LOST IN TRANSLATION…read more
Karaoke would've been a lot more fun.... if we actually had some English songs to pick from.
My wife's birthday request was to do some singing, and with the demise of Punch Bowl Social in Schaumburg (R.I.P), I needed a backup. Eventually I came across this place in Yorkshire Plaza, a strip mall that's right across the street from Fox Valley Mall in Aurora.
We were the only customers at 6pm, but I thought nothing of it at the time, assuming the rowdiness would filter in later. Levee Karaoke & BBQ is much bigger on the inside with nine private karaoke rooms, a billiards table, and a bar. It's $48 per room per hour on Friday nights and weekends.
Searching through their database of songs was challenging. In order to find a multi-word song, you had to type in its initials ("I Believe In A Thing Called Love" becomes "IBIATCL") which was very hit-or-miss. For instance, we saw one song by Linkin Park, but nothing else from them.
We noticed a TON of Chinese songs (nearly 75% of the catalog) with very few American artists represented apart from Taylor Swift, Justin Bieber, and Beyonce. Truthfully, we struggled to find any popular rock songs in English. Even mainstays like "Don't Stop Believing" were nowhere to be found.
I wasn't impressed with the fried appetizer sampler ($15): a handful of fries, 4 onion rings, 3 mac 'n' cheese bites, 2 chicken wings and a sad pair of mozzarella sticks. Plus, the dipping sauces they gave us came in the smallest cups that are commercially available. It all looked like something a college roommate threw together in a rush.
On the other hand, we enjoyed the BBQ skewer combo ($19). They gave us two each of cumin lamb, ribeye, pork, grilled cauliflower, and grilled brussel sprouts. We liked the dry seasoning on the veggies, and my wife loved the ribeye. The mini steamed buns (10 for $12) were fine, nothing too special but at least they were filling.
The staff were very nice. Our server was responsive any time we pressed the in-room service button. A 12oz can of diet Coke was $2.50 (damn y'all!), which is steep considering a tall Sapporo draft was only $6. Yet another reason to drink beer, folks.
At checkout, I briefly thought they comped us an hour of karaoke. Turns out, the "-$48" on our receipt was just the deposit being taken off the final bill; they did not in fact, give us anything for free. Expensive karaoke on top of a confusing Chinese-based system adds up to a tough, tough sell.
* TL;DR *
My wife and I had a decent amount of fun but nowhere near "$50 an hour" worth of fun.
Regardless of where you are or what services you offer, that pricing is insane. Compare this to Punch Bowl Social ($40/hr), Lincoln Karaoke downtown ($30/hr), or Round One ($17/hr) which is quite literally across the street. Charging this much has to be how Levee stays in business, because it was a ghost town on a Friday night (where was everyone??)
Had I'd known we'd spend half an hour sifting through the cumbersome catalog trying to find something familiar to Western audiences, I would have gone elsewhere instead. When we did karaoke in Osaka, Japan - over 6,000 miles away - their song selection was ten times better than here, in suburban Illinois. That's whack.
All told, two hours with food and drinks ran me just shy of $200. I'm not spending that kind of money again pretending to "sing" Ariana Grande because my only other choices are songs in Mandarin.... which I do not speak.
It's gonna be a 'no' from me, dawg.
