Lincoln Karaoke

I had a birthday party there and it was an awesome good time! So I highly recommend this place. The staff there was super friendly the whole time, the rooms were really cool, and the sound was really good too. The music library wasn’t massive, but they had some great hits. Oh and they had Zombie Dust on draft, which is amazing! I don’t really think I have a good voice, but it was a great time getting drunk and singing poorly with friends! I’ll definitely be returning!

If you love karaōke, you’ll probably like this place. I say that meaning that they have a large song list, good tvs, mics, and sound system. They’ve got the karaōke down. Aside from that it’s less than great. There are several rooms with paper thin walls and mediocre furniture. It has a bit of a brothel type feel (I assume) as you go down the hall passing the various rooms. The food offerings are ok and all from the fryer, probably better if you are drunk. I liked the nachos and wings, but I wouldn’t order any of the other items again. They have a full bar with average prices.
All in all this place could be much better if they came through and freshened things up. As it is it’s a bit sleazy including the guy running the place who made some inappropriate jokes to many of the women in the group.

I love Ethan! And I love Steve! They are never about anything other than u guys having a good time. They are very generous and they are really about your party having a good time. Leave that in their hands.

This place was so much fun! Let me tell you coming from someone who is all too shy for karaōke, I had a BLAST! you get your own private room with tons of seating and tambourines! Three microphones and tons of music choices of different genres. I loved that you can sing with other people and it’s not all get up in front of random strangers and sing type of place. Seriously so fun! Drinks are stiff and moderately priced! Just give this place a try, not sure how you couldn’t like it!

Spacious rooms, very affordable drinks, food, TVs galore, awesome karaōke selection– this place is FUN. The fact that my girlfriend and I can sing System of a Down, Avril Lavinge, and 50 Cent while drinking with all our friends in a private, sound proof room makes for an awesome birthday party. The space easily fits 20 people. The place is clean, service is prompt and friendly. If you wanna do karaōke in Chicago this place should be your go to.

This place has the shittiest service if it’s even considered service. This guy name Ethan works there and runs around with a nasty attitude like he’s the kings of the freaking world. He was throwing shit around and talking shit to people all crazy. He called my friend a nigger when he doesn’t even know us. Our group was mix racial background with chinese, thai, white and one black guy. He was rude and disrespectful. When my friend defended himself and told him it’s not cool… he said that he’s been to county jail section 3. Whatever that’s suppose to mean.
The place is old, dirty and there is not air ventilation. Very hot…
Would be better if they have a large lounge. I know several other options…
For American style: Louie located on North ave… close to Milwaukee — bar setting and song requests.
Asian style — Sakura, K Pop, Zero, and No. 18… all located in South chinatown. All with private room available and open lounge also.
Any of these places have better décor and style and equipment than this place.

This place is about a $ 25 25 mins north cab ride from Mag Mile. Service was good and prices were fair. We paid $ 35/​hr for a small room. They don’t have a lot of the newest songs and it was a little difficult using their online system to search and punch in songs because sometimes you just want to filter for newest because those are usually the most recognizable. I’d say it’s close enough to the karaōke places they have back in LA. Chicago doesn’t seem to have many of those!

Really beautiful large private rooms with LED TVs. Good food that comes straight to your room. Reservation was easy to make on the phone.
Issues I had were:
1) One mic wasn’t working. We asked for it to be replaced but no one helped us.
2) Music would randomly fade out from time to time — still don’t understand why.
3) Song list is great but would have liked some more recent releases.
All in all still one of the best Karaōke spots in Chicago and one of the most appropriately priced! Will definitely come back :)

You would have to try REALLY REALLY REALLy hard to not enjoy Lincoln Karaōke. I’ve been here more than a dozen times over almost 4 years with groups ranging from 4 to 25+ and for birthdays, reunions, random Saturday nights and it’s always been a blast. The drinks are delicious and stiff, the bartenders obviously love their jobs and are wonderful conversationalists, the support staff is amiable, and the owner who I’ve met a few times is downright charming. I recommend asking the bartenders to whip you up an original creation rather than ordering off the drink menu: you won’t be disappointed! They’ll also remember you if you’ve been there a few times; they know their regulars and what they like and chances are you’ll get a few drinks comped if you’re celebrating something with friends. And honestly, there’s very few more fun experiences than you and a half dozen drunk friends belting out horrible 80s power ballads at 3 am. Word to the wise: make reservations ahead of time for weekends and you’ll probably stay longer than you planned… I think my and my friends made a 2 hour reservation once and left after about 5 hours only because our voices were shot after trying to sing Bön Jovi and Kelly Clarkson …

While it’s a fun idea, you sort of expect the equipment to work.
First, it was hard to find the person that we needed to check in with. Then our remote was in Korean, which none of us could read, so it made queuing difficult. Two tv’s stopped working after about five mins in the room and the light up tambourine didn’t light up. The room also needed a good strong cleaning (walls had lots of stains/​were sticky and table was gross and had an old battery cover from something glued to it).
You can hear the people in the room next to you, which I didn’t expect. So when someone is doing a ballad, don’t be surprised to hear a beat in the background untrue to the original.
Overall, I love the idea of this place. I just expected it to be a better experience.
**moments after this post we got a strong wiff of fabuloso. My eyes are burning because it’s like they are pumping it through the vents here. So they must clean something with it, but it’s not the rooms.

Seriously one of the best nights we have had in a long time! Super fun! The equipment was excellent and maintained. The room was clean. Nice to have four screens– one on each wall. Great song selection. They keep your credit card which we thought was odd, but it turned out okay. Fun! Fun! Fun!

Great, casual karaōke place with private rooms. Ideal for semi-​large groups; I went in with 7 other people and there was enough space and seating for everyone.
It’s not at all fancy, and the neighborhood doesn’t really scream «upscale and classy» so what did you expect? The entrance looks sketchy and the hallways are small. The cleanliness of the bathrooms depend on the sobriety of the patrons. That being said, the private rooms were spacious, the seats were comfy, and there were enough TV screens on the walls so everybody could see the lyrics.
As far as song choices, they don’t have a lot of new stuff (and I don’t want to judge you but if you’re in a karaōke place to sing songs from the Weeknd you’re doing it wrong), but they have a great selection of Asian songs, so that was a big plus for me.
They use a different kind of chips for the nacho platter — they were thin, extra crunchy, and seriously amazing.
Tl;dr would seriously recommend this place to semi-​sober people looking to sing some Backstreet Boys.

I badly want to give this place 4 stars after coming here earlier tonight, but unfortunately I can’t. It was still fun and I wouldn’t mind coming back for sure, don’t get me wrong. Won’t mention some of the obvious things others did (i.e. $ 1000 fine if you bring in outside booze, slightly limited English language song selection (*sigh*, they didn’t have Friends In Low Places) etc).
Anyway, the food here struck me as typical bar food. It was fine (we got one of the appetizer plates), but I almost got the weird sense that it might’ve been frozen out of a bag beforehand, and that I may’ve been better eating at Hub’s beforehand (open till at least midnight everyday, and 1am Friday and Saturday). And which *sigh* I’ll give them another shot someday, & starting to think I may’ve given them an unfair rating years ago. Beer prices are marked up, and I did not notice any beer cheaper than $ 6 on the menu (correct me if I’m wrong). Interesting I noticed older reviews mentioned $ 3 Coors from the late 2000s, too bad that’s no more (and hey, it’d be fine if that was $ 5 in 2015 prices…). Wouldn’t hurt to have at least 1 – 2 $ 5 beer options (that was enough to discourage me from getting a 2^nd beer), but that’s just me. I suppose that is the purpose of Hidden Cove south of here, cheaper karaōke but more divey and till 4am (another place I’ve never checked out, maybe one day. though I’ve often heard its reviews lean towards not good)? The background images while you sing are totally random in the order they appear, which surprised me. I guess from other reviews, you can control those background pics, to even weirder random channels like porn?
Room was clean, and the rest of the place seemed pretty clean as well, including the bathrooms. What I was annoyed about (and why I can’t in good conscience round up to 4 stars, though it feels like 3.5 to me) was that a few of the mics didn’t work at all through the 3 hours we were there, and that when another person in our group asked an employee for a lighted tambourine (we only had one in our room, and it unfortunately didn’t light up), they never quite fulfilled that request. Still had a fun night, though I wish the English song selection was a little better (and closer to the amount of songs Christina’s Place has, even if it doesn’t beat the number they have). Building is non-​descript in its exterior look, but it’s the 2^nd building (and 1 story and white, with black awning) you see on the left side, past a parking lot on the northwest corner of Catalpa/​Lincoln, and around where Lincoln Ave. starts to curve northwest.
Parking is on the street, and isn’t too hard around here. There’s a Divvy station ¹¹⁄₂ blocks north of here, in front of the Budlong Woods Library. As for CTA bus service, 49B bus service in both directions ends a little after 12:30amish (latest CTA bus service that runs within a few blocks of here, and that walk is only 5 minutes), and the closest ‘L station to here (where you transfer to either the 11 or 49B bus) is the Brown Line Western Ave. stop. You also can take the 11 Lincoln bus to here (more direct), but be warned the LAST northbound #11 bus leaves the Western Brown Line bus turnaround at 7:30pm Monday-​Saturday, and 7pm on Sunday. If you take the 11 bus, the stop to get off at is Catalpa/​Lincoln, then a slight walk north on the west side of the street. If you don’t mind 2 additional blocks past Catalpa/​Western, and you’re out here REALLY late (1am or later), the 49 Western bus runs ²⁴⁄₇ from a bus turnaround north of Berwyn/​Western. I VERY STRONGLY recommend having a bus tracker app of some sort on your phone, if you’re gonna take CTA bus (es) here. Cabs appeared to not be difficult to spot passing by here, every so often on Lincoln.

So I actually want to give Lincoln Karaōke 2 stars but given that it’s probably the best karaōke location in Chicago, 3 is not a bad idea. I come from an (Asian — of course) country that takes karaōke super seriously and by that I mean nice leather seats, great sound proof walls, a buffet outside though you can still individually order items inside as well, non-​cement floors, high-​quality mics, a super updated computer song selection system, REAL MUSIC VIDEOS, and a 5 star hotel-​like entrance.
Sooooo when I walked into Lincoln Karaōke my first time (after reading all these great reviews) my face completely fell. My first reaction was you’ve GOT to be kidding me… where am I, what is this grimy looking place, why does it look so shady!!! I was not the least bit impressed. Though after awhile I got used to it and because my friends are the loud and festive type of people you need to have when you karaōke, it turned out to be alright and quite fun despite the initial first impression… and thus, I have come more than once since.
I recommend making a reservation just to speed things along, especially when the weather is cold outside. Also be prepared to watch ridiculous music videos that are not the least bit related to the song, especially the English songs. This is a huge pet peeve of mine actually so siiiiiiiigh. Who am I to compare Chicago to awesome Asian karaōke anyway?

Came here with a semi large group for a birthday party. It’s a no-​frills type of places, and I noticed it got pretty busy the closer it got to 10pm (we started at 7pm). The service was friendly, and we all had a great time. The drinks were reasonably priced, and for a birthday they comp a bottle of sparkling wine which is a really nice touch. Didn’t try any of the food. Would be happy to come here again for a friend’s event.

I love every single thing about this place: cheap drinks, two bars, awesome music list to choose from, great variety of backround videos, great everything! The one thing I am not a fan of is how cold it can get in some of these rooms. I wish they would spend a little more money and turn up the heat!

Went here to celebrate a friend’s birthday. It’s definitely a fun karaōke place with an extensive and pretty up to date song selection. Ethan, the bartender, was really nice and made some great tasting drinks and shots for our party, helping make our night even more epic (tip: ask him to make something off the menu for you and you won’t be disappointed). Service was excellent and the owners were nice and accommodating. The rooms were clean and very well kept. Each room came with 4 microphones, so more people were able to belt it out to classic karaōke songs like Hey Ya, Barbie Girl, any boyband song, etc.
Lincoln Karaōke is on par with some of the best karaōke bars out there (think K-​Town in SoCal). We definitely sang our hearts out and had the club going up on a Tuesday. This is my new go-​to spot for karaōke!

Lincoln Karaōke is such a silly place. I’ve been here a handful of times and have always had a good time. Once I even came for a friend’s birthday and didn’t know any of his friends, yet once the drinks start flowing and the lights start flashing, then it doesn’t even matter anymore. The last time I went was on a Saturday night, my group had a reservation for 11 pm, and i think with 16 or more people it’s $ 50/​hr. A little pricey in my opinion but smart for them, they are probably making bank. I actually spent a lot of time at the bar this time as opposed to in my room, and the whole night flew by really quick. Reasonable drink prices. A bottle of Soju mixed with fruit juice is about $ 19 and comes in a mini pitcher. Good to just sip on or pour out into shots. A pitcher of beer is something like $ 16 bucks now, but please note that it does not come with bacon anymore. Let me repeat that:
****Pitchers of beer do not come with the complimentary bacon anymore****
I know I was deeply saddened by this, as was the rest of my group. Now a basket of bacon is $ 8.50. Too rich for my blood. Don’t try and sneak in alcohol though, they have signs stating that if you’re caught you’ll pay some ridiculously high fee. Anyway, back to the karaōke part, lots of TVs, flashing lights, and 3 – 4 mics per room. Pretty fun, there’s even a hidden adult channel for you wild groups out there. Though I wouldn’t personally plan an event here, I’m sure I’ll be back sometime since there’s not much else to do once you’re older.

You’d never expect Lincoln Karaōke to be as fun as it is when you enter in off of Lincoln Avenue but it’s nothing short of amazing. My coworkers and I rented a private room this past Friday night and had an absolute blast.
They have a huge selection of songs and each song has a funnier music video than the last… everything from dancing animé characters to nature view to women’s breasts being doused with honey. Have no doubt Lincoln Karaōke will have your song along with wireless microphones and light up tambourines so you can sing it in STYLE.
Beware this spot isn’t BYOB but drink prices are affordable and they have a pretty great draft beer selection at the backbar. However, I would highly recommend they purchase some grapefruit juice… girl needs her grapefruit vodka to get her karaōke on!
Any way plan your next event at Lincoln Karaōke… I promise you won’t be disappointed.

Went here for a birthday party recently, and it was a really great experience.
The Room: Clean, and spacious. Really appreciated all the disco lighting. The sound quality was great, and most of the equipment functioned without any issue.
The Bar/​Food: I didn’t eat, but from what I saw it was fairly standard fare that one might expect from a karaōke place. Nothing fancy, but will certainly do when you’re drunk. The drinks were stiff. I mean they don’t mess around when they poor a drink, and the prices were reasonable too! The only downside was the AC which was cranked like we were in the middle of the desert.
The Staff: Very friendly. Some of my friends are regulars here, so it was apparent by the familiarity and inside jokes they shared.
The Music: This is the only thing impacting the stars. There were definitely a few songs that should have been standard for any karaōke joint that were missing. Oh well.
Overall, I highly recommend this place. Can’t wait to go back.