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Karaoke inChicago
In Chinatown the karaoke is one floor up: two rooms venues on second storeys along South Wentworth, two blocks apart. Everywhere else Chicago sings at street level, and nine venues across the metro run all seven nights.
25written up in this guide95tracked in and around Chicago
This guide walks the standouts. The full Chicago map lives in the KaraokeList app — free, kept current by the singers who use it.
Chinatown is the closest thing Chicago has to a karaoke district, and half of it is hidden overhead. King Karaoke and No.18 sit two blocks apart on South Wentworth, both up on the second floor; Sakura is around the corner on Cermak; Theme House and Zero Degrees hold down 24th Street a few blocks west. Rooms by the hour, most of them open to 2am or later.
The rest of the city does it in public, and does it constantly. Nine venues across the metro run karaoke seven days a week — among them a Loop speakeasy with on-demand karaoke and a Lakeview bar that runs it open to close. The suburbs, unusually, hold most of the region's remaining private rooms.
4 confirmed venues
Chinatown: the rooms above Wentworth
Rooms by the hour within a few blocks of Wentworth and Cermak. Two of the four are upstairs — if you have walked the street and seen nothing, look up.
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King Karaoke
2002 S Wentworth Ave, Floor 2 · ChinatownPrivate rooms one floor up, open seven nights from 7pm — 2am most nights and 3am on Saturday.
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Sakura
234 W Cermak Rd · ChinatownOpen mic and private rooms under one roof, daily from 6pm to 2am, 3am on Saturday. The district's all-rounder.
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No.18
2201 S Wentworth Ave, Floor 2 · ChinatownTwo blocks down from King and also one floor up. Six nights — closed Tuesdays — and on Saturdays it opens at 3pm, hours before anything else here.
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Theme House
610 W 24th Pl · Near ChinatownPrivate rooms a few blocks west, seven nights — from 5pm most days, 6pm on Mondays, with a 3am close on Saturday.
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4 confirmed venues
The bars that never take a night off
Nine metro venues run all seven nights. These four are the open-mic core of that list, spread from River North to the Northwest Side.
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Alice's Lounge
3556 W Belmont Ave · AvondaleKaraoke from 10pm to last call, seven nights a week. The purest version of the always-on Chicago corner bar.
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Trader Todd's
3216 N Sheffield Ave · LakeviewKaraoke open to close, every day. Not a karaoke night in a bar — a bar that is a karaoke night.
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Mom's Place
650 N Dearborn St · River NorthSeven days a week from 9pm, a short walk from the Loop and the hotels.
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Sidekicks
4424 W Montrose Ave · Northwest SideFree karaoke with thousands of songs, seven days a week from 8pm.
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70 more where these came from.
We keep tabs on 95 karaoke spots in and around Chicago — this guide writes up 25. The rest are on the map in the app, next to the part that matters: what you’ll sing when the book comes around.
Downtown, and the bars in between
Brando's Speakeasy on South Dearborn keeps the Loop covered: open seven days, with on-demand karaoke every one of them. West of there, Elements Karaoke Lounge on Lake Street rents private rooms Wednesday through Sunday — to 3am on Friday and Saturday — and TAK Korean Bistro & Karaoke on South Wabash pairs its rooms with a Korean kitchen, Tuesday through Sunday.
North of downtown the format flips back to open mic. The Rabbit Hole Wrigley calls itself the home of constant karaoke and runs Wednesday through Sunday from 4pm. Louie's Pub on North Avenue is free from 8pm, Tuesday through Sunday. And Zero Degrees back near Chinatown keeps the strangest calendar in the city: Monday to Friday only, 3pm to 2am, then closed for the weekend.
The suburbs kept the rooms
Outside the city line, karaoke skews private. 2 Pigs Karaoke in Park Ridge runs rooms six nights, Tuesday through Sunday, to 3am on Saturday. Agit Black in Rolling Meadows offers private sessions alongside a Korean pub kitchen. Mount Prospect has three confirmed venues by itself, including karaoke NINA, Monday to Saturday from 7pm, and the Summertime Jazz Cafe, whose karaoke lives in a single private room, Tuesday to Saturday.
The oddities are out here too. The Pink Room in Hazel Crest is the metro's one daytime-first venue: rooms from 11am seven days a week, closing at 6pm early in the week and 10pm at weekends. Karaoke Slaviane in Wheeling runs one Friday event a week, 8pm to 1am, with a $30 door. And two different suburban bars are both called The Hideout — one in Crestwood, one in Schaumburg — and both run karaoke Wednesday through Saturday.
Single nights worth planning around
She-Nannigans on Division Street runs Thursday karaoke from 8pm to 4am — the latest finish we have confirmed anywhere in the metro. Second City Karaoke is a different animal altogether: a karaoke league, Wednesdays from 7:30pm, run in ticketed seasons rather than off a sheet at the bar.
Chicago also sings in Spanish. La Botana makes Thursday its Spanish karaoke night, and La Humita runs karaoke Thursdays and Sundays with a Spanish-and-English session on Fridays — two venues, one long Pulaski Road.
Questions
Where is the karaoke district in Chicago?
Chinatown. King Karaoke and No.18 are both on second floors along South Wentworth, two blocks apart; Sakura is around the corner on Cermak; Theme House and Zero Degrees are a few blocks west on 24th Street. It is the only place in the metro where the private rooms cluster.
Where can I do karaoke in Chicago tonight?
Nine venues run karaoke seven days a week: Alice's Lounge in Avondale, Trader Todd's in Lakeview, Mom's Place in River North, Sidekicks on Montrose, Brando's Speakeasy in the Loop, and King Karaoke, Sakura and Theme House around Chinatown — plus The Pink Room out in Hazel Crest, which does its singing in the daytime.
How late does karaoke go in Chicago?
Most rooms close at 2am. Saturdays stretch to 3am at King Karaoke, Sakura and Theme House in Chinatown, at Elements in the West Loop (Fridays too), and at 2 Pigs in Park Ridge. The single latest night is Thursday at She-Nannigans, which runs to 4am.
Does Chicago have private karaoke rooms?
Yes — Chinatown first: King Karaoke, No.18, Theme House and Sakura. Elements in the West Loop and TAK on South Wabash cover downtown. The suburbs hold the rest: 2 Pigs in Park Ridge, Agit Black in Rolling Meadows, the Summertime Jazz Cafe in Mount Prospect, Karaoke Slaviane in Wheeling and The Pink Room in Hazel Crest.
Is there Spanish-language karaoke in Chicago?
Yes. La Botana runs a Spanish karaoke night every Thursday, and La Humita features karaoke in Spanish and English on Friday nights alongside its Thursday and Sunday sessions.
Is this every karaoke bar in Chicago?
No. This page covers the districts and the venues worth knowing first. The full verified list for Chicago lives in the KaraokeList app, with the nights each one runs.
You found the bar.
Now what are you singing?
KaraokeList keeps every karaoke song you can actually pull off — and when the list runs dry, it finds you new ones, each with a reason. The full verified list of Chicago venues is in there too.