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Heaven or Las Vegas
Photograph: Collier Sutter

The 10 best karaoke bars in NYC

Calling all wanna-be rockers, Broadway babies and crooners: Check out a top-rated karaoke bar and sing your heart out

Edited by
Will Gleason
Written by
Collier Sutter
&
Abbe Baker
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Whether it be an after-work hang, a birthday party or a simply a night to belt your heart out, a karaoke bar can boost one’s mood. Lucky for all of us, New York City is chock-full of karaoke bars built for everyone, whether you’re into singing showtunes in a bear bar or croon the best the ‘80s has to offer in a private room filled with your closest friends. Here we dive into the best karaoke bars the city has to offer—get your vocal chords ready.

RECOMMENDED: More of the best bars in NYC

The best karaoke bars in NYC

  • Restaurants
  • Korean
  • Gowanus
  • price 2 of 4

This spacious restaurant-karaoke combo is perfect for those who feel like singing after getting their buzz on, and don’t want to head to K-Town. Wash down the bibimbap, pork belly and short ribs with one of the specialty cocktails on offer, like the Neighborhood Negroni or the Three Little Women (vodka, vermouth, lychee liqueur.) While you’re waiting for a room, check to see if they have your go-to song by downloading the KJ Touch R app which lists tracks by name...then get psyched to belt out your favorites.

Heaven or Las Vegas
Photograph: Collier Sutter

2. Heaven or Las Vegas

From the team behind Bushwick's beloved Mood Ring comes a nostalgic-feeling karaoke bar named after a hit by Scottish alt-rock band Cocteau Twins. To say that the main bar's interior is colorful is an understatement—there are fuzzy lamps hanging from the ceiling, an LED smiley face behind the bar and a large TV for karaoke in the middle. After you've successfully won over the crowd with your rendition of Whitney Houston's "I Will Always Love You" there are two other rooms to explore. Karaoke is going on Sunday through Wednesdays from 7pm to 2am, and on the weekend this new spot turns into a full-on dance club.

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Iggy’s Karaoke Sports Lounge
  • Bars
  • Beer bars
  • Lenox Hill
  • price 1 of 4

This nondescript Irish dive with a 100-foot-long bar on Second Avenue also slams some serious karaoke. Open seven days a week, 365 days a year, Iggy’s draws the masses with their killer happy hour specials (think $5 pints and $9 boiilermakers), which make for some truly epic karaoke sessions. 

  • Bars
  • Williamsburg

Sometimes you only want to be surrounded by your people when belting out Mariah Carey, not performing for a bar of strangers. If this is you, gather your crew and head to husband and wife Roberto Williams and Zaida Soler Williams’s commercially zoned townhouse in Williamsburg which is also Lion’s Roar Karaoke Lounge. The living room has an impressive karaoke setup that feels like your own apartment, minus vacuuming popcorn off the floor the following day. You’ll pick from a hefty black book full of iconic songs and request them to Roberto, your personal DJ and announcer for the night. Don’t forget to bring all the bubbly and snacks of your dreams—the equipped kitchen is all yours for the evening, too.

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  • Bars
  • Lounges
  • Midtown West
  • price 2 of 4

This chic K-Town lounge is nearly impossible to find. But once you do find it, ascend to the third-floor drinkery via a freight elevator that opens onto a spectacular bi-level space replete with soaring ceilings and modern banquettes in the tunnel-like bar space. You can pick from a range of soundproof karaoke rooms that accommodate all party sizes and are equipped with flat-screen TVs. Back at the bar, bartenders shake upscale drinks like lychee martinis and mojitos; Korean sojus are available in fruity flavors like peach and lychee.

  • Bars
  • Dive bars
  • Chinatown
  • price 1 of 4

This old-school Chinatown dive and raucous karaoke bar sits above the bustling stretch of East Broadway, and appeals to both Chinatown residents and fashionable visitors, all there to show off their singing chops. Inside the bar you'll find big red booths, their famous punch and chandeliers made from old karaoke laserdiscs.

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  • Bars
  • Lounges
  • Midtown West

K-Town’s cup runneth over with solid karaoke bars, and Gagopa, with its glittering long hallway bedecked with multicolored Christmas lights, is not to be missed. Open seven days a week, Gagopa gets crowded quickly—specifically because this karaoke bar offers the rare BYOB. (Not to worry, a beer and wine menu is also on offer.)

  • Bars
  • Lounges
  • East Village
  • price 2 of 4

To get the most out of this divey pick, wear a bit of white: You’ll glow against the blacklight and the zebra print couches. The neon bar is complete with friendly bartenders who will pour you a cocktail for as little as $8. This spot is great for those with stage fright: Wireless mics let you sing from wherever you’re sitting.

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  • Things to do
  • Chinatown
  • price 2 of 4

After grabbing dinner in Chinatown at Kiki's or Scarr's Pizza head to Up Stairs to cap off yournight. This dive is located up a narrow set of stairs (shocker), and a great option for those on a budget, since you don’t have to pay for a private room. Make friends with the usually supportive crowds and just let loose while sipping brews like Yuengling on tap.

Sing Sing
  • Bars
  • Lounges
  • East Village

Karaoke fans can head to either of the two East Village locations of this sing-along bar and either sing a song for $2 at the open bar lounge, or rent out one of the private rooms that'll cost you $8 per person per hour. Inside the rooms are multiple mics, a big flat-screen and saran-wrapped song books. 

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