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Galaxy Restaurant & Lounge
Rating Details »
- Price Range:
-
$
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Attire:
- Casual
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Good for Kids:
- No
- Takes Reservations:
- No
- Delivery:
- No
- Take-out:
- Yes
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- No
- Music:
- DJ
- Best Nights:
- Mon, Tue, Wed
- Alcohol:
- Full Bar
- Smoking:
- No
- Coat Check:
- No
18 reviews for Galaxy Restaurant & Lounge
Super stiff drinks coupled with spring rolls? How can this fail?
Oh yeah, it's a karaoke bar. I still have yet to do it. Those stiff drinks still didn't get me up to the mic to sing. I was still high from Minus the Bear playing at Doug Fir.
A bonus for not walking out of there with bleeding ears from some of Portland's finest. Did we hear Metallica that night? Yeah, i think we did.
This economy is really effecting everybody. I came here on Saturday night with some friends and it was dead in there. We didn't eat, just had some drinks and sang few songs.
Their drinks were spendy for a Chinese food/karaoke bar. $4.50 a pop for watery down Jolly Rancher and also another $4.50 for watery down Vodka Cranberry.
The KJ was nice and we got to sing. I even sang a couple songs. A so so performance of Madonna's "Like a Prayer" and a terrible performance of The Fray "How To save a life." Hey, it wasn't my fault, the karaoke music was off key. *roll eyes*.
1 Previous Review: Show all »
-
3/22/2008
I came here before the KARAOKE madness started. I was craving for American Chinese food and didn't… Read more »
I've never tried the food, so I may have to add or subtract a star in the future, but for the purposes of rating this place on karaoke and drinks alone, I'll give it 3 stars.
One star is for the fact that they have karaoke every night of the week 9p-2:30am and it's a mere 7 blocks from my apartment. You heard me right, I could stumble down there any night of the week and be treated to an extra creepy version of Morrissey's "The More You Ignore Me" belted out by a guy who manages to make me feel even more uncomfortable than if Morrissey himself were stalking me and screaming his ode at me.
The drinks are super strong. This is a cardinal rule that must not be broken in a karaoke bar. EVER.
The song list is pretty decent, they don't by any means have every song you'd like to get up and wow your friends with, but it'll do. My choice for the evening was Roxette's Listen to Your Heart. I brought the house down.
This place is definitely feeling the effects of the weak economy. At 9pm on a Saturday, it was completely empty except for the people I was with.
That's ok though, because after a few drinks, we all thought we sounded like superstar karaoke singers ready to win American Idol. The only problem I have with the joint is the price of Bud Light (ughh) - $3.75! Wtf is up with that?
Oh well, you can't have it all can you?
The Galaxy. What a spiffy name for an American Chinese food karaoke bar. I've been wanting to check this place out for awhile. Unfortunately, I was disappointed.
The bartenders were humdrum, robotic. The bathroom was slightly creepy. And the little room in the back with the video poker, pool table, bright lighting, and random chair? How weird is that?
The interior of the front room is pretty soothing. I dug the long fish tank, though it also seems bland. I'm sure the fish love it in there...
All of the patrons were good-looking men (my friend and I were the only females, aside from the bartenders). I'm not sure if that's a plus or a minus.
And even though the karaoke singers sang well, every song we heard was a slow downer. No wonder the bartenders were less than enthusiastic.
I could do naught but laugh and shake my head at the price of our drinks: $4.50 for a weak well vodka cran, $4.25 for a pint of beer, and $7 for a shot of vodka with an orange juice back. OUCH.
Maybe I went on the wrong night. I'll stop by again to let it try to redeem itself.
Karaoke bars have always scared me. My fear of them began in the early '90's, up on Crystal Mountain on a weekend retreat with my psych prof, and a few classmates. We went to a little tavern close to the cabin, and after a few drinks, the prof convinced me to sing "The Rose". That in itself would have been enough, but he also decided to video tape it. Somehow, that moment scarred me for life. No more karaoke for Jeannie, thanks!
Anyhoo, this is one of the first karaoke bars that I actually enjoy going to. It's in a Jetsonesque building kitty corner from the Doug Fir. It's divey in a cool retro way. They have a huge salt water fish tank that runs the length of the side wall close to the stage. There's a cool big fat grey fish that Kim V mentioned in her review. He's my favorite. Dude swam laps around all the skinny fish all night. He must have plans for the New Year. The food is typical American Chinese. The menus are stained from many years of drunken spills. The crab puffs are made with krab, klassy. I like the egg rolls they aren't too bad. The drinks are strong, and not outrageously priced. Our server had no problem doing separate tabs for the 9 of us, although she was very busy on the Saturday night we went.
There were people of all kinds, which is great for people watching. Some people were really good, others not so much, but everyone seemed to be having a good time. I would recommend going with a larger group and getting a big table. You must have a group of 8 or more to sit at one of them.
It's not overly polished, but if you need to get your karaoke on, it's not a bad place to go.
The Galaxy is across the street from the Jupiter. Now all they need is a male strip club next door called the Milky Way and they'll be complete.
This place was a little grimy... as in the bathroom and back bar section smelled like cat piss - no jokes.
The karaoke crowd remained rather unaffected, despite my Mariah hand movements, and constant mic flirtations. Ha - perhaps I'm the joke on Karaoke nights, but usually I can get a crowd a little riled.
The song selection did not have many of my favorites, and the KJ looked like an evil Danny Devito penguin.
God what a sad review! Galaxy is not horrible, but it certainly isn't the jazziest Karaoke in town. You get a lot of metal-heads on the mic and that is always absolutely worth the trip.
Oh my sweet Jesus above, thank you for descending from the heavens last weekend and guiding me to the Galaxy. It must have been your wisdom leading me up East Burnside, across from the Doug Fir, where I never dare to tread. You wanted me to witness a miracle of karaoke.
The miracle?
Have you ever seen a long-haired silver fox sing 'Word Up' by Cameo?
Have you ever seen him writhe around on the dance floor in his black leather pants like it was the last dance he'd ever dance? Like his pelvis was moving only for himself, God, and Cameo's good reputation?
Have you ever been lifted out of your seat in awe and amazement because this man began to stroke and grind on the black reflective window beside him?
I can't promise you that you ever will, it seemed an anomaly of everything I know about this world I live in. I think God has been watching Twin Peaks and has this new creative motivation, but I applaud it.
Amen.
p.s. it's kinda lame in there, but (besides the miracle) they also had my favorite Lesley Gore song which I was pretty stoked about.
The new and improved, smoke free Galaxy is pretty impressive. I had figured that as with some of the other Karaoke/dive bars I frequent, it would lose a bit of its charm with the passing of the smoking ban. But they have done a decent job mucking out the stale smell of cigarettes, and the fish are looking much healthier! And it does make it much easier to belt out "love shack" without hacking every 10 lyrics. The drinks are still strong, and the books are decent. But it is still in your best interest to do your karaoking on weeknights. It can take hours to get a song in on a Friday or Saturday.
Some of the singers were pretty awesome, and it was great seeing my friends while in town.
However the waitress kept forgetting our drink orders and it took over an hour for my friend to sing one song because the wait was so long
I went to the Galaxy last night and I walked away realising that I was never going to return there.
First off, the service has always been atrocious and on the slow side. I realise that it gets fairly packed and it makes sense that it's slow, but I find the wait staff to have a bad attitude. As my friend put it while referring to a specific waitress, "She always does something stupid to piss me off while I'm here".
We were bumped from a large table to a small table in the back because a large group showed up hours after us, which I thought was slightly unfair. If I showed up with fifty people, could I kick fifty other people out of the place? While I thought it was unfair, I could see their point of view also and our group would've taken it a lot better had it been handled with some humour and had they shown some real sense of caring.
What also annoys me about this place is that a soda is somehow $2.75 and the no swearing while singing policy is ridiculous. We're adults sitting in a bar, drinking alcohol and somehow people get in trouble for the occasional cuss word in a song?
The only reason the Galaxy is getting a three instead of a two is because over the years, I have had some good times there. It's a shame that I will not have any further opportunity to have anymore good times there.
While Galaxy didn't blow me away with it's awesomeness, it's a fun place to go for very strong drinks and karaoke. The bartender and waitress were exceptionally friendly, and the KJ was a real sweetheart. The song list was also really good; my only issue was that there was a lot of time between songs. I'll still go back there, because everyone was just so gosh darned nice, and I can walk there from my apartment. I feel like Galaxy is the kind of place that could grow on me with time.
Holy Crap this was the best Karaoke night I've ever had.
Dance hipsters, dance!
From the array of Foreigner songs, the many who only sang Prince, hipsters with mullets and white stiletto ankle boots, it gave me people watching for hours...
The waitress memorized my table's names-all EIGHT of us! And kept the drinks coming so frequently that some of us don't even remember the interpretive dance that was done or singing Baby Got Back.
This karaoke bar is kitty corner to the swanky Doug Fir on the burgeoning lower Burnside, and it's beginning to see a lot of karaoke action from the younger crowd. Chopsticks Express, a bit farther up Burnside, really caters to the younger set, while the Galaxy appeals to singers of every age group. There's still a group of crusty regulars at the bar, and the bartenders don't always seem happy to see you, but the large semi-circular booths and big karaoke space make this a good late-night spot for a group.
A fish tank lines one wall and contains curious little fish that will keep you entertained when the singers don't. Good stiff drinks encourage more rounds of singing, and occasional dance parties ensue. The food is rumored to be edible, but if it's early enough just head across the street to the Doug Fir and scamper back in time for some M.C. Hammer.
This place gets one star because i think it is impossible to give anyplace no stars on yelp. This is one of the worst places i have ever been in portland. I have been there half a dozen times, since they are one of the few places i could find on the web for karaoke, so this review is not based on a one-time visit.
EVERY time i have been there, normally with at least two other people, i have had THE WORST service in my life. I always had to chase the servers down for drinks or food, one time spending about five minutes trying to get the server to look at me so i could signal that our drinks had run dry before THE BARTENDER from the other side of the room saw what i was doing and had my drink ready and gave it to the server to bring over to me. The food is lousy and overpriced. The dj, if you are going to sing, has "radio friendly" and normal versions of the same song in his books, leading one to believe that as an adult, IN A BAR (!) you could sing a song that has a few f-bombs in it. If you pick the normal version, he then doesnt say anything about the NO SWEARING IN A BAR(?!?!?) rule until you are onstage rocking out, leading to ask, why the hell does he even have both versions??
Did i mention that they charge too much for sub-par food and beverages?
You would be better off going absolutely anywhere else. Even one of the seediest strip-joints in portland, which happens to be across the street.
I pretty much hate this place. Let's jump to the basics: one star for giving me alcohol (yes, I really am that easy to please) and one star for having really cool big ass booths to sit in.
All that aside, this place just pisses me off. I'm venting to you, my fellow Yelpsters, because I sort of have to keep my Galaxy rage inside. My friend loves it there, and she really enjoys it when we show up to watch her sing. So sometimes, out of sheer obligation, I find myself at the Galaxy. Why she loves it so much is a mystery to me. Every time I go, I try to set aside my grudges and give this place another chance. 'How bad can it be', I ask myself, 'if I am with close friends and I've got a drink in my hand?' Boy, they sure know how to rain on my 'let's try to be supportive and put on a smile and get drunk quickly and maybe the night won't be so bad' parade! It takes FOREVER to get a freaking drink in this place. Sometimes they are busy, and sometimes it it just completely baffling to me what takes so long to get served. And you know what? The service is really the only huge problem I have with the Galaxy. But I love the ultra tacky decor (that huge fish tank is awesome!) and some of the singers are actually really good. I think I remember the drinks being pretty cheap too. But yes, the service really is so bad that it makes me hate this place. You guys wanna hear a story about HOW bad it is? Yeah? Okay!
We were there awhile back on a pretty busy night, and it seemed like they were understaffed. Which, by the way, is usually the case. I felt bad for the servers, they were really working hard. But after sitting at our table for 20 mins without even being acknowledged, we went up to the bar to order drinks. After we came back with them, the waitress came up and said "you know, I was about to take your order, I could have gotten those for you". Um, a little too late, honey. We did tell her that we'd like to order some food, and she told us she'd bring us menus. 15 minutes later...no menus. HALF AN HOUR later, my boyfriend flags her down and she says "yeah, I know, I haven't forgotten....we're just really busy tonight". He even asks her where they are, maybe we can get them ourselves. She assures him she'll bring them...almost an hour after asking for menus, we get them. We decide to keep it basic and order fries and chicken strips to share. Half an hour later, she still hasn't stopped by to take our order. Not to mention, our drinks have been empty for a loooooong time. Now, I am a server. I understand being short-staffed and extremely busy. It sucks. But when I see her making multiple trips to tables just to bring them extra napkins or refill their waters, I wonder, how hard is it to stop by our table on the way back and take an order. Oh, that's right, it's NOT HARD. All it takes is one minute of recognition. But apparently that's waaaay too much to ask. And whaddya know? Once she put our order in, we had food out in about 10 minutes. Looking back on it, I suppose we should have handled the situation differently too. Yes, we should have paid for our one drink and then walked out. I can understand slow service, but not a complete lack of it. When you're a server you have got to learn how to multi-task...a concept that seemed completely foreign to her.
Galaxy, I hate you.
I love the Grandpa fish in the tank. He's the same color as a stone and has a perpetually sleepy, sour grimace on his fishy face. One can only surmise that Grandpa's expression comes from years of hearing the best and worst of P-town's karaoke warriors in this modest bar. The staff was somewhat indulgent with the boozed-fueled crowd I came with. One server kindly kicked a couple out of the large booth seat with a raised view of the stage when my cousin mentioned the size of our group. Then again, since there are signs marking the booths for groups of five or more, she may have been obligated to ask them to move. Beyond that high point, the service was occasionally slow and not entirely friendly. I'm not naive - I totally understand why a bar staff might appraise a group of eight on a Saturday night with some level of apprehension. But if you work in an environment where people go to party, you'd do better to treat your patrons less like a group of teenagers who've come to shoplift from your store. The group's grave offenses included an F-bomb dropped during a spirited take on "The Humpty Dance." Just a heat of the moment word, not directed at anybody, but it made the announcer scold my friend, the singer, and threaten to withhold the mike from him for the rest of the night. Seriously, hold on tight to your pearls. Last I checked, people under the age of six aren't allowed in the bar. And the adults who visit karaoke bars don't attend with G-rated expectations. The second, lesser grievance came when I stepped up to the stage to sing some Blondie with my cousin. The announcer told me that I was scheduled to sing next, and if I wanted to duet, my song would need to be dropped back a few slots. Not a big deal to me, but the woman's delivery was more terse than it needed to be since it's not a grade-school talent show. I realize there are rules to enforce, but read the room a little better next time, all right Ms. Announcer? In addition to her, one server lagged with drink orders (early in the night rather than later, when it might have passed with less notice) and another allegedly slapped my male friend on the face twice. It could be one of those "Fool me once ..." situations, but still not as cute as it might look when you play it out in your head.
Beyond that, I dug the ample number of booths. And I'm definitely not going to completely badmouth when I get to sing multiple songs without having to wait for over an hour to do each performance. Plus, the long fish tank is such a charming, retro touch that I knew I would enjoy sitting and hanging out here, unlike other karaoke venues that just look kind of haggard and smoky when you regard them with sober eyes. But the rule policing and odd ideas of friendliness from the people who work there could be improved.
Mediocre food, but excellent full bar, and karaoke seven nights a week (although a muddy sound system).
