Could have been a gem...
The rules/regulations are insulting for people that are coming to drink and have a good time.
The waitress' could be alot nicer. Please don't treat us like you are doing us a favor by serving us when you are clearly charging 18% gratuity. Really bad attitudes, not sure what they are so angry about, LOL!
will NEVER go back.
They spelled "blew" wrong, because this place blew. Cold and without personality. Expensive and snotty. Go here if you want to feel bad about life. I'm not even kidding. Â Get over yourselves, Karaoke Blew, with your bouncer and your credit card snatching upon entry. Â You aren't in Beverly Hills, you're in West LA, and you're embarrassing us.
Review Source:Personally I like this place. I've been here twice in three weeks. They charge you a drink minimum which I think is stupid but you're better off just buying a bottle of alcohol. We had a bottle of Jameson and Absolut with mixers. Split 5 ways with tip it came out to be about $55 bucks a person. Not bad considering I would have spent more than that on myself and buying rounds. The dumb thing is that with a bottle, you have to rent "glasses" to drink out of at $5 a pop. Pretty retarded in my opinion but if you just order two glasses and ask for a bunch of water, drink the water and you have an empty glass to use.
If you think about it, it makes sense. If you're going to buy a round of shots, it's going to cost you probably $8-$10 a shot anyways. You get a whole bottle for a little bit more, plus they take out the drink minimum when you get a bottle.
They give you little snacks to munch on and the waitresses are all pretty cute.
Oh they have karaoke here too.
I had such a fun time for the short amount of time I was here. It's always fun to see/hear people singing karoake no matter how bad they sound you want to cheer them on! What's a plus is you buy one drink it gives you 5 songs to sing. Definitely a fun place to have a birthday celebration. Bartender was so nice. He made the best lychee saketini I've ever drank. Drinks were cheap too. Would come back just for that!
Review Source:RUDE RUDE RUDE manager and to many rules.
I used to frequent this bar a lot, before the management changed and they re-did the inside to make it look nicer. I used to love coming here because it was always empty and they have a huge selection of songs to chose from and I could get up 8 times to sing if I wanted to. However, I went here two nights ago for my birthday and my highly respected opinion of this place changed 100%, I will not go back here ever!
When I called to make a reservation, the owner of the place, Ralph, I think his name is, told me that all 12 of my friends HAD to come in together or he won't let in the late comers. I almost laughed, but decided to remain polite, and calmly said, "we'll do our best, but there is no way in any universe that all my friends are going to show up together and at the same time". Then I asked if I can bring a cake. At first he said no, because we'll end up throwing it at people and throwing it at the walls..... HAHAHHAAaaaaa.... we're not kindergarteners! I was really awaken back, I said, Sir, we're a bunch of ladies, not animals, there won't be a food fight. That was the first of my rude encounters with this manager Ralph.
We get to the karaoke place, Â 8 of us and sit down, and Ralph comes over right away and asks when the rest of my party will be there. I don't know! I'm just enjoying my party. They will get here when they get here. Anytime we stood up from our seats he would tell us to sit down. And he pointed at me and firmly said- I Need To Talk To You! when my friends were being a little too loud. Seriously? What am I supposed to do about drunk people in a bar? It's a bar!
He wouldn't let the last of my friends in after 10:00 and made them wait outside because the bar was full and at capacity.... I looked around, there were a bunch of empty seats... Oh, and no one is allowed to stand. WEIRD
Oh, there was more that happened, too much for me to write in this review, but Ralph the manger ruined my birthday party ;( and ruined my night ;(
RUDE RUDE RUDE. I am so sad that I will never go back to my favorite karaoke bar because of a RUDE manager and because there are so many stupid rules.
If you want to sing karaoke don't go here...or go alone. They decide who sings based off your table number. So if you go alone you'll sing 7 times if you go with 10 people only 7 of you will sing in a 4 hour period. They also require an illegal $20 minimum on credit cards. Not worth it better karaoke elsewhere. Very disappointed
Review Source:Just got a job here so I'm a little biased. But this place is actually pretty great.
Pros: Great stage area. Great Song Selection. Really cool and non-judgmental core of regulars. Great Staff (especially that new bartender... he's awesome.) And during the week it's not too crowded so you can get A LOT of songs in. Â
Sure there are a few rules but they're extremely reasonable. One drink minimum for free Kareoke? Who can complain about that? Come check us out!
-Travis
If i could sing, i think i would have enjoyed this place a little better.
The staff is very friendly and easy to talk to. It seems like they know who the regulars are because as soon as this one guy came in, they took a bottle from the back and poured it right as he sat down. Now that's what i call service.
I wouldn't mind coming back to this place for a drink and entertainment.
One of my fav bars. Â Very Japanese bar. Â Great bartenders and an extremely quirky but cool owner. Â Very non judgmental when it comes to singing. Â Karaoke was not made for singers.
I would give it 5 stars if they would get rid of their minimums to spend for a table or to use a credit card and add games on TV and a happy hour.
I wish they would just let anyone sit on the table dammit!
Cool people go here but I can't handle going anywhere too much or else the same stories get told over and over again.
If you go you will definitely notice certain things about the bar is cool but after a bit you will ask yourself... "this place has potential to be busier but that seems like it's being kept in this kind of sleepy state". Â Oh well ,still love the place.
I kind of love this place but there are a couple of things that would make Karaoke Bleu more enjoyable. This is what I dislike:
1) Too many rules. One drink minimum (this one makes sense), even more rules if you have a party of 4 or more, rules abt cake cutting, can't touch the sparkly things around the stage, can't walk off the stage with the mic and sing... I guess most of the rules have stemmed from bad experiences but meh... It just turns you off when you go somewhere to have a good time and there's rules for this and that.
2) They need to update their songs majorly. Oldies are great but sometimes I just want  to belt out BABY BABY BABY or transform into my alter ego and perform Super Bass and alas.... I cannot. :( :( I've come too many time in hopes of finding "Someone Like You" in the song book but always disappointed.
Those are my main complaints. Some have mentioned that depending on how many drinks you buy determines how many songs you can sing but I've never had that problem. I've come and had the minimum one drink and was able to sing all I wanted to! But if they really do limit your songs with regards of how many drinks you get then that's ridic.
Otherwise, this place is sort of a hole in the wall typical karaoke bar. If you have no shame getting on stage or rather you enjoy the attention and spotlight then come here. If you love singing songs from the 80s, 90s and low millennium times, Â this is the place for you.
The waitresses are a hit or miss. Most of them are friendly and social and others can be kind of annoying and constantly hovering.
It's a pretty chill spot on the weeknights but definitely gets packed on the weekends. So if you're a mic hog (you know who you are) then weekdays are probably better for you since less people = more chances for you to sing.
The crowd can range from young adults in their 20s bringing Britney back to older middle aged groups singing oldies from before my time :P. Either way, the singers come on a broad spectrum... there are those who are clearly very talented singers and others who are still learning to  carry a tune. But hey, with enough liquid courage, anyone can sound decent :P
If I could give no stars, I would to this place...
This is hands down the worst karaoke experience I've ever had for three reasons:
1) Too many rules (and they're too complicated to go into detail in this review)
2) Waitresses annoying as all hell (worst than a strip club). They'll be hovering and asking if you want a drink even if you have a full one sitting in front of you.
3) Sound system sucks. There's no monitor facing the singer so you can't hear the music. But it doesn't really matter... because the music sounds like it's coming from the room next door.
And finally... if you stop drinking (even water), there's no more singy singy for you!
Karaoke- drinks- strangers to make you feel like you took a chance and did something that rightfully proclaims that you are starved for attention. Yup, I love it here!
Their song selection is pretty astounding- Eddie & the Hot Rods! Wreckless Eric!!! Siouxsie and The Banshees!!!!!!
I sang Duran Duran, The Cult and ended with Tiffany's rendition of "I Think We're Alone Now". The waitress said I had a good voice. Really? I was just goofing off trying to blow off some work steam.
Don't waste your time here, there are far too many other good karaoke bars out there. Â This place has waaaaay too many rules - it's like a jail! Â And the waitresses are the prison guards!
I went there to meet a group of friends on a Sat. night. When I got there I was told about 15 times about their "minimum drink rule" which was a great way to start my visit. Â Throughout the night, we were bothered every 5 minutes by waitresses and/or the hostess. Â Leave us alone! Â We're there to be with friends, not get badgered about some stupid minimum drink rule! Â
Prices were fine. Lights were too bright. Good selection of songs though.
Sadly, not a good karaoke bar.
I've been here pretty regularly (once every couple of weeks or so) since I discovered the place 4 months ago...like other reviewers said, Bleu has an amazing selection of songs--there is even an additional current songs list if you want to do recent hits. I don't think they do the $1/song thing anymore since I've never been charged for it in the many times I've been here. The atmosphere is intimate with dimmed lights, mellow laser showish projections, and a fun done up stage that makes you feel like a lounge singer. Way more entertaining than little black box private karaoke places if you ask me :)
More importantly though, for a lush like me, is that the drinks and bottles are VERY WELL PRICED. Not sure what others were talking about with the "way too expensive drinks" comments, but a BOTTLE of Maker's Mark for $50?!?! That's just ridicuous. Also, if you don't finish the bottle, they'll keep it for you at the bar for 45 days or something like that so you can come in and drink from it till it's gone. Also, $6 patron shots have been on special every time I've gone there so...do with that information what you will ;)
The crowds are kind of hit or miss, but this is good if you are greedy and want to sing a TON of songs--it's usually pretty empty early on esp. on weekends. It does get loud (hello--it's a karaoke bar!) and there are some house rules (like an $11 drink minimum if you're with a group), but all in all this is the best karaoke bar I've found in LA due to their prices, uber-friendly service, and gi-normous song selection.
oh boy. Â came here after an amazing dinner at sushistop in a mood that couldn't have been any more grand and left after 20 minutes with a bad taste in my mouth and a ringing in my ears. Â I don't mind karaoke, in fact, i have been told I have the voice of an angel and could probably cure cancer with my dance moves. Â Let's talk about the group of glee club who slowly sipped on their beers only to pounce out of their seats to the sounds of the most ridiculous of song choices, even the most ironic song picks fell completely flat. Â The drinks are wayyy too expensive and I was told many times that the owner was a dick by the service (an unnecessary factoid that did absolutely nothing for me). Â Other cons: bright lights, nonsense sound system, drinks are soft, and the whole general ambience is well.. awkward to see the least.
side note: was chased out of this place by a waitress whom insisted that I took their copy of the receipt. Â To this i simply replied that I didn't even take my receipt, but regardless proceeded to show her the inside of my wallet to which she still did not believe me and eventually call me an asshole b/c I was unwilling to stand there any longer while she stood like a deer in the headlight with a puzzled look on her stupid face.
Karaoke Bleu reawakened my long-sleeping passion for karaoke!
We went here to celebrate my karaoke-enthusiast-boyfriend's birthday on a Saturday night, and when he and I walked in, there were a few small groups/couples singing and having a great time already. It felt like a really comfortable atmosphere, and when I bombed one of my favorite songs (I don't know what happened, I sound great in the shower), everyone still cheered for me and I didn't feel like an idiot. And I felt like I wanted to cheer for everyone else there, whether they were earnestly singing a song to their girlfriend or doing one armed push-ups along with a Marky Mark song. Everyone was having fun, and it just made the whole place and experience collectively more fun.
The staff is really nice and I had absolutely no complaints about service or anything like that. Drinks are decent and decently priced. Their song selection is phenomenal, and I think the only problem was being overwhelmed with so many choices! I had an excellent time because it wasn't overly pretentious or serious, and people were just there to have fun and sing some songs.
I don't know if this is just a feature of this place, karaoke bars, bars in general, or what--but I really felt weird about the way the waitresses seemingly have to attend to male patrons (I guess in order to make them feel welcome, and to bring in more money or get more tips, whatever). I just felt really uncomfortable watching the whole process occurring. I also hated the music videos they played between karaoke choices, but that's just a feature of me and my taste.
OK so I'm a karaoke frickin PRO, so when I review a roke spot you can be sure it's spot on...
If you're a fan of SINGING, and you dont wanna be secluded in a small private room with 3 of your friends, then this spot is great. It's one of the only Japanese karaoke places that has a main room- a big plus. Also they dont charge per song (VERY common in Japanese joints in NYC - which typically charge $1.50 per song).
I showed up early on a friday (before 9pm) and was able - throughout the night - to sing 11 songs. My friend sang 10. And other than the first hour, there was a decent crowd of people in there, so that tells you how quickly they move through the songs...
I saw alot of bad reviews of this joint on here - mostly surrounding the issues of their "draconian" rules. And I have to say, I found it a little odd that folks would be pissed that there's a minimum purchase request of (i think) $11 per person. I mean, getting 2 drinks should cover this, or a drink and an app. (keep in mind the songs are FREEEE!!)
I brought this point up to our waitstaff and she told me that very often customers will come and want to sing without buying anything, and in fact get pissed that they're asked to buy something. What?!! Are you fucking kidding me?? These are the same people that go to coffeeshops to use the wifi and get angry when asked to buy a dollar cup of tea. And you know what, for those people to THEN come on yelp and write a bad review just tells you how fucking pathetically selfish, egocentric, pathological and just out-of-touch they really are.
There were a couple of rules that I thought were odd - one was that you werent allowed to take your singing off the stage - everything had to be ON stage. Also there was no dancing in the aisles allowed. You were allowed to dance (again) ON the stage. My producer friend I was with thought that this was most likely because the bar had a very limited entertainment license (he mentioned Cabaret license) which restricted the entertainment to a certain designated area - in this case the stage only. So, yes, that kinda sucks and it is indicative of an obviously CHEAP proprietor trying to cut corners any way he/she can, but seriously its not THAT big a deal to keep your shit on the stage. The bouncer was in fact very polite about it, I didnt see him get angry or rude at any point, so...
If you wanna sing your ass off on a stage in a pretty nice and (appearing) newly renovated place with a very
I am so done with this place.
I've been to Karaoke Bleu a handful of times. Â We hold last minute birthday parties there, because you don't have to make a reservation since the place is ALWAYS EMPTY. The bouncer knows me and comes in whenever I sing. That qualifies me as a regular, right? You would think that as a business owner you would strive to keep your returning clientele?
Not so much.
After being there for 2 hours we were asked to switch to a different table to accommodate a larger group. We were the only other group of people in the entire place!!! PLUS there were 6 or so empty tables to choose from. Why couldn't they have pushed some other tables together instead of asking all 7 of us to uproot, move our books, our drinks and our belongings across the room. Â WTF?
The waitresses are fresh off the boat and barely speak English, my boyfriend ordered a Budweiser, pretty common right? The waitress could not understand his request. She finally asked him to write down his order so she could take it back to the bar to be translated. If you do not know what Budweiser is you probably should not be a cocktail waitress!!! Double WTF?
The owner, you'll recognize him, he's the crazy Kim Jong Il looking guy always puttering around, messing with some imaginary item that needs fixing. Instead of offering any kind of service to his customers. He spent about 10 minutes messing with the heavy front door to make sure it stayed closed. Did I mention that the place was EMPTY besides us two groups!? Why would you be trying to keep people out!? Thrice WTF?
Then they sprang a $20 surcharge on us for trying to split a bill and that was the last straw . This place is just too strict there are way too many "rules". Â The owner is totally in the wrong business because he would have made a terrific dictator.
Why would any paying customer want to subject themselves to that kind of treatment?
How is this place still in business? Â And why do I keep going there?
Every time I go there and I have an urge to karaoke, this place is DEAD. Â Absolutely dead as a doornail. Â I admit, I have walked in on a weed day, but most of the time I go on a Friday night. Â Where is everyone? Â It's usually my group of friends that end up trying to make the most of the night by getting up on stage and singing. Â But it would nice if other people were even there to sing too!
Yes, there is a fabulous selection of songs to choose from. Â Be ready to pay $1 per song you sing, so make it worthwhile.
The decor and the atmosphere really isn't that bad, it's just no one is ever there. Â Maybe they are too close to Max Karaoke, but nevertheless, they need to do something to bring in some customers.
A group of 8 of us came here after an opening at Giant Robot next door and figured we'd try it out. Â Little did we know "free cover" actually means 2 drink minimum (or $11 per person for groups of 6 or more), mandatory 17% "service charge", $3 charge for snack refills. $20 minimum for credit cards...oh yeah, and maybe some karaoke. Â Does this really sound fun to anyone? Â And don't even try to figure out the confusing sign out front conveniently blocked by the door guy. Â The "free cover" depends on how many people are in your group, and you pretty much are guaranteed to spend over $11 per person because I'm sure their drinks are craftily priced to where they never add up to exactly $11.
I actually really hate leaving 1 star reviews but I'm hoping this will help save any smartphone Yelpers' plans of a fun night from turning into a bust. Â Right up front they ask for a credit card for the tab so you can't back out on your mistake and leave right then & there. The staff is as nice as they can be for a place like this, and since I have no idea how genuine their customer service may have been, I'm just going to leave them out of this. Â They check up on you often because I'm sure they want to keep you ordering horrible, watered-down shots of "Jack Daniels" (oh yes, Â I used quotes for that).
In any case, you have been warned, and I hope you've scrolled down the Yelp page enough to find this review and turn back.
This place gets 3 whole stars because of how awesomely quirky it is.
All kinds of clientele in all different age ranges. Outdated/nonexistent decor. No one judging or caring about your singing abilities, and the happy crowd cheering and egging on the bad singers with as much energy and gusto as the good ones. Plastic frogs and mermaids on the edge of your cocktail glasses. Great variety of songs. Very intimate lounge-feel, where you don't have to wait long to sing, where you don't get crowded by would-be singers and have to wait for hours to sing in a douchetastic crowd *ahemGASLITEahem*. I really like this kind of place.
So much potential for greatness.
However, the many, many rules are a bit absurd. No cover, but drink minimum? $1 per song? Passing by an actual bouncer to get in, at a place like this? 1 payment per table, when not everyone carries cash these days? Ridiculous bottle prices?
And whatever you do, do NOT bring your drink on stage to sing, or you WILL get yelled at. This was absurd to me, as I'm one to use my drink as my microphone when you're singing with a group and have nothing else to hold. Drink in one hand, mic in the other! Isn't that the fundamental value of karaoke??
Ah, little Karaoke Bleu. It saddens me to think of how great you could be, and what a loyal regular I would be, if only things were different.
Impressive list of japanese and american songs.
stuff as new as owl city... stuff as old as... well before the 80's (before I was born...so old to me). no cover charge!!! woohoo
seems to be a bar only + karaoke...w/ no food except some snack mix.
pretty cool. guy to girl ratio sucks for guys...totally in the girls' favor though - it was almost like 5:1 or somethin...on a friday night!
drinks are brought promptly and the bar girls check up on you fairly often - very attentive. my hubby's friend had a huge group of people and i dont think anything got forgotten.
they're apparently very strict with their seating and who they let in and where you take your drink (if you take it up when you sing... you are reminded to take it off stage). the bouncer at the front door actually looked as if he could do some damage. yeeeeppp...
I came here for the first time last night and I had to say I was impressed with all the decor. It's almost as if it was too clean for its own good.
An intimately setting and a wide variety of music. Has the potential to be a neighborhood karaoke joint on any given night of the week. The staff here are extremely friendly.
Howeverf, there are rules. I came with a total of 4 people last night. Â The rule states if 4 or more people, it will be $11 per person. I mean people are coming to drink anyway, so why would there be a minimum? It actually takes part of the fun away walking into this bar because now you have to keep track of how much you spend so far and whether or not you met the requirements.
I would come here again, but with a much bigger crowd. When you have so many people coming to have fun, the rules will slip past you.
TIP: Don't go in with huge expectations and you'll be pleasantly surprised because at the end of the day, it's the company you're with that counts.
On a whim we decided to drop by here on a Friday night. What a mistake. We had to wait to get in and once we finally did, around 1230, we were explained their ridiculous $11 a person minimum order, which wouldn't be so bad if they didn't tell us it was ALSO last call for alcohol.
So we scrambled to order $11 worth of watered down Makers Mark each. Otherwise we would be forced to endure the remaining half hour of white-sorority-girls-screeching-Bon-Jovi-songs sober. The shitty sound system and incessant mic feedback were sobering enough.
It was packed so the service was pretty terrible. I hate to give 1 star reviews but there was really nothing I liked about this place.
I'll be sticking to the karaoke places in Ktown for now. I recommend you avoid this place if humanly possible.
We usually saunter over here after a big dinner at the restaurant next door. Â We drink, smoke and make spectacles of ourselves on stage. Â It is pretty fun and time goes by really fast.
The crappy part about this place is that parking is horrible. Â You either have to park in a tiny spot in the back or find parking down the street and walk your behind to this place.
The nice thing is that you can make a spectacle of yourself and people don't really care what you sound like. Â It's probably because most of the people in the bar are pretty liquored up. Â
I've been to this place a few times and will probably be revisiting it again in the future. Â I give it a 3.5 stars!
As we were walking home from dinner on Sawtelle, it was either get in a car and drive to a local bar like the Arsenal, or step into Karaoke Bleu and have a drink. Luckily, we chose the latter, and 6 drinks each and a $63 tab later, here are our observations:
1. Friendly staff (but watch out, if you are having too much fun, the owner who wears the track jacket will tell you to settle down)
2. There are plenty of rules to follow. Feel free to toe the line and see how many of these rules you can break.
3. If you make a new friend at the bar, be sure to buy him a song as he might give you the best rendition of Holla Back girl you ever heard.
4. If you ask them to pour you a glass of wine, it's either just red or white. Don't worry about what kind of wine it is, it's red or white, that's all that matters.
5. The clientele ranges from work parties, to regular guys letting loose after a long day at work, to people we thought were on their Amish discovery tour, only to find out they actually thought Amish clothing is a new trend.
6. There are a few regulars here... including the coolest guy I've ever met who broke out a scratch pad and sang some songs from his repertoire noted in his pad.
7. Did I mention, be sure to follow the rules!!
Enjoy!
Sincerely,
Yelpers on Sawtelle
Oh man. This place.
I've got no words. I definitely prefer karaoke rooms, but coming in here on a Saturday night before the crowds is hilarious. Those really awkward ballad singers that you just KNOW come here every night (or maybe frequent a different bar every day as to not seem as crazy as they are) to fulfill their lifelong dream of being a lounge singer since they're about 20 years too old to be on American Idol are worth the $11 minimum alone! Add to that the BEST 90's music videos playing in between performances.... ugh. Love it.
$1 per karaoke song, but seriously priceless entertainment.
One dollar to sing karaoke. One check per table. One dollar per song you sing. Tip automatically added to your table. Must sing on stage. Minimum drink order...
As you can see this place has a lot of rules and they are posted there as if it were some kind of novelty. They might as well have a rule that says no fun.
Lame. That is the perfect description. It felt like a bar for elementary school children with all the rules. A "No Fun" sign would basically cover all their bases in one sign.
Minimum drink requirements too. And my cousin's rum and coke was basically a coke. Waitresses were very polite and kind but that was it.
There was about 10 people tops in the entire bar and I was pretty sure I was the only one not speaking Japanese. Very small stage and not very excited singers. Not en exciting place to be.
My friends and I are furious at this place. Â We started the night all joyful and happy..and this place ruined it all. Â Here's the situation:
After singing our hearts out at Max Karaoke, we were walking home and we saw these two gals who just got there eager to drink and sing at Karaoke Bleu...and we were like..cool...i guess we can go there too. Â We got there ...and sat next to each other. Â The hostess warned us that...for a party of five...there's an $11 minimum for 5 ppl ($6 minimum for three ppl). Â We told her that actually there were only three of us and we met these two ppl outside the bar. Â She wouldn't believe us and she told her manager to come over. Â Her manager wouldn't believe us either after we incessantly explained to her that we didn't know these ppl before. Â We were so mad so the three of us got up and left (the two girls ended up staying there). Â What a night! Â I rarely give 1 star to a business but this place really deserved it. Â If you don't trust the customers....then you shouldn't be doing business.
This place is only worth your while if you like smoke with your songs.
BOTTOM LINE: Â Compared to all the other karaoke joints on the block, Karaoke Bleu is pricey for what you don't get. The management is aloof and unresponsive to suggestions or complaints.
DOWNSIDES:
You can't dance or move around in your seat -- they will tell you to stop.
You can't have more than two people on stage at a time.
You will be inhaling smoke all night.
You have to keep up a drink and snack minimum.
SONG ROTATION:
Favors people who come alone or with one other person. Large groups get penalized. Â They rotate their song order by table, taking one singer per table. This means you get to sing a lot more if you're sitting at a table of two (or by yourself at the bar) versus at a table of eight. I was with a group of six people and after two hours, we hadn't yet each had a turn. Meanwhile there were a bunch of couples and singles at the bar who got to sing several times per person.
When we talked with the establishment they ignored us because they said the other tables were spending more money on expensive liquor than we were. How rude.
ONE UPSIDE: Â
if you're warming yourself up for singing on a stage, it's a non-intimidating way to practice. Try early Sunday evening -- it's dead then.
I'D RATHER BE AT:
Max Karaoke. Same great song list, killer happy hour specials. And you can dance on the sofas if you want to.
Rules, rules, and more rules... as Japanese as it gets
There's a huge sign on the wall you can't miss
$11 minimum per person
No dancing
No jumping
No obnoxious behavior
No more than four people on the stage at once
Ironically smoking is allowed and somehow legal on the premises. Â
The cool thing about this place is the ability to purchase a bottle and store it on the premises for up to sixty days! Â Makes paying that minimum not so bad...though I wonder if you're subject to the minimum again when you come back. Â We'll find out this Wednesday! Â
The karaoke is only OK... sound quality sucks and the equipment is out of date. Â Song selection is huge none the less.
I am one of those people who hates the fact that people can smoke in this place. It gives me a headache!
I went there this past Saturday night, it wasn't very full. However, their dollar minimum seemed backwards to me. $6 minimum per person if you have 1-3 people, and $11 per person if you have 4+ people! (We had 5 people.) Also, the $1 per song seems silly.
I'm not sure if they do this for every bill, but they added 17% gratuity. Might have tipped that much anyway since the waitresses are attentive, as other reviewers have said, but I don't like that presumption.
I would recommend avoiding the "American Lemonade" drink. It's lemonade with red wine! It tastes as bad as it sounds.
I was watching an episode of HBO's Curb Your Enthusiasm last night and this place was featured on the show. I was like "holy shit, I was just there a few weeks ago".
It's a real chill spot and kinda of different for a number of reasons. Â First off the servers are both 1) good looking and 2) very attentive. Â They'll take shots with you which I always think is cool. Â Reasons why it's different: Â 1) you can buy your own bottle of booze and keep it there for future use. Â They'll print a little label on it with your name. 2) you can smoke inside. not that i smoke, but sometimes i like places that buck the system.
It's rare that I sing Karaoke and I know why - I SUCK royally. Â For the benefit of those around, I'll limit my karaoke adventures to group songs. Â But hey, at least I got to sing on the same stage as Larry David and Mel Brooks.
For the love of God, you people are all crazy. This is the absolute worst place I have ever been to in Southern California, with the possible exception of Graveside Tours.
First, everyone smokes inside this bar. Besides being, um, *illegal*, it's just darn uncomfortable. Second, you pay *more* per person as your group size increases. Unless you are trying to incentivize people to bring less of their friends, this makes no sense whatsoever. When my group was limited to 5 people, we were required to purchase $5 worth of drinks apiece. When our numbers increased to 10, however, we were required to pay up to $10 per person.
The karaoke was lame. The atmosphere sucked. I would have rather stayed home, sniffed glue and played Wii golf.
In one word- SCARY....
I read online reviews (cannot remember where but it was before I found yelp) and people said it was a really fun place for Karaoke.
How wrong.....
We got there around 9:30 on a Friday night and it was pretty quiet.
A few scary types sitting alone and 2 tables had 2-3 people at it.
 A Destiny's Child concert was playing on the TV ( a very old concert) and the bartenders were seriously enthralled with it.
Not much singing going on, many strange people, no atmosphere and watered down drinks.
Will I be returning? Ha ha ha!!!
Large selection of songs, I mean extra large. Â Walls are somewhat thin so you can really hear the tone def crusaders that bellow from all angles. When I was here there was no minimum, I'm not sure what that girl below me is yelping about. ;`{}
I went here a few Sundays ago and actually had a blast. The selection is plentiful, but the privacy is compromised. Next time I am going to sneak in some St. Ides, St. Johns Warts, and St. Paulie's.
What LA needs is a really real KA LA OK spot. Anyone wanna build one with me?
Oh yea one more thing, the mic was like straight outta radio shack's everything must go bin. Way too much reverb.
There is a minimum charge of $10 AND 2 drink orders just to sing at this bar. Â Plus, we had to pay $1 per song. Â What's that about? Â It's approximately the size of a living room (60 mics X 50 mics) and ... for some reason, all the songs are played in the wrong key. Â But who says I'm tone def?
Either way, it's overpriced. Â The place was pretty crowded on the weekend night I went. Â There was a rude group in our presence, which tempted me to key their cars. Â But I graduated high school, so maybe I should've just bashed their windows. Â They "shushed" us and told everyone else to "shut the * up" when we wanted to sing along with them. Â
But back on topic, that shouldn't deter you from going to Bleu, which is ironically decorated with the same colored neon lights. Â Who was the genius that came up with this idea?