My Favorite Karaoke Hangouts in Los Angeles

I don't know about you guys, but I do a mean karaoke! There are periods where I am at one of my local karaoke hangouts on a regular basis, and then there are other times where I am away from it for far too long. It's always been fun for me to do as my form of performance art, winning over an audience of friends and complete strangers and leaving them in hysterics no less.

So here's a list of my favorite local karaoke bars to hang out at. They got the best hosts running them, the locations are nice, and there will always be a mix of true singers and god awful wannabes out to ruin your favorite songs. By the way, I think Journey's "Don't Stop Believing" should be banned from karaoke permanently. I am so sick and tired of seeing people mess it up! You can't do Steve Perry? Then don't even bother trying!

Sports Harbour Restaurant & Sports Bar

This is my most recent karaoke hangout, introduced to me by my best buddies at my former place of employment. We hang out there on Thursdays where a group of guys who call themselves 3Green Entertainment let us sing the night away from about 9 PM to 1 or 2 AM in the morning when the bar closes and they kick us all out. They have books of songs we can all look through that are by artist or by song name. If I'm not careful, I can spend all night looking through those, methodically deciding what to sing.

They also have karaoke on Tuesday nights hosted by Danny Leal that has the same hours. Danny doesn't have any books for you to look through, but you can go up to him and ask which songs are available, and he'll be happy to put your request right into the computer for you. He also takes the time to sing some songs in between performers from artists like Michael Buble and Cee-Lo Green.

Some of my best memories here include singing Nine Inch Nails' "Closer" as if I were a Las Vegas lounge singer, Tom Petty's "I Won't Back Down" in which I sang like I was more than willing to do just that, and Adam Sandler's "Ode To My Car" which includes words that are not publishable in this article.

Sports Harbour Restaurant & Sports Bar is located in Marina Del Rey right at the corner of Washington and Lincoln. It's got a very nice vibe and all the bartenders there are cool. They also have good food along with a wide assortment of drinks. While you're waiting to sing, you can pass the time by playing billiards on one of their pool tables, play some pinball on machines featuring "Terminator 3: Rise Of The Machines" and "Lord Of The Rings," shoot some hoops, throw darts, or play air hockey which always has me accidently pushing the puck into my side of the board (damn!).

Sardo's Grill and Lounge

Sardo's is located in Burbank right near Warner Brothers studios. They have karaoke going on every night starting at 9 PM, and it does get packed on the weekends with everyone shaking the work week off in unabashed style. Still, they have a great selection of over 25,000 songs to choose from, and they do have a state of the art sound system that will deafen you if you sit too close to the speakers. They even have song selections for you on their website, so you can have your selections ready once you get to the restaurant. You won't have to spend a good portion of the evening with your head in one of those books (and they do have those as well).

Among my favorite memories of being at Sardo's was doing a wildly schizophrenic version of Billy Joel's "It's Still Rock And Roll To Me." Picture me as Lewis Black, and you may have an idea of how I went about singing the song:

"What's the matter with the car I'm driving?"

"CAN'T YOU TELL THAT IT'S OUT OF STYLE??!!"

"Well should I get a set of while wall tires?"

"ARE YOU GONNA CRUISE THE MIRACLE MILE????!!!!"

Caffe Brass Monkey

Now the Caffe Brass Monkey is one of the best known karaoke venues in the Los Angeles area. Located in the heart of Koreatown, it's just off of Wilshire Boulevard in the rear of a building. Finding it at first may be a bit hard and it is easy to miss, so make sure you have the Monkey's exact address with you when driving over there. I heard Jack Black came in here from time to time to sing a song or two.

Some have described this play as the "diviest of dives" in the Los Angeles, and I couldn't agree more. They have karaoke everyday of the week as well: Wednesday thru Friday starting at 4 PM, and Saturday thru Tuesday beginning at 8 PM. Of course, it does get really busy, but like Sardo's, you can download their music selection straight from their website. There is no excuse for being properly prepared!

For me, this is where I got to sing one of my all time favorite songs, "Jessie's Girl" by Rick Springfield. A song of painful yearning and the frustration of unrequited love, I sang it like Jessie's girl was driving me completely insane. It was like I could no longer hide my intense attraction to her, and my heart leapt out to where I spoke before I thought. Several audience members were kind enough to offer me some Zanax or Valium once I got off the stage, but I was already eased up having sung in front of strangers.

So to all you karaoke fans out there in the Los Angeles area, be sure to check these places out. Have fun, be safe, and please don't sing "Don't Stop Believing." PLEASE!!!

See also:

Top 10 Songs to Sing for Karaoke