Route 6 business allows customers to smash their stress away

Have you ever been so stressed that you felt the need to break something or just wanted to recreate that scene from “Office Space” where they destroy their printer?

Well, now there’s a place in Dartmouth where you can do just that.

Earlier this month, friends Van Rodriguez, Katarina Cidade and Jason Feist officially opened the “House of Rage” at the former uniform store located at 832 State Road. 

Already, things have been a smashing success.

Rodriguez noted that in its first weekend, the Route 6 business saw between 50 and 60 “ragers” come through to smash away their stress.

“It honestly surpassed our expectations,” he said with a smile.

Inside the building are three rooms designed to be destroyed. 

Once a customer agrees on the package, the spaces are filled to the brim with bottles, plates, old televisions, printers and bureaus sourced from recycling companies and area thrift stores.

Along with the breakables, rooms also provide ragers with a boxing dummy named Bob.

“Bob likes a good fight,” Cidade said with a laugh. “He takes it all and doesn’t complain.”

After signing a waiver and getting suited up in protective gear, patrons are then encouraged to “grab a weapon” and use them however they want during their time in the rooms.

“People have gotten real creative with different things,” Feist said. “One guy stood everything up in the center of the table before destroying it all.”

After the room is destroyed, the crew will go in to clean and set up for the next group of ragers.

“The setup is actually really easy,” Cidade said. 

There is also a fourth room where patrons can use paint guns to create works of art they can take home and a “Zen Den” in the lobby where they can decompress afterward.

The idea to start the business came about during the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic after Rodriguez and Cidade were laid off from their jobs at Marriott in Fall River. 

Around the same time, Feist was  let go from his job doing crime-scene cleanup.

“Yeah that was something,” he said with a laugh.

One night, Cidade brought up the idea of doing a paint room, which then led to Rodriguez suggesting that it could instead be a rage room.

“We had heard about them being popular in places like Texas and California, but there weren’t really many in the East Coast aside from Boston,” Rodriguez said. “We then thought, ‘Do we do something with this or do we go back to the corporate world?’ Instead, we chose to take a risk and start our own thing.”

What Cidade liked about the idea was how it allows people to have an outlet to get their stress and frustrations out without being judged.

“I know for me I like hit and punch bags,” she said. “We all need to let out steam.”

While there may be a lot of rage happening in the rooms, Feist said “not one person has come out without smiling.”

Providence residents Mackenzie Obst and Finiola Hughes said that was certainly their case.

“The time flew,” Obst said after her half-hour session on Feb. 9.

Obst noted that their decision to come to rage in Dartmouth was a result of microwaving macaroni and cheese the night before. 

The Rhode Islander recalled that Hughes was puncturing the film on the microwavable carton and her saying “this feels great.” From there, Obst suggested her friend find a place where they could blow some steam after work.

“This was so needed,” Hughes said. “I think we might come here again soon.” 

The House of Rage is currently open Wednesday through Sunday 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. For more information, or to book an appointment, visit officialhouseofrage.com/ or call (774) 202-6676.