As another reviewer said, this place is confusing. It’s a karaōke bar, located up a narrow flight of stairs above a bus pickup point. You sing in the middle of the room with a projection screen behind you, tables and booths around the perimeter. Décor is minimal, heavy curtains obscure what I assume are windows. Sound system isn’t the greatest but I doubt your vocal skills are that great anyway. A group of older Chinese men were the only other patrons that weren’t part of an event I showed up for. On a Monday at 10pm, I got the feeling not many people would have been there if not for us. It’s divey, not in a dirty way but in a obscure bare bones, no frills kind of way. They serve Yuengling.
Fiona P.
Rating des Ortes: 2 Astoria, Queens, NY
Bare bones karaōke joint. You sing right in the middle of the bar. The mics don’t work very well, so be prepared to lose your voice while showing off your skills. The song listings don’t contain artist names, so good luck on finding what you’re looking for. Drink prices are slightly steep for the diveyness of the bar.
Tj W.
Rating des Ortes: 5 Brooklyn, NY
It’s Britney, b*tch. This bar will play any song you want, to the video stylings of stock image. Hands down, favorite bar in lower Chinatown. Have you recently had a night without classic hits from 2003? Come here. Problem solved omgomg.
Sa J.
Rating des Ortes: 4 Manhattan, NY
SO legit. Get a group together and go here for a wild night.
Caroline K.
Rating des Ortes: 1 Westport, CT
Left my credit card at the bar & ended up getting a call from Chase that someone had tried to use it at Macy’s the next day.
Chey H.
Rating des Ortes: 3 Brooklyn, NY
I’m still new to karaōke, but I had a great time sharpening my skills at Up Stairs bar. It’s tucked away down in Chinatown, but was still packed on a snowy Saturday night. This isn’t the place to be shy since you sing in front of the rest of the bar, which can either lead to embarrassment or cheers, but it’s all fun. The music selection is decent – lots of classics, but you won’t find the most up to date songs here(also, how come they don’t have Baby Got Back). You request songs at the bar and wait to see your selection come up on the screen. Songs are $ 1, and well drinks were pretty cheap. The bar is a few steps up from a dive, but there was plenty of seating for many groups and service at the bar was fast. A fun place to go for an exciting night out!
Carl W.
Rating des Ortes: 4 Bronx, NY
This bar is confusing. I would say the drinks are mid price i would say those who gave this place 1 star are big jerks. The karaōke menu is difficult because it doesn’t list the artists. What we thought was La Bamba by Ritchie Valens was actually a different song by Ricky Martin. The mics are really loud with reverb and the midis are fairly quiet so everyone sounds bad when they sing. Overall this place was cool and pretty empty on a Saturday night. I really enjoyed the privacy and the comradery of poor sad and inebriated cantors mixed with soho-lookin people who are there by happy accident.
Michelle S.
Rating des Ortes: 4 Brooklyn, NY
The nice thing about this place is that you don’t need to make a reservation. When my group of 11 showed up at 12:30 on a Saturday night we could easily get a huge booth and sing a ton of songs. It feels like you have your own private room without having to pay for one or figuring out how to play songs on a karaōke machine(most of the other karaōke places in chinatown have machines that are impossible to navigate if you’re not a native speaker of Mandarin/Cantonese.) Drinks are pretty cheap, and super cute to see old Chinese men belt out a few songs. Def recommend if you don’t care to pay for a private room and prefer a more divey, kitschy vibe with a supportive, mixed crowd.
Melissa K.
Rating des Ortes: 4 New York, NY
Cheap. Like really super super cheap. Dirty. But it’s a bar upstairs in a not very bar part out town. In the end I like that it’s not on the main strips.
Lin h.
Rating des Ortes: 2 New York, NY
I’m confused as to what to rate this place. Its a small DIVEY spot. Everyone’s cool in there and its a mixed crowd. Chinese owned, and the bartenders are friendly and really give a good pour. There were a couple of old Chinese men at the bar eating. Not sure if they were friends of the owner or something. Anyway, it’s not really my crowd and the women in there were definitely not attractive. You can’t even tell theres a bar here cuz theres a small neon lit sign on the 2nd floor window(the bar is on the 2nd floor). Large projection screen playing karaōke. Its just one rather small open room.
Misha T.
Rating des Ortes: 4 Berkeley, CA
Karaōke, strong well drinks, and cantonese bartenders who will call you out for not having enough girls in your group. I’m all about that.
Denise D.
Rating des Ortes: 1 Manhattan, NY
It was a Friday night and I happened to up end in Chinatown, so I Unilocal searched for a bar and decided to give this place a try. I fully expected a dingy Chinese karaōke bar where there were drunk old Asian men singing, cheap drinks, and cheap chinese snacks. Unfortunately, I found none of these. Once I walked up the stairs, I came into a room that had an ambiance somewhere between a speakeasy and dive bar, with none of the positives of either types of establishments. I guess that’s what happens when a place gets overrun by hipsters. It was so crowded that there were no seats, only awkward standing room in the middle where one would definitely be in the way. The amount of irony there sickened me a little so I left pretty soon after and went for cheap beer and yakitori on St. Marks. My apologies to the staff and ownership for such a negative review seeing as how I didn’t even stay long. And if this is your crowd, by all means, go — you will love it.
Jose G.
Rating des Ortes: 4 Brooklyn, NY
We walked, they took a cab. And the texts came in this order: «All the songs are in Chinese. Total bummer. What about the other karaōke spot?» «Nevermind. We like it here. U will too.» «Just needed to settle in.» Our crew of about twenty were the only non-Chinese clientele, but we were treated with respect, warmth and a nice, long evening of duets with the Chinese birthday party across. The song selection is not all in Chinese(though it’s not comprehensive and w/o the band names, you get surprised with some incorrect songs), and we found plenty of classics we all loved. And we traded turns with the other birthday party serenading each other with birthday songs. The waitress was a total blast and one of my favorite servers in a long time. Don’t come here if you’re going to be a jerk. Come here if you want to join in(and/or were raised speaking Cantonese). We had a great time, with affordable drinks at a wonderful hidden karaōke bar. Just walk up stairs.
JACK C.
Rating des Ortes: 4 New York, NY
A cool New York City Lower Eastside karaōke sing along bar that offers finger food and inexpensive drinks. I attended a private birthday party there and the place was rocking. The sound system and the DJ was great. The manager Rena was friendly and great with the pour. Thumbs up.