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Lincoln Karaoke
- Hours:
Mon-Fri, Sun 6 pm - 2 am
Sat 6 pm - 3 am
- Outdoor Seating:
- No
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Parking:
- Street
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Price Range:
-
$$
- Music:
- Live
- Best Nights:
- Fri, Thu, Sat
- Happy Hour:
- No
- Alcohol:
- Full Bar
- Smoking:
- No
- Coat Check:
- No
- Noise Level:
- Very Loud
- Good For Dancing:
- Yes
- Ambience:
- Casual
- Has TV:
- Yes
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
268 reviews for Lincoln Karaoke
Review Highlights
"Does this place REALLY have light up tambourines."
(in 27 reviews)
"Private karaoke rooms equipped with good equipment."
(in 30 reviews)
"Fun song selection and atmosphere (tambourine included."
(in 34 reviews)
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268 reviews in English
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Review from Sarah K.
Chicago, IL
1/21/2012
This is my favorite karaoke place in the world. I am a late convert to private-room karaoke. I couldn't believe that it would be better than a bar full of strangers. Boy howdy was I wrong.
There are a few drawbacks - there's only street parking (and you probably shouldn't be driving there anyway), and for some reason cab drivers tend to have NO idea where it is - but those are minor compared to how much fun it is. The selection is pretty great, the booze is reasonably priced, and they have light up tambourines!! Word of warning, though: in any room, there's always a microphone that doesn't seem to work. -
Review from Angie E.
Naperville, IL
1/9/2012
Best. Karaoke. Place. Hands. Down.
Excellent music selection, big rooms, serves food!
Only draw back is there is NO parking but I still love this place. -
Review from Karen L.
Chicago, IL
1/4/2012
THIS PLACE IS FREAKING AMAZING. CAN YOU SAY KARAOKE HEAVEN?!?!?!
The private rooms are spacious, and have super cool laser lights, three big TV screens, and a really good sound system! They have a HUGE selection of music (American, Asian, old, new, etc.)! AND THE LIGHT UP TAMBOURINES ARE RIDICULOUSLY AWESOME!! I have so much fun every time I go!!!! I was here just last week, but my friends and I are already planning another night out here!! WOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!
(It's also super cheap! Only $30/hr! Aww yeahhh!) -
Review from Bryan K.
Chicago, IL
1/28/2012
Exactly how a karaoke place should be--comfortable and homey and the absolutely perfect spot to gather a big group of friends to go a little crazy and get a little weird with a private karaoke room. Big TVs, well-kept spacious rooms, great music selection and even tambourines. But really two things put it over the top:1) a shockingly good beer selection in both bottles at the front desk and a little semi-private bar toward the back and 2) just really, really nice and friendly service all around. I've been to karaoke places where they are overly stressed and protective (somewhat understandably considering the thousands of dollars in stereo and TV equipment vulnerable to the drunken clientele) but this place is both well-run and just really laid back.
Apparently, something odd went down in December a crazed karaoker tried sneaking out of the joint and ended up running over he owner with his car (fortunately no major injuries and arrests were made) but I can guarantee you thousands of people who have been through here would like to take it to that idiot in behalf of the great owner. -
Review from Lisa A.
Wilmette, IL
12/10/2011
I have only been here twice, and was invited each time and really enjoyed it. What I like about the place is there are plenty of rooms and I was very shy about singing and am very self-conscious, but to sing with friends only is much easier than in a bar full of strangers.
the songs are on 3 big screens and the sound system is very updated and songs surprisingly are updated as well so it's great for a mixed crowd whether you are with teenagers or the Frank Sinatra generation.
the tambourines add a little spice to the event too! -
Review from Maram K.
12/5/2011
The only place to be where you can make a fool out of yourself and not feel ashamed. I've come here at least 4 times now and it has been great every single time.
The rooms are "cozy" but it helps with the experience. No one is left out.
I didn't have any drinks or food, but my friends that did all seemed to enjoy it. The employees were also very accommodating when we weren't ready to end the night and extended our time. They did warn us that we might have to change rooms (and we did) but it was good to be forewarned. -
Review from Zarina K.
11/20/2011
We were here just last night for a birthday party and had a really fun time! Find which room your party is in based on the white board in the front..nice and easy.
It would have been 5 stars except for the following things -
The bad...
- Drinks were weak...I actually tasted zero alcohol in my drink and had to bring it back (it was all fruit juice...).
- Annoying drunks kept opening our door and wanting to sing with us...I know we are super talented singers, but seriously? Stay in your own frickin room...if we wanted a larger audience we would have gone to a regular bar that had karaoke.
- You could hear others (I'm talking in other rooms) singing.
- Some of the music was off (sounded like a cheap/bad/off key version of the music - and no it wasn't our singing).
The good...
- Multiple mics so that a bunch of us could sing together
- Cool, dance/disco lights
- Dancing suggestions/routines provided by onscreen anime dance groups (do as much, or in our case...as little as u like (HILARIOUS))
- Nice song options - both by song and by artist
- Privacy for the most part
So bring your Lady Gaga, Madonna, Elvis or whatever and get your song on at Lincoln Karoke!! -
Review from Tory w.
12/31/2011 1 Check-in Here
Is this heaven? No, it's Lincoln Karaoke.
Where to begin? Once you get past the feeling of being in a brothel (long corridors, closed doors with screams and weird noises emanating from within...), this place is FAB. Private rooms so that you can sing Barry Manilow, Mariah Carey, and tons of Vietnamese and Russian favorites to your heart's content. Free bacon. Light up tambourines. 3-D glasses with a mini laser show. Free bacon. A full song catalog with hits from at least 7 countries. The world's largest remote controls that allow you to speed up the tempo of a song just to f*#k with your drunken friends. Free bacon. Disco balls. Asian/Russian porn videos that only enhance the singing experience. Four microphones so that you can go solo or sing as a group. Free bottles of water while you wait for your room. And did I mention free BASKETS OF BACON? I didn't want to leave. I can't wait to go back. -
Review from John W.
Chicago, IL
10/11/2011 1 Check-in Here
This place is nuts... And only in Chicago!
It's a bit of a weird set up, and it isn't exactly easy to find. It looks and feels like you are about to do something illegal...Like, it would still even be illegal in a foreign country. But once you get past that (and figure out how to read the Korean karaoke machine) and confirm there aren't 13 year old Thai and Moldovan girls waiting to perform sex acts for Russian mobsters, this place is a total blast! Not only that, the people who run it and work there couldn't be nicer! Especially with all the drunk idiots that end up there on the weekends...Because yes, it's open until 3am though it would probably be better for most of their patrons if they were in bed or at home drinking water by that time (some dude was laying down drunk on the men's bathroom floor...And it was only 11pm at that point...Gross).
Anyway, this is perfect for a group of 4 or more people and they have all kinds of songs in several languages to chose from. The selections can sometimes surprise you but for the most part it's your standard karaoke / pop/ 80s themed selections though is some shit like Iron Maiden that is both good and fun to sing to...I mean, as much as I like the song, no one wants to hear me sing Fake Plastic Trees at midnight on a Friday...Ok, so no one wants to hear me sing anything, any time but that is beside the point but we can all settle for Journey! The rooms aren't always optimized to control feedback but what you can you do with 4 live mics in a room that is 10x14 feet with 5, drunk screaming idiots?? Oh, and apparently instead of watching scenes of the Korean country side, you can switch that to porn??!
They have a surprisingly good beer selection and are surprisingly generous with their pouring of alcohol.
Oh, and if you think you can rap, or hip hop artists have no talent because they don't sing or play instruments...By all means, step up to the mic and let's see how well you do.
I have been there twice and had a blast both times.Listed in: My Neighborhood
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Review from Paul S.
10/21/2011 5 photos
One night after a long day at work a couple of friends from different locations in the company decided to converge on this place. It can be easy to miss, as the front of the building doesn't have anything flashy to advertise what's inside. Thank goodness for Yelp and Google Maps, as I'm not that familiar with the neighborhood!
Walking through the front door there's a small lobby with a bench or two where you can wait for your friends if your entire party hasn't arrived yet. The layout of the building is a little odd, basically lots of skinny hallways and turns. If you don't know where your room has been reserved, check in with one of the staff, as they are friendly and helpful. I saw more than a few girls walking up and down the place opening doors, looking for friends. I guess that's part of the fun, playing hide and go seek!
Once all of our entourage arrived, we were placed in our booked room promptly and given a five minute tutorial by our host on how to work the chunky remote which controls the system. The remote and menus are in Korean and English, but were serviceable with a little practice. Leafing through the binder of songs, showed a distribution mostly weighted towards the early 2000's and earlier. There weren't a whole lot of songs released in the last year or two.
For refreshments, I ordered Guinness for our crew which was $20 for a pitcher. Interestingly, they do allow the outside food, but also serve pizza and other nibbles within the place. A few doors over is Hubs, a hot dog place that serves other fast food as well. The manager on duty at Lincoln was kind enough to hook us up with a pizza that someone else ordered but didn't eat before leaving. Sweet!
There's no private lot for parking (or at least that I noticed), so I ended up parking about three blocks down. Lincoln Karaoke is just down the street from the Chicago Police Station, so there's a good chance your car will be left alone. Just keep in mind to bring a designated driver (a good idea every night) because they are on the beat all of the time here. Have fun and stay safe! -
Review from Ericka L.
9/24/2011
Hahahahahahahahaha.
HAHAHAhahahahahahahaha.
The only reason why this place is loved by most is because of the fact that you're mostly wasted when you're experiencing it. The private rooms were awful, gross and hot. The words on the screen were sometimes in another language (Chinese?) and we couldn't understand what we were selecting. And it took forever for drinks to come. If you want karaoke you can go anywhere...why waste your pipes here?? -
Review from Keena T.
Chicago, IL
10/19/2011
The staff here is great! We had a large group and they were very accomadating. We recieved a free bottle of champagne and shots because we rented the room for 4 hours!
You can make reservations via text message and they even send a reminder text the day before so you don't forget! -
Review from Angelique R.
Chicago, IL
8/29/2011
I made my reservation through text message (score for the woman who is for some reason terrified of calling people on the phone) - and the room was awaiting us when we got there. It was my first time on the mic, and I had a blast. The staff was super friendly, the bathrooms and rooms were clean, and the applause button on the remote made us all very happy.
I will be back for sure! -
Review from Kate C.
Chicago, IL
12/19/2011
I planned a surprise birthdat party for my boyfriends big 30th at Lincoln Karaoke.
I had never been there before, I was pleasantly surprised. Although parking was a nightmare. I was confused because they had sent me a text telling me that there were parking in the alley behind the establishment, which was not the case (unless we missed something?)... anwyay, word of caution - don't park in Hubs - we got towed :(
The staff here was so nice, and helpful. The set up is a bit weird, the room was a little hard to find but we finally did, and the surprise party was just perfect. We honestly had about 30 people there at one point and thank god they have a bar area because 30 people don't fit into the "large" room... which says it fits 40. Not so much. The rooms do get a little warm as well... no room to really put your coats either.
Overall it was a really fun time, everyone loved it - great atmosphere, good food, good drinks. Helpful staff.
I highly suggest Lincoln Karaoke if you need somewhere to have a party. -
Review from Serena V.
Chicago, IL
10/19/2011
I recently had my birthday party here and it was the most fun night I've had out in a very long time. The people working the bar and bringing us drinks couldn't have been nicer!!!! They kept the drinks flowing and brought us food, let us be drunk idiots and laughed along with us.
The rooms are super clean and cozy, we had about 12 people in a large room and had plenty of space. The song selection could be a little better and the remote to work the machine was confusing (or maybe that was all the drinking...), but we had three huge flat screen tvs, crazy lights, and a bunch of microphones for us all to sing along to every song.
I LOVE THIS PLACE. -
Review from A M.
Chicago, IL
1/16/2012
I wish i could give this place 0 stars! Owner claimed 1 of his microphones was missing and charged me 200 dollars. Horrible experience. Has he pulled this scam on anyone else!? Please post it if he has. And if you go to this dump please make sure you count the equipment and make sure you bring him in and make him take inventory of his piece of shit 200 dollar microphones.
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Review from Marco C.
Chicago, IL
7/21/2011 1 Check-in Here
OMG, this place is the best!!! This was my third time going. Never a dull moment. We had an awesome time. We drank awesome shooters and listened to awesome music. And then just sat around and soaked up each other's awesomeness!
The owner is very nice. He come to every room and makes sure you are well taken care of.
Mixed drinks: Front bar is the place to be! -
Review from Lauren T.
8/20/2011
We were here for a bachelorette party and what a great idea that was! When we came in there was a little confusion as to where we were supposed to be. We had reservations but were put in the wrong room so once we got where we were supposed to be, the fun started!
The drink situation is a little weird. You can either wait in the huge line for a drink at the bar in the hall or wait forever for your waitress in the room. The selection is surprisingly decent for a little place like this and they had a few different micros in bottles plus alcohol and wine. I think our waitress was a little annoyed when we all walked in with drinks, but whatever, we aren't just going to sit in the hallway and do nothing while waiting for our room.
The karaoke was a blast! We all had to put our minds together to figure out how to work the machine and we even had to ask the owner for help. Well, he took that as us insulting him and told us to get out if we didn't like it. This may have been merely a language barrier issue, but we figured it out and I think all was good? They were very strict on the time and once we were up, they simply told us to get out, no warning.
Even despite our obvious problems and blatant accusations against us, I am still going to give this place 4 stars because we had a blast. I would love to come back here soon. -
Review from Matt L.
Updated - 5/3/2011 1 Check-in Here
In the words (which I have butchered) of one Dre, MD:
Still rock my jeans whilst missing a shoe
Still got love for the streets, repping 312
Still order Panang, still with chickang (sorry)
Since I left, ain't too much changed.
While not a whole lot has changed, this place appears to have been overrun by drunkards. I take deep offense to overindulgence when combined with a hazardous activity like singing.1 Previous Review: Show all »
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3/15/2008
easy fiver here. there is absolutley no question this is the best place in the city if not the… Read more »
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Review from Marissa G.
Chicago, IL
5/15/2011
I recently did my birthday party at LIncoln Karaoke, otherwise known as my annual "Debauchery on the Mic" session with friends. It was too fun. I usually go to Karaoke Restaurant on California, but since I heard that this place had nicer rooms, I decided to give it a try.
Pros:
- Clean, nicely sized rooms with flashing colored light displays-- including light-up tambourines
- 2 flat screen TVs in the larger rooms
- Great bar with tasty shots (I don't think I've ever written that before) and generous pours
- Ranging food menu from fries to mandu for the late night munchies
- Fast moving and attentive staff (bartenders, waiters, managers, everyone)
- A free bottle of champagne for those celebrating their birthday!
Cons:
- Confusing selection system and dis-organized song books, the system would not rate our singing capabilities all night! So frustrating for someone who desperately wants to compete!
- Much less language and song variety than Karaoke Restaurant, where they have specific books set aside for each language.
- The toilets, although clean and well lit, would not flush all night. Gross.
I'm Filipina, and karaoke is more than a pastime-- we take it very seriously. So, in a death match between Lincoln Karaoke and Karaoke Restaurant who would win?
I can't say! Instead it's like this:
If you are going with hardcore karaoke lovers, i.e. you have a magic mic in your house and your dad has the words to "My Way" memorized back and forth-- then go to Karaoke Restaurant, where every Tagalog song you could want in available, and the singing is primary.
However, if you are looking for a non-Asian friendly alternative to Fly Me to the Moon type places, I would go to Lincoln, where the set up is more presentable and every song is a group song.
Get there early, it gets very crowded (and sometimes unruly!) on the weekends. -
Review from matt w.
Chicago, IL
11/21/2011
This place is amazing! We went there for my bday and had a blast! We rented a medium sized room, price was 40$ per hour. We had 8-10 people in there and it was a good fit.. a couple more would have been possible but by the end we were pretty sweaty.. Though I must say we were jumping around and screaming as well! The staff was great and food was what you would expect for a pizza and beer type joint. I WILL be back here soon.. oh and by the way.. no one in my party are fans of Karaoke in a bar setting but this will make you a believer!!
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Review from Saurabh D.
Horsham, PA
8/27/2011
This place is awesome. They accomodated our group of 10 without a problem. The outside looks real ordinary, but inside is surprisingly modern. The karaoke rooms sport multiple flat paneled screens with a high-tech karaoke setup. The beer selection is great with well known brand beers, and a few great microbrews with national acclaim. Oddly enough a pitcher of beer gets you a free order of french fries of a pound of bacon (I don't know why either), but regardless of that quirk, the service was great, the pricing was great, and the selection of beer was great. If I had one thing I would improve, it would be the song selection (need more English songs), but the selection is solid enough to lead to a good time.
I agreed with some of the previous posters, the owner was nice, accomodating, and seems to care about ensuring a positive experience for his customers. Highly recommend. -
Review from Kelly C.
Chicago, IL
4/4/2011
1. Warren of karaoke rooms: who does not like a maze? It was exciting! Will I find my room? Will I have to make a new group of karaoke friends if I don't?
2. Laser lights: loosen up, everyone looks better covered in tiny neon green spots.
3. Bacon baskets: really, I should just end here. because find another karaoke warren laser maze that will give you a basket full of bacon with the purchase of two pitchers of beer. or you could get fries, loser.
4. Everyone gets drunk: you and 15 of your friends are in a cargo van-sized room with pitchers of beer. good luck, friends!
5. 3-5 mikes: no one gets embarrassed, due to the plethora of mikes (also see: 4.) Everyone sings along, people dance and hug, and the obnoxious people who want to show off their musical-theater style skills are frustrated. Perfect.
There are some drawbacks: the songbooks aren't really that compelling and they're kiiind of arranged weirdly, and after about 3 hours the room is soooort of an inferno, but guess what? You're drunk and eating bacon.
Neutral on: bathroom mirrors. maybe you want to watch yourself urinate. I don't, but maybe you do? I won't judge you.
And I'm not sure who got bad customer service, because everyone I spoke with that worked there was friendly and accommodating and usually giving us bacon/fries. -
Review from Bev h.
Chicago, IL
Updated - 3/3/2011
WTF happened to this place?!
Let me start off by saying that it takes a lot to piss me off. The bartender at LK who is apparently "filling in" as their reservations/customer service manager somehow rose splendidly to the occasion, to the point that i spent our evening here getting into THREE all out verbal altercations with him....
We actually had a great time here last year for a friend's bday, so we called a full month in advance to make a reservation for a large room. Apparently, that's not enough time, because after they confirmed the large room, they sent a text a couple of weeks later saying we had been downgraded to a medium room. We tell them we have about 20 people coming, and they assure us that will be fine...
Let me assure you: if you have more than 10-12 people, you will absolutely need a large room. We show up, wade through a sea of people who are all waiting for rooms, and find the Reservations Douche. We are made to wait for 20 minutes, even though we have a reservation, and are then led into a medium room that is ridiculously small for our group. We literally could not fit. Verbal altercation #1 ensues. At this point I am sternly polite: "please explain how a reservation made a full month in advance is not being honored, and please let me know when our appropriate sized room will be ready tonight." We are told he will move us into a bigger room in an hour when another group leaves.
Our room is so small that we are forced to stage a protest by singing in the hallway. At least the people in the waiting room were entertained. Exactly 1 hour later, verbal altercation #2 ensues when I am told our bigger room is not ready. I tell RD that is unacceptable, and that he needs to make something happen Now. He tries to crack a joke. Oh, you think this is amusing? Let me just go get the owner and tell him how well you've been doing your job.
A short while later, verbal altercation #3 ensues when I have to force RD to kick a stripper and some bachelorettes out of a room where they had overstayed their reservation by an hour. Sorry, ladies! By the time we got this room, the night was almost over, and I am now loudly telling RD that he is a failure at his job (and some other, less polite things), and admonishing the owner for letting our night go this far astray. To top it all off, I had to have them remove the charge for a large room from our bill at the end of the night! Are you fucking kidding me?! After all that, you're gonna try to charge us full price for a room we had to force our way into?!
To sum up: Reservations mean jack shit here. The staff is ignorant, rude and downright clueless about customer service. The song selection is still weak. Fuck you, Lincoln Karaoke: you just lost 20 loyal customers.1 Previous Review: Show all »
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2/24/2010
this place is a trip. the people that run it are very nice, and we received a free bottle of… Read more »
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Review from Amanda E.
Chicago, IL
11/7/2011
Can't complain. This place seemed kinda sketchy at first with the text message reservation but I have to say it was convenient. Got there, and my name was on the board and told me what room to go in, which is a good thing because I couldn't find anyone at first. They ended up changing my room (not sure why)? Other than that not bad. Very easy to operate the machine, and was fun. The room got hot pretty fast and they eventually turned on the air. The bottle guy kept opening our door to pick up the empty bottles but we weren't drinking so it was kind of annoying to have him keep opening the door. Needless to say I had so much fun that I pulled a muscle in my neck head banging to Bohemian Rhapsody.
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Review from Dana G.
3/17/2011 1 Check-in Here
Sweeeeeeet Caroliiiiine!! Bah! Bah! Blow my brains out!!
Lincoln Karaoke in theory is a great idea. I just think the execution is somewhat lacking. This review is coming from someone who loooves karaoke. Good singers, bad singers, contests, I'll take it all. So I was excited to come here. When I walked in it changed into "this is my nightmare"
This place is a labyrinth of numbered rooms of different sizes and a few bars in between. Blinding strobe lights and lasers, light up equalizers and TV screens with random images on them. People SCREAMING into microphones (turns out this is the only way to get any sound to project). I felt like I was either Johnny Mnemonic or was having a really bad trip Willy Wonka style. The snozberries taste like snozberries! The room we had was way too small for our party and I think it was one of the larger rooms. It was a sweat box. The rooms were so hot I found myself in the hallway or wandering most of the time. They give you 4 or 5 mics and everyone is belting into them at the same time. Headache. Ow. Get me out of here. I tried singing once and in order to hear anything I basically had to deep throat the mic. Sorry, but Korean porn on the screen or not, I don't know you people that well.
The song selection is small and odd. You'd think that if karaoke was the main thing you do, there would be more songs and better sound. Just sayin.
The bartender was friendly and the place was clean at least. I got drunk enough to sing along to a Police song... from the hallway. -
Review from Sunny Q.
Houston, TX
3/26/2011
WE LOVED THIS PLACE! I took a group of 12 to Lincoln Karaoke on a Wednesday night (9 teens, 3 adults). We had an absolute blast!
As we arrived, we were escorted into a clean and bright private room with disco lights, plasma screens, padded comfy seats and up to date karaoke system.
The owner (?) quickly showed us how to work the karole and dimmed the lights. The girls immediately started singing their hearts out to everything from current hits (Katie Perry, Justin Bieber, Black Eyed Peas, etc.) to oldies (YMCA, Celebration, etc.). The light up tambourines were so much fun!!
As the group bounced, sang and danced around, I stepped out to order some snacks. We ate onion rings, cheese sticks & fried shrimp which were served up quickly. We were given free potstickers which was a nice touch.
The group enjoyed three hours and left wanting more.
The only downside had nothing to do with Lincoln Karaoke. The cabs we pre ordered the day before from Checker Cab were an hour late!! Despite me reconfirming an hour before pick up. And the location doesn't seem to have regular cab traffic for us to flag down.
If you love karaoke or even of you don't GO TO LINCOLN KAROKE!!! We had a blast. I wish we had something like this in our hometown. -
Review from Jennie T.
3/6/2011
Titties channel, drinks, awful singing by tonedeaf people in a private room. What could be better? Ha!
We made reservations and yet we still had to wait around 30 minutes for our room. It was not bad, considering that they were a little crowded.
I like the song selection, but I still wish they had more non-Korean, non-English sections. Chinese pop? More please! But I like Chinese oldies too.
If you close the door, you can't hear the awful singing in the hallway. (Great sound-proofing!) But we like keeping our door slightly ajar because it was awfully warm in our room even in the dead of winter. I think they had their heat turned up way too high.
We sang for about 3 hours until our voices became coarse. It was fun though, and I'd do it again. -
Review from Colleen C.
Brooklyn, NY
10/23/2010 1 Check-in Here
Oh yes, I actually remember this experience QUITE perfectly...even after 12 shots (yes, really) and 3 cocktails.
Why would anyone remember ANYTHING after 12 shots and 3 cocktails?
Well, either I developed a superstar tolerance overnight, karaoke gives me god-like powers, or these drinks were weak as f'ing hell.
I'm going to go with "yeah, weak drinks." Unfortunate, and not that cheap. I blew through $100 easily, and had nary a buzz to show for it. Not cool. The koolaid shots tasted phenomenal, but its because they were bloody kool-aid. BOLLOCKS. I could've driven home.
As for the karaoke? Yeah its awesome. The private rooms are fantastic and the Korean porn channel (thanks guys before us) was good for a giggle. The neon lights and multiple microphones, yada, yada, yada. All awesome. Dig it. It's really fun. I'm going to take my mom at Thanksgiving.
Did not dig waiting 90 minutes for our "reserved" room, but such is the breaks when everyone is drunk on koolaid and singing karaoke and every bachelorette party and birthday party in town wants to belt it out in private public. Maybe they were drinking beer? I'd assume that is more difficult to water down and charge full price for.
Would I go back? Sure. Am I still a little peeved about the bar shenanigans? Yes. Did they give us a random plate of appetizers around 2am? Yes. Is it enough? Maybe. Did I sing Miley Cyrus' Party in the USA? Yes. Sober? Apparently. Did I just admit that. Perhaps.
Rockstars need booze, that's how it works. Next time I'll know better. Now, please que up Lady Antebellum for me, kthx.
*easy street parking
*private rooms are paid for hourly (mind out of gutter)
*no BYOB, and no breaking the microphones.Listed in: Chicago Bachelorette Parties!
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Review from Simon C.
Chicago, IL
1/10/2011
If you have not done this, it is truly a unique experience and an absolute riot for a party of 10+ people. Seriously awesome. A totally different way to do Karaoke (at least for me). The rooms are not cheap, but in a large group, you just can't go wrong. You will loose track of time as you enter your chamber, with no windows and no clock. All of a sudden it's 3:30 in the morning and your stumbling onto the street.
+ Full Bar. Strong Drinks.
- Only negative: Didn't have all the songs we could have wanted, which was a bit of a bummer and will be a slight let down for the Indie Kids. Would be nice to be able to download songs. -
Review from Julia B.
2/27/2011 1 Check-in Here
I was a doubter, I am now a believer. This place rocks!!
Located in the middle of nowhere of Lincoln Square it looks like some sort of an office from the outside. It is literally two plain looking hallways with about 20 rooms of different sizes and it kind of feels like your at a college house party. The bar is small, although fully stocked and there is a small area around it, otherwise you have to wait in the halls with your red solo cup until a room is available. But the rooms are awesome--comfortable couches, light strobe lights, three flat screens, plenty of room to dance!
LIKE: 1. The light-up tambourine--this probably made my night. 2. The customer service here is top notch! Our reservation was for 11:30, but the first people who used the room were half an hour late, so the next party was half hour late and eventually our reservation got pushed back. The staff was very apologetic and gave us two pitchers of beer of our choice. 3. We ended up waiting almost an hour for our room and were getting a little antzy, no worries got more pitchers of free beer and were promised to get extra time in our room. Overall, because of the delay we got a room from 12:20-3:10ish for the price of one hour and free beer and champagne all night. Now that is good customer service!!
DISLIKE: The reservation system is shady. If you call the business number, no one answers and a recording tells you to text the number your requested reservation date, time, number of people, etc. Then someone texts you back and let's you know if it is available or a different time. Once you choose your time slot they ask you to text your credit card number and expiration date. I never am ok with texting my credit card number in a text to a stranger and this really made me uncomfortable. Luckily, one of my friends took the risk and used his credit card. Nothing bad came out of this and I understand that it is much more convenient to text as many people probably call, but I think this needs to be changed. At least call the person to get their credit card number.
WEIRD: The women's bathroom stalls have mirrors on the back of the doors so you can see, um, all of yourself while using the bathroom. Very strange...
Despite this, I would definitely return to Lincoln Karaoke with 10+ of my friends for another amazing late night of singing, drinking, and laughs. -
Review from Alice Y.
Chicago, IL
4/30/2011
Pretty solid Asian-style karaoke, with nice TVs, disco lights and tambourines (though we weren't offered one - maybe they ran out?).
Pro: We got free champagne because it was a friend's birthday.
Con: Their printed English song list hasn't been updated since like 2009. They do have newer songs in their database, but you have to search directly on the TV, which is kind of difficult when other people are trying to follow the lyrics of the current song. Also, the buttons on our controllers didn't always work so well.
Major Con: The power managed to blow out an hour into our party, in our entire half of the place. The lights still worked, but not the TVs/machines, which totally killed the mood, and we all left. They offered to host us again in the future, but it wasn't clear if they were going to comp us or anything, in which case it's kind of a meaningless offer. Not cool. -
Review from Andrea B.
Chicago, IL
Updated - 11/21/2010 1 Check-in Here
Came here again for a friend's birthday and had another great time filled with singing, good friends, and of course, alcohol. The service as always, was excellent, and the bartender did not skimp on the alcohol. We were given free champagne again and you really can't ask for more than that. I think I got a little carried way with the light up tambourine at one point, but that's what happens. It looks like they did some slight remodeling, which is nice.
They also had a great selection of tasty Belgium beers (Leffe, anyone??), which surprised me for a karaoke place. That's an extra plus, even if it's a dollar extra than everything else.
I'm already looking forward to my next time here.1 Previous Review: Show all »
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5/19/2009
I came here last Saturday for my belated birthday party and I swear...I wasn't prepared for the… Read more »
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Review from Amanda Z.
10/11/2010
Do you love to sing?
Are you TERRIBLE at singing?
Are you looking for a fun activity for you and your group of friends?
If the answers to the above questions are all YESSES, then you must get your ass to Lincoln Karaoke. Private rooms mean the public humiliation factor is low. Even if you're not all that comfortable with the people in your room, LK will provide enough booze to make you comfortable. Furthermore the multiple microphones make it easy to blend in...or at least make your level of tone deafness a little bit less severe.
Great selection of songs from Lionel Richie to Miley Cyrus to Poison, you will find your jam here.
I have been here twice and both times have had a blast. They do offer a complimentary bottle of champagne for parties (not sure if it's just bachelorettes), which is always appreciated. And their tolerance of drunken shenanigans is quite high. I'm amazed at the level of patience they display to the seriously drunkulous folks here. Well done!
Not sure about the strong drinks though. I'm pretty sure I drank my own bottle of vodka the first time I went here and I didn't die. But the second time, I had enough to be able to work the Korean remote. My advice? Come with enough liquor in you to get the job done.
Room rates are relatively reasonable. I wanna say it was $35 to $40 for a medium-sized room (there were ten of us)...drinks aren't super cheap (I believe a pitcher of beer was $16 and a mixed drink was $6), but again, I recommend coming with a good buzz on already. It will help immensely.
I really do love this place. While I cannot sing, I love to have the microphone, and this is the place to do it. -
Review from Paul C.
3/1/2011
If you're a fan of Korean Karaoke, but don't want to trek all the way out to Korea Town, but are willing to trek almost as far as Korea Town, you will love this spot.
NRB style karaoke is definitely the way to go. Get your own private room, sing with your friends and you don't have to deal with all the strangers. This place might be a little more user friendly if you're not familiar with this style of karaoke and it has pretty much everything you'll find in Korea Town. It's a win as far as I'm concerned. -
Review from j h.
Chicago, IL
11/29/2011
I've been coming here for years, and feel like I'm part of the family each time we go! Most recently we brought our mentor/mentee group there as part of a team-building exercise. I was happy to see that they have expanded their operations to include food. They treated us very well and we had a rockin' ass time! I just love these guys.
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Review from Megan O.
11/23/2010
KARAOKE.STRONG DRINKS.PRIVATE ROOM=GOOD NIGHT!
I came here with about 20 of my closest family members for my 21st birthday last month and we had the TIME OF OUR LIVES!
The bartender and workers took very good care of us, free champagne for my birthday, brought out snacks to us and even a few free shots.
There are two bars, one for hard liquor and the one strictly for beer.
We planned on being there from 930-1230 on a Friday night, but when the drinks are pourin' and the music keeps playin' and people are hogging the microphones, we stayed until close! We paid $180 for the whole night (930-200) which is a great deal.
Parking is VERY limited, mostly street parking. Outside looks like a dentist office. The whole place looks a little shady as it was white walls, literally a HALLWAY with doors (most of them were closed..so you can imagine) but who cares! The bathrooms are also very clean! ( I know a lot of people wonder, too.)
The rooms are decked out in strobe lights, 4 t.v.s, disco balls, light up tambourines and a huge "coffee table" in the middle.
You are allowed to bring your own food, but absolutely NO outside liquids of any kind.
Everyone had an amazing time, and my family still talks about it.
Defenitely go. -
Review from Shannon O.
Chicago, IL
12/14/2010 7 photos
I absolutely LOVE Lincoln Karaoke!
I have been here countless times now, but I can still remember that first magical night spent at Lincoln Karaoke!
Is this place in a random storefront, across from a seedy motel? YES.
Does this place REALLY have light up tambourines?! YES!!!!!!! EEK!
Is the owner, Steve, customer service oriented? YES.
Do you walk in and feel like you are completely out of your element, as you take note of the long hallway with closed doors with laughing and singing flowing throughout? YES!
Can words really do justice in explaining all that Lincoln Karaoke is?! NO WAY!!! This place is hands down amazing...and words cannot begin to describe the hilarity, fun, and memories that you are sure to encounter if you venture there.
I have trusted Lincoln Karaoke as the locale for my going away party, my welcome home party, and my birthday party. (Not to mention the times I've gone to Lincoln Karaoke for just a random night out!)
Each time I have gone, the owner, Steve, has remembered me. He is truly an awesome guy! He makes sure that you and your group are completely satisfied with the room you have and drinks you get. I love that he also throws in a complimentary bottle of champagne for birthdays or special occasions.
I had moved out of state and hadn't been to Lincoln Karaoke for over a year...and was just back there November 13, 2010 for my birthday party. I was pleasantly surprised with the expansion of using the big back bar instead of just using the small front bar. They also seem to have a couple extra bartenders/staff on hand to handle the crowd and get people served so that they can get back to their jam sessions.
Here are the overall highlights/tips:
-Call in advance to make your reservation. You can try your luck with going in the night of, but do be prepared to wait. I always call a couple days in advance and have never had an issue with my room not being ready at the scheduled time as promised.
-SHAKE THE TAMBOURINES! I love the tambourines! It's a great way for those shy people, who won't sing, to get involved. And it is equally great for us spotlight seekers to accompany our lovely singing talents ;)
-Do NOT BYOB. To be completely honest, I had never even tried this, yet alone thought to BYOB. Apparently a lot of people had started to sneak stuff in. This last time I was there I couldn't help but notice the signs all over stating that you are NOT ALLOWED TO BYOB. There are some fines associated with getting caught doing so...so, just don't do it.
-Tip your bartenders! The bartenders are great! This is not some fancy place where you go for the quality of the drinks. Don't expect them to be able to make you shots and drinks with all the frills. They will definitely do their best to cater to your wants...but don't get bent out of shape if they mess it up. I mean really, why can't people just order a beer or a solid vodka tonic?
-Make a point to talk to Steve. He really likes talking with the customers and hearing what events you are celebrating. If he likes you enough, he may even give you a round of shots on the house ;)
-The room prices are divided into three categories (I believe it's three anyhow). Be honest with how many people you have in your group, because you don't want to get a small room and not have enough space....and at the same time, you wouldn't want to have 5 people in the biggest room (you'd likely feel pretty lame in a big room with no one in there!). The price difference amongst the different sized rooms is really minimal--it's like a $5 difference...
**I HIGHLY, HIGHLY, HIGHLY recommend trying out Lincoln Karaoke. I promise that you will not be disappointed. AND, if you do have a problem with something, I recommend that you talk with Steve about it...and chances are that he will work with you to fix the situation. -
Review from Mickey A.
Updated - 10/24/2010
So we started off the night as California girls. We got up; we danced; we jumped around. We had fun because that's just what girls do. We kicked off our Sunday shoes. Though we weren't born in [summer of] 1969, we celebrated like it was the best day[s] of our lives. With the mikes in our hands, why would we "ever stop doing this?" Towards the end our performances and still bright-eyed, we danced some more and turned around...at the total eclipse of the sun. Like tiny dancers in blue jeans. We think we brought sexy back until it was time to say bye bye...um, bye.
High five to the owner (I think) for offering to move us to a bigger room (with 3 tvs and 4 microphones) as soon as one became available later. We had to play musical chairs in our first room. Second room caused more reasons to break out the dance moves.
(Heh. Can you name the song titles/references in this semi-lame review? We sang practically most of the songs offered (or 4.5 hours worth), but these are all I can remember. Worth losing the voice for sure.)
Note: They have "D*** in a box" available but not "Humpty Dance." What's that about?1 Previous Review: Show all »
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7/25/2008
"(Soo loo loo loo loo loo loo)
(Soo loo loo loo loo loo loo yeah)
(Soo loo loo loo loo loo loo)
(Soo… Read more »
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Review from Stephanie y.
Chicago, IL
8/19/2011
i just don't really get it...
i mean, sure it's nice to have the option to do karaoke and only embarrass yourself in front of your friends.
but then you have no excuse.
don't blame it on the booze, either. it's weak sauce.
yes, the korean porn channel is hilarious. my friends & i may never see milk the same again..
the tambourines are a fantastic touch.
multiple microphones makes it easy for a few of us to be rockstars, instead of just hogging the mic all night.
but there's just..something missing.
there are a lot of songs to choose from, but they seem to be missing out on a lot of what i want to hear/sing.
i'd rather embarrass myself in front of strangers ;)
