Fast forward to 4.5 months after the piercing, and I was still having problems. I’d moved away from Richmond by that point, so I found another reputable piercer in my new city and went in to discuss the situation with him. He told me that the piercing had simply not been done very well and that the irritation likely would not go away easily. About 2 weeks later, the L-​bend fell out when I was blowing my nose, and my new piercer told me that the best thing to do would be to leave it out, let the piercing heal, and get the spot re-​pierced in a few weeks.
In case you want the full explanation… the new piercer explained that it was done at a very sharp angle, which made the jewelry put a lot of pressure on the outside of my nose where the jewelry met the opening of the hole through my cartilage. Essentially, because the hole in my nose pointed sharply downward, the jewelry was always trying to slide down into my nose, so it was putting pressure on the outside of my nose where the tip of the jewelry touched my skin. If the hole was more horizontal, there would be less pressure on that one spot; the pressure would instead be distributed along the shaft of the jewelry that went through the cartilage as well as at the tip. This is why I developed a big ugly bump at that one spot, even though I took very good care of the piercing. In addition, the piercer pointed out that the L-​bend jewelry was quite wobbly and prone to moving around, which can contribute to slower healing (a press fit or screw would be more secure… and I wasn’t offered those options at River City).

The piercers are great at what they do. I like how they have apprentices come in & do free piercings. The front desk people are super rude & are constantly eating at the desk. Maybe the people have been changed, but the few times I went they were really unprofessional.

Friendly folks. Excellent at piercing. I’d totally recommend them! I walked in and didn’t have to wait either :)

I went to River City for my first tattoo and my expectations were exceeded at every turn. I did a lot of research of shops and artists before I chose where to go and River City seemed like the best fit and I was right. Everyone there was really friendly and the atmosphere was very relaxing. I only had a rough idea of what I wanted and I had Charlie design something for me and it came out amazing. The entire process was very easy and it made me feel very at ease and I am extremely happy with how everything turned out. I definitely plan to come back to get more done there very soon.

I received my sleeve tattoo back in 2012 and I’m still receiving compliments! I already had a skull with smoke and the artist finished it up by adding more and blended it all in. It’s most def the most talked about piece out of all my tattoos. Service was friendly and wasn’t rushed. We took breaks during both trips there (total of 6hrs).

Jewelry is way too overpriced. I felt robbed after I had my gauges upsized and purchased two small studs. Great selection, but I’ll be taking my jewelry buying business elsewhere.
My girlfriend couldn’t get her piercing undone, so we walked in and asked if someone could help her simply unscrew the ball. We waited over an hour and watched the (rude) owner walk in and out and numerous employees come and go. The piercing person on duty was nowhere to be seen and the guy up front just kept saying he has no idea why it’s taking so long. There was only one person ahead of us and and empty waiting room.
We ended up just leaving and going to a nearby tattoo shop and they took her back and had it undone in about 2 minutes. I’m done with RCT.

My lobes were stretched to double zeros eight years ago. As expected they never completely shrunk back down to a standard eighteen gauge. Instead of guessing my lobes current size and buying three or four pieces of jewelry at different sizes I figured I’d wander in here and have them figure it out.
The piercer figured it out by guessing, picking up a needle and instead of gently sliding it into my lobe to figure out which gauge I was currently at she quickly stabbed it through. She tore my right lobe as she’d guessed wrong. I was bleeding. I was dribbling blood down the side of my neck. I refused to pay or purchase any jewelry. I just left.
I was extremely clear about what I wanted. I stated that I had no idea what size my lobes were at. That all I knew it was that they were over an eight gauge. That I DID NOT want them stretched I just wanted to know what size they were at now. I had planned on purchasing jewelry and tipping the piercer for their time. I made that clear as well.
I will never go into this place again.

I’ve had more than $ 900 worth of tattoos from multiple artists/​shops and never have I felt more like an inconvenience. To make a long story short, it took 2 hours just for someone to sketch up a very simple design, because we kept being put off. It was VERY overpriced. I was shocked and I would never have had it done it but it was my mother getting the tattoo and she really wanted it. The actual tattoo only took all of 15 minutes to do.
The only reason for even two stars was that the girl up front answered all of our questions and was very accommodating. I don’t know how these guys stay in business. The jewelry section is really good, but don’t come here for a tattoo.

Pleasant.
Professional.
CLEAN.
Excellent prices and an AMAZING jewelry selection.

Walked in here kind of late last night (N Blvd location) to get some piercings done. The place is deceptively huge! They have walls and walls of body jewelry to look at, which is fun. I filled out the waiver forms, picked out my jewelry, and after a small wait, I met my piercer James. He brought me to a private room (yay privacy!) and we talked in detail about what I wanted done, how I wanted the end result to look, etc. For the cartilage piercing, he carefully drew cross-​hatches on my ear so I could decide the exact location. I took forever deciding, but he was super patient and nice, and wanted to make sure I was going to be happy with the placement. The whole piercing process took little to no time at all. There wasn’t even any pain, except for an unexpected pinch when he was tapering my left lobe, which had closed up.
I am SO EXCITED with the final result! It looks perfect and exactly how I wanted it. James did an awesome job :)