Rude bartender limited complicated song selection, cool decor and vibe. Nice that they have food available.

Had my birthday at this location and it was wonderful. The location is perfect easy to get to via train, uber and driving. I got thr VIP room and it was very nice and intimate and all my friends had a lovely time. Loved that it also had a private bathroom. The song selections were great. And the food were decent. The drinks were affordable but a little strong, I would suggest you eat well before having drinks. They didnt have a great selection of songs and they didnt have Nigerian songs. Those were the only two negatives about the place. read more

See all

Have become a regular here because of the ambience and hospitality given by the workers! Very attentive to every person and room (if you have a reservation) and drinks come quickly. Very busy on the weekends though so if you're looking to sing lots of songs, I'd recommend making a room reservation ahead of time. Overall I see everyone including any group I go with having a good time. read more

This is probably one of the best spots for karaoke in the city! The workers are really efficient and attentive. They have both public karaoke and private rooms and overall the vibe of the place is on point and we had a blast with our friends here. The song selection seemed pretty good although it didn't have every single song we wanted. Drinks are reasonable but not stellar so I recommend pregaming if you can! read more

The only pro is that the location is in Chinatown and next to other restaurants and bars. This review is for the private room bookings. The song selection system is terrible and difficult to navigate. The room always smell musty. The system also malfunctions frequently. After having the system reboot and stall multiple times in the middle of songs (made us wait 1-2 minutes before rebooting or starting up again), our group wasted about 15-20 minutes of time. I asked the manager for a refund of that time but he refused multiple times and insisted it was user error--it was not user error. We had to show the manager video footage of the malfunctioning in our room to convince him but he still refused a partial refund for the minutes we lost. Only after telling him that I would be issuing a chargeback did he relent. This experience killed the vibe!! Try another karaoke place. read more

It was fun, the place is clean, good selection of Chinese songs, English song collection can use a bit improvement. Food is delicious, especially the gizzard and wings. Skewers not so much. It is pricy, and service fee is charged twice. Once for the booking of the room, and once for the food. Equipment is a bit old and broken, like our mic. We noticed one of the mic doesn't have sound, brought it out to be fixed/replaced, they came back with the same broken mic and we paid 60 for service fee so that kind of ruined the experience a bit. read more

If you're looking for a good time, do not come here. Their technology is unusable and the song selection is EXTREMELY imited. I had my birthday at Sakura and I was very disappointed. Lincoln Karaoke on the north side is waaaayyyyyy better than this place! read more

From out of town and looking for a place to be with a group of friends. Stumbled into this gem in the heart of Chinatown. Don't be discouraged when you open the door to walk downstairs to a spacious, clean, and great atmosphere Karaoke/club scene. Service was great and the most friendly staffs! We had such a great time, it's a must next time we come back to Chicago and definitely make reservations ahead to reserve a table! read more

Stumbled across this Karaoke Bar while I was in Chicago this weekend for a girls trip and was truly amazed by this bar! The atmosphere was really fun with 2 fully stocked bars! Good place to chill, drink and hang out with your friends while singing your heart out! Will definitely be back when I visit Chicago again! read more

Sakura Karaoke Bar - They even have The Yamazaki 12!!! Amazing liquor selections!!! - Japanese Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

See all

They put water in the Alcohol they served. Terrible business lying to customers. Very very sad about this. Service is good read more

Very great place to sing and enjoy a great time with the friends and family. Lovely night and great ambiance. Highly recommend. read more

I went to this place for the first time this past Saturday and I will not be back. I booked a private room for my family and I to go enjoy my birthday weekend. I covered the cost, told them to simply cover their food and drinks. The policy states that there will be a 20% service charge (all it stated), fine no problem. There were 6 of us so I get it. I paid the service fee before we entered the private room. A server informs us about ordering on one tab and how it can be split four ways max and if we wanted to order individually at the bar we can. Fine no problem. My sister goes to get a round of drinks and she is charged a 20% service fee on parties "four or more" even though she's placing a private order. She had to tip an additional $20 simple to order drinks at the bar. A huge mess. I went out to speak to someone about it because it never stated that there will be 20% service charge for every transaction. I ask for the manager who could not tell me where it explains this policy FOR EVERY ORDER. After about 10 minutes of simply saying, "it's a 20% tip" without finding the policy written down he looks at me says, "I never mind leaving a tip" So, after failing to specify the terms of his policy IN WRITING he gaslights me by insinuating that I am cheap and does not want to tip. Disregarding the service fee that I paid (without any issues) before entering the room. So what was the service fee for? Walking me to the door of the room? That is nonsense. To be clear: I asked about 8 times where it mentions a 20% gratuity charge per transaction. Meaning if I buy a meal - 20% automatic tip. My mom wants a long island - 20% automatic tip. I will never spend money here again. A policy is a policy but to carelessly enforce predatory tipping where you are illegally stacking mandatory gratuity that was neither stated or clarified is a no for me. I would have simply respected if the manager took ownership of being misleading, but to sit in my face and insult me. I have nothing nice to say about this establishment. Please go to another spot, preferably one outside of Chinatown. read more

I recently hosted a celebration here for my sister 35th birthday party. If you are BLACK this is not the place for you! They treated us horribly and they have no new song selections, none of our music! They claimed the system didn't work where we could connect it to our phone. I paid for 3 hours in their biggest room. There was no AC on in the room but it was cold as hell in the lobby. I asked them to turn the AC up they said they had to ask the manager. I said where is he? He told me the he was not there he had to call him. So I had the door propped open. He asked us to close it and I told him no because we needed air to circulate. They will tell you the hundred dollar deposit will be applied to the room but they will lie and try to overcharge you be very vigilant. They had our people paying for drinks before they even made them which was messed up. We spent so much money at the bar and on food. There were 25 of us. My sister didn't know about the drama behind the scenes and wanted to stay longer. We asked them could we pay for another hour and they said no because they had another party coming after us. When I tell you it was empty as hell we were the only people there. It was 10pm on a Thursday they were lying. Avoid this place at all cost if you are black! We should not have to beg anybody to take our money! Y'all are trash and I'm writing a review on every site I can to make sure black people don't come here to be mistreated. The only thing nice about this place is the decor. The service sucks! They stereotype you and are racist! The pic below is just to show we were really here because owners like to come on these reviews and lie! I hate No.18 was booked because that's where I really wanted to go! Don't come here my beautiful melanated people!!! read more

Sakura Karaoke Bar - Japanese Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

We came on a non busy weekday night. The lady who seemed to be the manager was curt and slightly rude (tipsy from drinking at the bar too) but the lady server was friendly enough but English seems to be limited. The menu was very limited but as with all group activities, the company you keep will dictate how you enjoy a place. We still had fun inspite of the slightly old and musty room and limited menu choices. read more

Sakura Karaoke Bar - Very limited menu - Japanese Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

Went on a Friday with a group of 12. They told us private rooms weren't available and that we had to pay (per head) to stay in the general area. Once we got in, we noticed there were about 3 open rooms in the back. This is not a black friendly place, won't be back. read more

Karaoke was fun! Vibe was awesome. Searching and adding songs was not the easiest. But it seems like they have a good variety.

We had a great time until we were (extremely rudely and condescendingly) kicked out early after being put in our room late.

I went here for my friend's birthday and it was honestly the worst experience of my life. The music selection was terrible. The machine was honestly one of the most impossible things for me to figure out the customer service was awful we clicked a button to receive water and we did not receive any water. It was one jug split amongst 12 people. There is no variety of songs that were actually fun to karaoke to the ones that we did like were unappealing to the ear because they were either covers or live performances.my friend deserved better for her birthday. read more

Not a bad experience at the location but the employees tired to rob me of my $50 deposit for a karaoke room. They didn't take the $50 deposit off my bill at the end of the night. I realized this the next day looking at my credit card statement and called them. The first person I talked to said the bill was accurate and there were additional service fees that the $50 covered. I didn't recall seeing them so I said I would review the website and charges and get back to them. Turns out there were no other service charges and the guy was just trying to steal $50 from me. Called my credit card company and had the charges blocked. If this was an accident, that's fine. Mistakes happen. But their employees straight up lied to me to try and steal my money. read more

Wayyy outdated songs, rude staff, decent atmosphere, eh drinks. I was so excited to come to this venue to get my karaoke on. As soon as we were greeted at the door, the staff was being sooo rude and it was the beginning of the night..? Good luck to whoever was greeted by them towards the end. We go into a small room for the size of our party, and we started sorting through the songs. The songs are crazy outdated, and if they are not outdated then they are super random - hard to give examples. The drinks were pretty poor, so I actually stopped drinking 1/4 of the way through the event. We also were barged in on by an employee telling us to wrap it up.. I get it, it's loud and it's dark so he had to be a little forceful, but the way they approach their customers and act is farthest from "service with a smile". I will not be back. read more

Fun place to spend an evening! People are going to vary and some nights can be really fun for others you might want to bring earplugs :). The bartender emily is great and constantly makes me feel welcomed (and drunk) here. read more

We went here for a private karaoke room on New Year's Eve. It was an okay place but I wasn't blown away. Drink prices were average, not much going on otherwise. Probably wouldn't do it again. read more

Came here on a Sunday evening, relatively quiet evening so we chilled at the bar and had a couple drinks but the conversations between the individuals here and the bartenders was really enjoyable. Emily apparently works here like 6 days a week but she has so much energy. Great conversationalist and a fun environment over all read more

We book a private room for Karaoke. It has various songs to choose from Asian to European styles which is good, although some of the MV and captions are incorrect. But something makes me a little bit unhappy is that, although we book the room from 11pm to 1am, the customers before us left at about 11.15pm (which is acquiesced by the employees), so we assume that we can leave around 1.15am (as a period of 2 hours), but the employees there continuously urged us to leave from 12.55am. And we figured out that no guests are waiting for our room afterwards. It is really uncomfortable as if one minutes or two really matters their business regardless of the fact that the duration of service we should enjoy isn't satisfied. read more

The wifey and I were in Chicago for the weekend visiting friends. We were eager to check out the Chicago night life, so my friend suggested this cool karaoke bar he had been to recently. I'm not much of a singer but I can belt out some Old School Rock, so off we went. This place was awesome! There are a bunch of private rooms if you just want an intimate setting for seducing your girl in front of friends or you could stay out in the main area and cheer on those brave enough to sing in front of total strangers. I was able to muster up the courage to belt out my "go to" song, "Every Rose has its Thorn" after a few drinks ("liquid courage" was strong that night LOL). To my surprise, the crowd was nice enough to oblige me with cheers and applause. Although, I'm not entirely sure if it was because I was that good or if it was because the song was finished LOL! In the end, we all had an amazing time making memories together while drinking and snacking the night away. We'll be sure to revisit Sakura Karaoke Bar next time we we're in town! read more

I can flex my no-talent-ass-clown vocals here all night long! I'm half Filipino... when I came out I was given a Birth Certificate and a Magic Sing Karaoke Machine. Here's the skinny: I Saw The Sign Brass Monkey Knockin On Heavens Door Should I Stay Or Should I Go Here's the fat: I was "Walking down the street sippin' on gin 'n juice" when "I saw the sign, and it opened up my eyes..." Late one evening a small group of us decided to check this place out. It's in the "basement" I guess you can call it of a multi-use building (residential/commercial), down a set of stairs and there you are. It was a Sunday night, place was slow so we got awesome service. Next few times I went was Friday's and Saturday's still great service then too. Sakura has really comfortable booths and tables too but, they're just a bit too low (just personal opinion). "We got the bottle - you got the cup, Come on everybody let's get ffffff... Brass Monkey - that funky monkey..." They've got a sweet selection of brews here, Tsingtao, Sapporo and the typical domestics too. They've also got Sake and Shochu if you care for either of them. Sad thing is that the last few times I've been there the Shochu wasn't available. Sake bottles (6-8 shots) is $10 last time I was here a few weeks ago. There's a good sized private room in the back, if I remember it's called the "Cloud Room" and it Feels like I'm knock-knock-knockin' on heaven's door... The room is small but, has a huge projection Screen for everyone... gotta see those words right? There is a couch that runs all the way around the room on 3 of the 4 sides. It's severely comfortable and there's some low-pro tables you can pull closer and use to set your drinks. "Should I stay or should I go now? If I go there will be trouble, and if I stay it will be double" that's what we ask each time we're here... no one wants to leave... it's a seriously good time and the drinks are pretty damn reasonable for Chicago. The staff is super friendly and will take the time to check on you, or if they're busy at the bar the bartender will acknowledge the fact you're waiting and not just "ignore you" like some places I've been to. The customers that come in are a lot of fun too - probably because it's a Karaoke Crowd... we all just get along I think. It's mostly a well dressed and groomed crowd, no hooligans to speak of basically. Oh! I almost forgot, not a huge fan of some of the food though... But, the Edamame is ON POINT I like coming here, like it a lot actually. Now if I can just get that crappy singing voice of mine to work with me... maybe there wouldn't be so much fake clapping... SYOY read more

Sakura Karaoke Bar - Sing here! Enjoy! - Japanese Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

See all

Great private rooms and easy drink service. This is our go to place when visiting Chicago. Song menus have most directions in Chinese, but touch screens let you swipe back and forth for quite easy song finding. read more

Sakura Karaoke Bar - Fun and clean private rooms. - Japanese Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

See all

Only been here once and sang in the lounge. The lounge area is a lounge/club set-up, pretty neat. The decor is trendy and crowd is diverse. This place has the most diverse crowd i've ever come across at a Chinese KTV spot. The polar opposite of Pop KTV. Good selection of English songs and quality sound system. For lounge area, each person is required to spend a min of $15. You can easily spend that with a couple dishes and shots. Will still come out cheaper than a room esp if you have a small group. The crowd is down to earth and will cheer you on and dance to your singing. If you're really self-conscious, there's a full bar to ease your way on stage. Warning: drinks are extremely weak and the shot glasses are deceiving. Each shot is equivalent to half a shot elsewhere. We got shots of Black Label whiskey - $7/shot. On the flip side, drinking at this place will make your tolerance seem really impressive, b/c you'll be able to take double of what you normally can handle. :) read more

The environment here is pretty swanky and nice, with nice little VIP-style lounge sections with mostly-comfortable seating. The staff is small (no this isn't a jab at their heritage) but they're very friendly and accommodating. I also like that they have both a public karaoke as well as private rooms, although every time I've visited it has been during the week and we were literally the only people there besides the staff. The potstickers, edamame and wings are pretty tasty. Many of the songs that AREN'T in Chinese are up-to-date, modern pop with the actual videos playing along. It's interesting that you can also have the song play the original if you're worried about singing off key or if you "don't remember how it goes," it's really helpful. The sound is pretty decent, as well. So why three stars??? (In fact, I would have given two stars, but the staff is actually very nice and polite, so I didn't want to be too much of a nag with a 2-star). The main reason is that they actually have a $15 minimum purchase per person. This was never mentioned to us the first time I visited, since I think almost everyone in our party ordered food and drink. But the second time they mentioned it several times. Luckily, they were very nice and didn't really FORCE us to buy more, but they made it clear that next time (which there probably won't be one, in my case) they have to stand firm in their "policy." The song selection is limited and doesn't seem to have any karaoke classics. It's ALL pop songs. And there is no KJ (karaoke DJ), the song rotation should be "first-come-first-serve" but it's really up to whoever's tooling around with the system. And it IS Chinatown karaoke, so sometimes you might get a mis-interpreted lyric up on the screen. The drinks and food are rather expensive, especially for the portion sizes. It's roughly $8-12 for appetizers; while they're delicious, it just seems to be a bit much to not have an actual meal. I don't drink alcohol, but I do enjoy their mixed juice. I think I threw them off guard when I asked for something sweet but non-alcoholic and had to instruct them to mix cranberry, orange and pineapple juice for a virgin mocktail. Again, the biggest problem with this place is that minimum purchase. I don't drink alcohol and if I just want to sing when I'm not in the mood to eat or spend $15 on appetizers, I shouldn't be subjected to a minimum order; especially when the place is DEAD, other people in my party are spending money and I'm tipping almost as much as my drink costs ($3 for a juice). For those of you who need to get that liquid courage before singing, or who are actually out to drink AND sing, this place is a great destination, and I would recommend it. For you die-hard karaoke crawlers who just want to sing (like me) and nurse your drink, probably not the place to go. read more

After being spoiled by the variety and quality of karaoke spots in NYC, I was really trying to find something similar here in Chicago. Unfortunately, even after much Yelping, I could not find something up to par and therefore decided Sakura will have to do. Needless to say, I did not have high expectations. My experience was very similar to that of other Yelpers: 1) song selection mediocre/lacking 2) technical issues were plenty and software was not intuitive I mean as a karaoke place, those are the main things you have to get right, RIGHT? Ah whatever. We were drunk so that helped numb the pain from this experience. It really could've been a whole lot better though. I won't be back unless I'm really desperate, and I think you should do the same. read more

Called for a reservation on 1/3 for 1/15! Confirmed date and time and everything! Just to arrive day of and they can't find my reservation? They took both name and my number but it just didn't exist? Weird huh read more

This place is like a second home to me. It's laid back, chill and a great place to meet up with friends and enjoy a good night of karaoke. Whether you're an avid or closet karaoke singer your bound to have a good time. They have private room for parties and tables for large groups. The crowd is diverse, but mainly Asians. Drinks prices are reasonable and it's generally not busy unless its Friday or Saturday. Definitely a great place to check out whether you're pre gaming or planning on staying. read more

Sakura Karaoke Bar - Bar area - Japanese Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

Easy call-in reservation a week ahead, guy who answered spoke both English and Mandarin fluently and was conscientious about explaining the private-room gratuity policy (18% as of July 2017). Medium room was large and very clean. Song software was a little frustrating for non-Chinese readers because the default setting is not in English and the panel is set into the wall next to the big-screen TV without any sort of remote control. Staff came very quickly when summoned to take drink orders and bring them. We were there from 8-10pm on a Saturday. Did not attempt to extend our reservation and staff was very prompt about presenting the bill, which was fine by me because we had other places to be :) Song and artist selection was pretty good although certain hits were missing from certain artists. Not every song had its own music video - sometimes we enjoyed hilarious b-roll of random Europeans walking around. Powerful sound system. Very solid choice for private room karaoke in Chicago and easy to get to from the Red Line. read more

Fantastic place to get our karaoke singing fix! The list of Chinese songs on their system is more comprehensive than that of Pop Ktv's and is relatively updated. Price for a small room is $35 per hour which is a bit pricey unless you go in a larger group to split the cost. Having said that, if you prefer to hang out in the main hall, you can always head up onto the stage to sing but we wanted the privacy to sing as badly as we normally do I'll definitely be back - just one request - can they please consider opening another outlet in the suburbs? Pretty please? read more

Three of my friends visited from out of town so I made a reservation at Sakura a few days before their arrival. Everything seemed ready to go, I even received a call confirming my reservation about an hour before we arrived. When we got to the bar, the doorman had no signs of my reservation on the sheet and the private rooms were sold out for the night. Extremely disappointing. We stayed in the common bar area and shared the stage with a few other parties. Overall a decent night, but likely won't return because of the inconvenience. read more

More (Chinese songs) than Pop KTV, but price for singing at the bar is also more expensive ($30 as opposed to $15). I like their sound system also. The people who work here sing very well! So if you need someone to help you with a duet song, you could probably ask one of the staff members. They are also very friendly and helpful. read more

My favorire neighborhood bar + favorite food all in one and... the only spot I actually enjoy having cocktails. Allie is the best.

Just a fun place to have a good time with friends. I like the option of either being in the communal area which is set up like a lounge with couches and tables. You can sing karaoke or listen to other intoxicated patrons attempt to sing. Or you can have a private room for your party and pay by the hour. Full bar and bottle service available. Open late and they have bar snacks available even late night. Definite plus when you got munchies while drinking. read more

Sooo much fun! Please come here for an out of the ordinary birthday party. Totally different experience. Very cool and modern. It's a downstairs club so it's kind of mysterious. They have a traditional karaoke stage, however you can rent your own private room and sing and laugh with your friends. You do however have to go to the bar to get your drinks! The drinks are all $7-12. I also tried the lychee martini! I recommend that to everyone. read more

See all

Non-stop fun, and reasonably priced. The individual rooms are a great time for birthday parties and celebrations.