Nanta Karaoke & Bar

What a dump… I love this place!
Cheesy, dirty, affordable and fun. Private room in the back was great for 10 aspiring rockstars!

If your looking for a good time in Calgary that doesn’t involve hiring a lady of the night Nanta is your jam. Good drinks, great crowd and inexpensive. I bring everyone here and always have an amazing time. It’s good for the ego and no judgements if your terrible at karaōke.
Best time ever!

Great place. so much fun

Woo-​hoo! My 3^rd review of Unilocal (the fabulous Korean karaōke bar across the street from my apartment) is the BEST!
Again — I went there for my birthday, and this time my friends showed up! This tells me the place is after all, easy to find. I posted the address on facebook events as well as photos of the outside, so it is in a pretty good location after all.
Yes the stairs can be steep so do be careful, sober and otherwise.
Anyway, we rented the private room on the left-​hand side when you walk in (the biggest and nicest one they have). It was only $ 26 an hour which was reasonable for the 9 of us they let in (*they usually prefer a group of 8 or less). We got a tower of power for a good price, but please note it’s tap beer and not a Canadian brand, so it takes getting used to. I personally liked it, but some people in the room had other opinions, that’s okay.
The English music selection was actually pretty good — it’s the yellow-​colored pages if you’re seeking them — there are even some vintage Disney songs! lol.
My hubby ordered a couple of food platters for everyone and those are good, well-​filled and reasonably-​priced. Just wanted to give you the head’s up that an evening at Nanta is even better when you rent a room with some friends!
The lobby tends to get very, very loud and there’s a long que for the song you want to sing, so the private room option is better — but get there early! They open at 6pm.

Oh Nanta. You’re loud and dark and a bit of a dump. When I invite friends here I have to wait outside for them because you’re impossible to find. You sell my beloved soju by the bottle and that makes it bloody expensive if I don’t have a big group. Your bathrooms are dirty, your banquets uncomfortable. Your sound is too loud, your playlist outdated. And yet… you’re still my favourite place to go for karaōke. Maybe it’s how everyone sings together, maybe it’s the delicious soju, but any night at Nanta, whether I’m only there for a few hours or all night, is guaranteed to be absolutely fabulous fun!

how to find it: look for the shady-​looking door on 6 st between 6 ave and 5 ave SW under the +15 beside a chinese restaurant.
when to go: 7 or 8 to avoid the huge crowd and sing on the stage for free (you probably have to buy drinks though) or 10 – 11 for when it gets crazy.
what to drink: any or all of the flavours of soju they carry, a shot of soju in a beer (somaek), or share a 4 foot beer tower.
if you want privacy: there are like 4 or 5 private rooms that are meant for around 8 people tops for $ 23 an hour. you should probably reserve one beforehand if you choose this route.
how to request a song (THE 2013 WAY): go to
on your smartphone and search the song you want, write down the 5-​digit song code, and hand it to a bartender (or just say it to him if it’s not busy). not gonna promise they have the newest songs though.
why i don’t really like this place: although it has most of the songs i want to sing (mainly korean), the sound system isn’t great, the mic’s are old and probably gross, the microphone volume is usually set way too low, and you’ll probably be covered in beer by the time you leave. i’d go to galaxy if you want privacy, faster updated song list, and cleanliness, but nanta is one rowdy place on weekends.

Worst experience of my life! I went in with a friend that was visiting me from another country on a Friday evening. The place was quite empty so we thought we might have time to celebrate. We started taking drinks and the Asian male server seemed to have a bad day and pass it on us in broken English. We went to sit down and decided to still have some fun anyway.
The table next to us got friendly with us and decided to invite us to sing with them as well as to join them. As soon as we went to choose a song, the server said that we had to buy alcohol again because that’s how he was doing business etc. At the time, I was on strong medication so no alcohol for me. I took something else, but he seemed to want us to order alcohol ABSOLUTELY. I didn’t choose a song of the night and when I tried, he took the book saying «no more» and «you have to buy alcohol». Some other people came during our stay (friends of the owner perhaps?) and sang times and times in a row without ordering much. I can tell you that we left quickly after thanking the people that joined us at the tables and I felt like it was a waste of time. I’m never going back there!

November Challenge — ¹⁰⁄₃₀
This place is dank; your shoes stick to a floor that seems to be made of beer-​velcro, and it smells like spilled booze and ammonia. But it’s wonderful, and all the funnest people in town hang out here (and I’m not just saying that because they’re my friends, although, my friends are pretty fun).
The main stage is for suckers. I say that, because the main stage is a surefire way to have a one-​star experience at Nanta. You wait, you wait and you wait, and they let one guy sing the same One Direction (I keep wanting to call them New Directions, but that’s Glee… also, Nude Erec… I mean, what?) song four times in a row before you even get your chance. Is that guy on the payroll? Because he’s not even kind of good. I came here on my birthday with my sister, and they let two people sing the same songs 4x in a row, and never let my sister up on stage. Then, they told her they didn’t even have her song. It was an extremely sour note to an otherwise stellar evening, previously spent at Anju and Commonwealth.
No, you want one of the gooey, «Holy Testicle Tuesday, I do NOT want to see what this room looks like in the daytime» private rooms that are each named after a famous city. There, you can sing your heart out in a handful of different languages, every song on each mucilaginous page if you want to; no waiting for wanna-​be rockstar «I carry a grip of premixed Karaōke CDs in my glove compartment because I’m kind of a big deal» guy whose fan base will never extend outside of these walls. Make new friends by caterwauling to Butt Rock’s finest ballads, while your clothes slowly soak up all the beer that seems to be all over everything.
Sit down, stay a while, go home and take a fully clothed Crying Game-​esque shower. Isn’t that what your 20’s are all about?

This is one of the funner karaōke places in town, and the only Asian one with a stage you can use. The food and drinks aren’t that bad, and the prices pretty standard for a karaōke place, but they do have one of the larger selections of Soju cocktails.
They’ve got a pretty good selection of both English and non-​English songs, and it’s great fun to come here and watch people sing even if you’re not big on singing yourself.
The fact that you can input songs on the machine yourself differentiates this place from the Western style karaōke places in town, and if you really wanted to, you could try using the Apple Store app (
) to look up the number.
Overall a pretty fun place, and not so expensive if you just wanna sit in the main stage room.

Oh Nanta… you came and you gave without taking… my microphone away… Oh Nanta.
I’d like to think my singing skills have more to offer than my random making up songs to Barry Manilo tunes skills. Whatever my skills, you can show off yours at Nanta. Don’t worry, it only looks sketchy from the outside. Inside, you’ve got your pick of the main stage or private rooms. And it’s open 7 nights a week.
Like Lonnie mentioned in his review, the second best part is being able to program in your own song instead of waiting for your turn to come up based on what the karaōke DJ is trying to sort out. The best part is the animé dancers in the background. Sometimes their on beat… more often not so much.
English song selection isn’t very big, and it’s never updated from what I can tell. But if you love to belt out a little Ace of Base or Aqua, you’re bang on. Oh, and need a duet for Barbie Girl? I sooo have that one down.

This is one of the most, if not THE most, fun karaōke bars I have ever been to. My biggest qualm with most karaōke bars is having to request a song from a DJ and then waiting for my turn. In a world of Nintendo Wii and self checkout counters at the grocery store this just seems like an unnecessary step. At Nanta you are in control. They have an input device at the bar in which to punch numbers of songs from their vast catalogs. Want to perform two songs in a row? Pffff… go for it! No one is stopping you!
There is one large room with screens and a stage. If it gets too busy you can ask for one of many private rooms for you and your friends for a modest fee.
The service is excellent as the venue isn’t very large. Need service? Just press a button at your table and the server will be alerted at the bar. I KNOW RIGHT?! It’s like being on an airplane! No peanuts through, sorry.
One of the best things about this karaōke bar is that it is Korean. So tonnes of crazy fun music to select. The first time that I visited this place I saw a group singing Disney songs. Want a laugh with your friends? How about some music from The Lion King?!
I can’t comment on the food as I haven’t tried it, however they have a full menu with Korean cuisine. The sea snails sounds nummy (I had to point out to the server that there was a missing S in snails on the menu. Couldn’t figure out what sea nails were).
Another thing that I thought was absolutely hilarious about this place is that patrons can order a, «tower of beer». It’s basically a giant bong of beer with an ice tube in the middle and taps at the bottom.
From the outside Nanta totally looks sketchy, like some kind of tucked out of the way gangster club complete giant steel door. Not very inviting looking to the average passerby. Don’t be fooled! Open that door, head up the stairs and enjoy an evening of fun and laughs with your friends that you will not soon forget!

I brought a group of friends here having never visited before and had a blast.
The play list is mostly Korean, but even though we only speak English there was still tons of songs that we knew and it kept us entertained for hours.
I’d go again, but I’m going to try another bar simply because I’d be redoing a lot of songs.
Go. You’ll have fun. Be happy to hear Korean singers. For some reason they take the edge off :)

Though this place is very much nearer to the place i live, never noticed it until my friends booked for a party in here. Indeed karaōke!!!
And that was my first karaōke .
Food they served was more of asian style and was not bad. Mostly tasted sweeter. And the vegetable soup. felt like never to try it again this one in here. Price was moderate.
The best part was singing. I just noticed that one of my friend was reading a big book with his glasses on. Asked him why he was so curious on the telephone book that too on a party night… Lolz. He said it’s not a telephone book rather a book of songs list where we need to note down the song number you want to sing.
Immediately grabbed another book and it took me around 0.5hr to find the song I knew. The book was so big. Was wondering it would have so many songs but it had the same songs in different asian languages.
The ambiance was pretty ok and finally managed to sing some songs. And they have good daïs too and with a good screen behind it. The bar was good one. My friends were crazy trying shots of butterphilips and captain morgan.
Totally had a rocking time out there. If you wanna impress someone with your singing talent, may try this place.
But I hated the washroom.
²⁄₃₀.

I used to come here often during University with a bunch of my friends, and it’s been only recently since I’ve started going again.
The English song list isn’t very plentiful, but it has most of the current karaōke fair, plus a few current songs. If you’re into K-​pop or J-​pop or even animé songs, there are plenty more choices. One day I resolve to try to sing my way through a Japanese song, but since I’m illiterate (in Japanese), I’m going to have to memorize lyrics first.
While a bit expensive, I love the food here. For some reason, it tastes tasty to me. My favourite dish is the fried pork cutlets.
I’m not much of a beer drinker, but those beer towers are pretty intimidating.
I love that you can book a private karaōke booth. My friends and I would do that all the time, partly because many of us were uncomfortable with performing on stage in front of complete strangers, but mostly because we wanted a room to ourselves where we could chat and catch up.
My favourite part of the venue is that most of the people show up just to have fun. It doesn’t matter if one can sing or not because here, those sorts of things don’t matter. And that’s cool.
My only complaint is that I wish the English song list were more extensive, but that doesn’t stop me from visiting. Recommended, if you can live with the limited selection of English songs.

I have visited Nanta twice now and both times I got the same strange indescribable feeling that Bob Harris felt when he went out on a random karaōke night in Lost in Translation.
The first time I went was somewhat a haze but I remember singing at the stage. The second time was tonight for a Unilocal event and it was at a booked room. The Karaōke system (which had a timer) looked like a time machine but instead of seeing the future you see 2 – 3 animated dance dance revolution dancers busting a move.
I am not sure what kind of beer I had, nor have I tried the menu. This place was just so strange that I didn’t feel like eating or drinking. I just felt drunk and satiated when I walked into this place. Regardless, Nanta is a solid choice for having a Karaōke party.

One of the more interesting Karaōke bars in Calgary. Look around and you can see four feet «tower of power» beer vessels (with spout) sticking out over other people’s heads while they are transfixed on the bad karaōke happening on stage. Should open karaōke not be your thing, they have karaōke rooms as well in case you wish to hide your talents from the world. The beer selection is limited; however, they have other interesting spirits to try such as the yogurt soju. This drink is deadly as you can hardly taste the alcohol. It’s like drinking Yop! With respect to the song selection, I found it was limited. Furthermore, there is a thick layer (half to three quarters the book) of Korean/​Chinese songs in the available selection. There are all the colorful characters one can find in any karaōke bar, but this crowd seems more in its 20s and there is a strong contingent from the Asian community here. Fun place, scary at times, but you will be entertained! The tower of power alone is worth the trip.