I rented a karaoke system for my teens' birthdays last month. Shinji the owner was very responsive in asking questions and booking. He arrived on time, set everything up expertly and showed us how to use it. It was a super smooth experience overall and Shinji was very warm and kind. I'm sad to hear the venue is closing, but I hope their rental business continues to thrive. read more

Wonderful owner and very friendly. He accommodated all our questions and needs. Very sad they might not be able to operate anymore.

My rugby team came to Seattle for a couple nights and we were looking for something fun to do. I've been to multiple private room Karaoke bars and saw there were a couple here in Seattle. I first called Rock Box but because it was last-minute Saturday night, they were all booked up. But that turned out VERY lucky for us! I found this place and at first was hesitant because of the ratings but wow am I SO GLAD we gave this place a chance. I called and the gentleman who answered the phone was polite and very sweet. The reservation process was easy and instructions very clear. I used my card to hold a deposit for my reservation. We didn't have a solid number of how many folks would come so I initially said 10-15. Later I had to change it to 15-20 and once again, the gentleman was very accommodating. It was especially easy because I was able to do it all over text. Once we arrived it was a fairly easy check in. He explained how to queue up songs and how to change volumes. The speakers are great quality, the room was almost big enough to seat all 20 of us. Maybe 1-2 people had to stand or squeeze in but when you're singing and dancing, you forget about sitting. You do have to pay the city a $10 banquet permit to drink alcohol but that process was also easy and the owner even had instructions posted. The price was $20/per person for 2 hours then $10/per person for every extra hour after that! It is $20 even if you only stay an hour. I found the price to be EXTREMELY reasonable especially for such a huge group activity where we saved money by BYOB/BYOF. The room itself is nothing fancy but it had a table, benches, a fan and a place to throw garbage. It did get pretty warm with so many people but that's been my experience in many karaoke rooms. You can control the lights, volume of the mics and volume of the music. Overall pretty great song selection. Overall I wish we had something like this in the bay area. A no frills, super chill karaoke private rooms place where you can BYOB/BYOF. When I come back to Seattle, I have a feeling this will be a tradition. Thanks for hosting our rugby team on such short notice! read more

Went there tonight with my BF and a friend of ours . Little charming place very simplist yet welcoming and great the owner was very nice and gentle. Also they got very good options for song s you can sing read more

Love this karaoke place! We visited on a Saturday night after our time at Comic Con and was easily able to reserve a late night spot. Your reservation costs $20 per person per hour and will charge a late fee if you arrive past your reservation time. When you arrive, just say your reservation time and name and they will guide you to your room. Once in, they will teach you how to use the machine to find songs and if it doesnt have the song youre looking for, you are free to pull it up on Youtube. Another plus is you can barely hear the other rooms. This karaoke place does not have drinks, but you are free to bring your own. They even recommend to pick up your drinks at 7-Eleven next door. When youre done with your drinks, there is a bin to place them in underneath the table. There is about 10 chairs in the room so enough with a table in the room, so enough room for a big party. They also have a ceiling fan and a portable fan to keep you cool. Overall, will come back again and give them another try! read more

Really excellent private karaoke room experience. I love how it's BYOB food and drink. The rooms are very clean and spacious. I came with my two friends on a Friday and the man working there was very courteous and helpful and gave a thorough tutorial on how the karaoke system worked. They have a very wide range of songs, including musical theatre and new releases, which I liked. Would definitely go again for a group outing read more

This is hands down the best karaoke spot in Seattle. You get a private room and it's BYOB and BYOF.

So much fun! Will definitely return. They have YouTube too so you can karaoke anything on YouTube which is awesome.

Absolute ripoff. You have to pay for 2 hours at once even if you only want to stay for 1. The Sunday "discount" price is $20 per person. NOT worth it. How they stay in business is a mystery to me. read more

Imagine an office conference room, with laptop, decent sound system, a couple mics, and most importantly BYOB. This is basically SBK in a nutshell. $5.50 per person, per hour (this is amazingly cheap) and great for group events. Hosted a celebration for my big sister's 40th here and the group had a great time. Owners were a friendly older couple and made a couple accommodations for us which I really appreciated. One minor complaint is that the rooms can get a bit warm with all the singing, dancing (and drinking) so dress accordingly. All in all, a surprising find for the area and a good spot for no-frills group karaoke. read more

Seattle's Best Karaoke - a group of people in a dark room - Karaoke Near Me - Seattle, Washington

Just booked a room at SBK for my daughter's 16th bday party. She and her friends had a blast and were raving about it (high praise from a teen!). It was a very easy party. The room and facility were very clean and well cared for. There was an L shaped bench that provided ample seating for everyone with a coffee table and corner table to set up food. We ordered pizza that was delivered and brought drinks, snacks, etc. Fun colorful lighting in the room so no need for decorations (you can't see them). The girls were impressed with the extensive song selection. We are very happy we booked there! read more

Bottom line this place is a go. It's BYOB and BYOF. So get pizza at the spot across the way and bring your liquor and go to town. It's great for larger parties but kinda pricey for smaller parties. The owner Shinji is up front about jt though so if you go you know what your getting into. All prices are on their website. Either way we had a blast, the sound and the equipment is great. And it didn't smell of gross like some places I've been to. Clean place, great sound, nice owners. All wins here. read more

Simple and good alternative for rockbox with great service . The place doesn't have food but there is a convenience store next door

We rented a karaoke system for a home birthday party, and it worked out great! Shinji was on time and very helpful. He set everything up. It's a great set-up and was super fun and easy to use. I loved having it delivered and picked up the next day. read more

I love SBK. I've come here for work events, for weekend shenanigans, I've taken out-of-towners and held birthday parties here, every instance has been amazing. Just last week I reserved a room for a small group and, when more people arrived than had rsvp-ed, I asked if it would be possible to move to a bigger room. One wasn't available when I asked but 30 mins later one opened up and they allowed us to move! It was amazing service and I was very grateful that they allowed us to do so. On top of this they also already have songs from Mean Girls Broadway on the song list which immediately made my day. SBK will continue to be my #1 go to for private room karaoke! read more

Straight up, no frills, karaoke. What you get is a room lined with eggshell colored walls that are beat up/scuffed up along with an older component audio system connected to a computer terminal that controls a nifty song software program. In fact, the equipment is so obsolete, even a cassette tape player feature is built into it. Don't let what I just said deter you from visiting SBK. Albeit not the latest and greatest modern design and technology like Rock Box, the setup functions for exactly what you need. The two microphones provide ample input with adjustable volume and echo while the software allows for a plethora of today's and yesterday's hits to choose from. The room even had air conditioning and we acquired a $10 liquor banquet license for Bringing Yo Own Booze. $5 per person per hour came out to an average of $20 per person for four hours of affordable entertainment. If you are looking for a more swanky and upscale scene while you belt those tunes, check out Rock Box (http://www.yelp.com/biz/rock-box-seattle#hrid:gGOq6ikciPMmxZjXSpr9Tg) and their rooms. For more flexibility with drinks and decent pricing but without all the bells and whistles, head to SBK. read more

I have read the reviews and I think some of them are talking about previous management, or owners, or something completely different! The people who are here now are a family who owns and operates the business and they have been nothing but wonderful in my last few communications with them. I like that you can rent out rooms here for a standardized cost if you're having a party, rather than some local places that ask your guests to pay per hour and then they overcharge people who came at different times. This business allows you to bring your own food and drinks and has rooms that actually accommodate changing group sizes. For $60/hr you can have up to 15 people or so enjoy the myriad of choices of songs to sing along with. My only complaint is that it gets very warm when there are a large number of people in those rooms - I would suggest bringing your own fans! I plan on doing that when I am next host a party there. All in all a great experience and guaranteed fun fun fun! read more

We hired SBK for party we were throwing at Urban Light Studios (awesome venue BTW!). We turned one of their side rooms into a karaoke room and it was a HUGE hit. The system is pretty bad ass, comes with a speaker, screen and laptop. They have a really big selection of songs, including current ones. The system was also pretty easy to use as I saw a lot of people in the karaoke room at different times that I knew weren't 'trained' in how to use it, so they just figured it out. And it was really reasonable. We had it from 7pm-1a for a little over $200, AND they deliver, set it up, and pick up the system from the venue. SO SO SO worth it. We communicated with Shinji who always responded to emails quickly and delivered and picked up the machine. So great. Our guests LOVED the system and we were even thinking about renting it just for our house to throw a karaoke party it was that popular. Definitely an awesome and reliable system if you want to throw a bad ass karaoke party, or if you want to make your party even that much more fun! read more

Seattle's Best Karaoke - The rented karaoke machine at a party we threw at Urban Light Studios. They delivered, setup, and picked up! - Karaoke Near Me - Seattle, Washington

SBK is my favorite place to go karaoke, it holds so many good memories for me! The owners are very sweet and help answer any questions you may have and let you know when your time is almost over. The rooms are spacious enough to dance around in too and they have fans and fun lights in each room as well which is nice! The rooms are also cleaned well before each group arrives. I just wish they had a more wide song selection! I would definitely recommend! read more

Seattle's Best Karaoke (SBK) is truly Seattle's best karaoke. As far as I know, there are only two other karaoke places within the actual city of Seattle: Venus in the International District and Encore in the University District. So these venues are the ones I'm comparing SBK to, as well as the popular karaoke places I frequented in Japan, where karaoke is truly a national pass time. What makes or breaks a karaoke place for me are three factors: ease of use of the machines, song selection, and price. SBK excelled in all areas of this. The machine, while old, was very easy to use and displayed just how long you'd actually been singing your heart out. It was very responsive and the owner gave us a very informative tutorial. The song selection is where SBK shines. They had the largest list of English karaoke songs I've seen at either of the previously mentioned venues as well as an extremely helpful section in the front of brand new songs. They had songs from Wicked, Glee, Rent, Lady Gaga, you name it, it was all there. While I don't think we had the guide for it, I'm pretty sure they also have Korean and Japanese songs as well. Anything you could possibly want to sing that has been on the radio in the past 40 years is here and more. And finally, pricing. It was 9 of us there for a little over 2 hours and each ended up paying $10 each. This is FANTASTIC compared to Encore where they charge you a bunch of hidden fees and are just overpriced in general. Also, this place has an excellent policy where you can bring in your own snacks and drinks (as long as they're non-alcoholic). Encore and Venus both have strict fees for bringing outside food. If you go here with friends, make sure you pick a bunch of songs that you all know. You'll be singing the night away and having a great time for not that much money!!! read more

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Seattle's Best Karaoke....well isn't the ~best~. Sorry, but Rock Box and it's massive book trumps all. With that said however, SBK is still pretty damn rad. Let's go over the pros and cons shall we? PROS: -Private Rooms -- always a plus for me. Just you and your friends singing tunes. No need to share the mic with strangers. -Decent prices -- Our large group only topped out at something like $5 an hour. Not too shabby at all. -BYOB -- yup. That is right. Pay the $10 banquet fee and you can bring your own booze. This is a GIANT money saver in my book, and totally worth it. -Bring your own food -- well you need snacks with all the booze you brought in right? -Super nice employees -- from tolerating our large rowdy group, for splitting the check, to finding and saving a single shoe of mine (yes, it was that kind of night there), the people here are sweet. Cons -- the book is... WEIRD. Not bad mind you, we had plenty of great tunes to sing. But who needs 15+ Weird Al Yankovich songs? Equipment -- the system is a little archaic. And not 100% user friendly if you have your beer goggles on. But we got it figured out and had no issues when it came to song order, volume, etc. Swank factor -- you have some just basic bare bone rooms with basic Ikea furniture. All in all I like it here. It's a fun pit stop if you are already in the area, and oodles cheaper than what you would pay at Rock Box or even on drinks in places like Bush Garden. read more

If I could base my review on the fine people I've kept company with, or the very kind-faced owners here, then this would be a 5-star review. And to be fair, 2-stars is exactly what it is: I've experienced better. I used to live in this building when I first moved to Seattle, and I remember SBK opening right after I moved out. I went with some Viet friends some 11 years ago...and it looks exactly the same now as it did then. Spartan is a good way to describe the furnishings; there's a roomy clean bathroom for use...but the bringing-in-your-own-food part...You can bring your own food (and liquor, provided you purchase a banquet license) and that's where I fall apart: Every.time.I'm.here...somebody (not in my group) has brought a bathtub amount of the most nauseating-smelling food in...and it permeates the entire narrow hallways leading to the karaoke rooms (that are reminiscent of hospital doors). It's almost a joke for me now, because it happens every time. The air circulation is poor, the technology is more of a home karaoke set-up (you use a laptop to select songs, and the song selection has always been hit-and-miss.) On the up side, the rates are more than fair. Parking is difficult in the area but doesn't affect the rating. If BYOB and good rates are important to you, then this place is definitely worth checking out. Me, I'm afraid I'm going to have to pass from hereon. read more

SOOOOOOOOOOO many memories! mind you, i've been coming here since i was a HS kid. i was usually here drunk w/ my friends. the rooms are mediocre, but not tiny. the bathrooms are always clean and the staff are pretty nice. i feel bad for them sometimes because we make a complete mess and cause a ruckus outside w/ our loud-ass friends. the song selections were never too new- but it still was better than most places in Seattle. kudos. read more

Let my 100th Yelp review commemorate my ridiculous birthday party at SBK. Having now frequented Rock Box Karaoke, The Crescent, and Venus Karaoke, as well as many places in Japan, I feel like I'm in a qualified position to review karaoke on Cap Hill. SBK is comparable to Venus Karaoke in that they are private karaoke rooms with sparse furnishings. The SBK computer system is a bit more swanky in how it lets you queue up songs, but the lighting and furnishings are a bit more sparse. The big advantage is that SBK will let you bring your own alcohol in, as long as you grab a $10 banquet permit beforehand. The song selection at SBK was reasonably robust. We had booked their largest room, which comfortably held about 12 people (although we crammed in about 15 people). Unfortunately, they don't have any sort of air conditioning, so be prepared to get a bit sweaty. How does this measure up to Rock Box? Well, Rock Box rooms are a bit smaller, and a lot swankier with hip lighting and cordless mics. And they serve alcohol and food, which are reasonably priced. Still, definitely the most spendy option if you're throwing a party ($7 - $9/ hour per person, +gratuity and reasonable alcohol prices. I think they also have group rates). Big bonus points for having, by far, the best song selection. Three hours at SBK came out to about $17 per person, which was great for a birthday celebration. i definitely recommend it. read more

I don't really understand this place. I guess it's good for people who want to bring all their own booze and food and have a very, very casual karaoke experience. I am just used to Rock Box and this is not Rock Box. You apply for a banquet permit for $11 and they can print it out for you there. Then, you can bring any food or drink that you want inside. You can rent rooms here and that's what you get. No level of service. The owners, however, are friendly. There was virtually no ventilation in our room. Maybe some of the other rooms are different. Be aware of your surroundings if you are hanging around outside in this area at night. read more

Dear Owners: please show a little love for your space and spruce up the halls and walls. Walking from a private room to the restrooms is not unlike "The Shining". I was expecting two young girls to interrupt my walk and ask me to sing with them--then chop me into bits. Sitting with friends on comfy couches and singing "Kids" by MGMT was better than any night at The Crescent. Some of the songs didn't display properly on the screen: words became garbled and we had no idea how to sing "Fae Îo You" Be sure to order up "Frosty The Snowman" and watch in horror as a young boy and real-life snowman snuggle up. read more

I wanted to have a karaoke party for a milestone birthday and was lucky enough to choose Seattle's Best Karaoke to come to my house and set up a system for us. Shinji was quick and professional in all communications, and easy to contact. He arrived promptly to set up the system, which was very easy and intuitive to use - Shinji's instructions and quick in-person training made us very confident that we could easily use the system. The system worked like a charm, sounded great and had more than enough songs to entertain a crowd from 19 to 68 years of age! Everyone had a wonderful time. Shinji returned the next day exactly at the appointed time to remove the equipment. I cannot say enough about how great SBK is! If you want a great home karaoke experience, get in touch with Seattle's Best Karaoke! read more

SERIOUSLY Don't forget the $10 banquet permit so you can ...BYOB! and food!! my crew had a blast ...no noise level restrictions JUST HOW I LIKE IT! Yes its 15 ppl max per room and its $5 per person per hour which is AWESOME! and Yes you get what you pay for (a bland college dorm/fraternity-esk room...) but honesty you make the experience your own. If you don't/didn't enjoy this place it's because you didn't pick the right group of people to sing your hearts out with...and maybe you didn't bring enough food and boose! hahaha The karaoke system is banging & the selection is doable, so no worries about that ppl! The website and management are pretty straight forward about the rules and pricing... One thing that's not easily noticeable is...DO call in advance to reserve a room for a weekend night. If you're trying to flex your karaoke skills to the world...go out for a fancy night on the town or wine and dine your lovely lady(ies) or fella(s)...SBK isn't for you! BUT if you want to experience having a great time with your friends, who leave all their cares at the door, some may love karaoke and some may not be Karaoke Kings & Queen but because you guys have such an awesome time together they end up GOING HARD too...then SBK is the place to be! read more

So, I usually do karaoke at the Rickshaw up north at 105th & Greenwood. My friends are die-hard fans of the 'Shaw, so I was excited to try this place out w/ coworkers last night. All I can say is... meh. First off, with a banquet license, they let you bring in food & booze, which is cool. The place is kind of dingy - it reminded me of being in a high school teen center that's not really maintained. The selection of songs is decent (not really any better or worse than any other karaoke place). They have 2 books in each room - one by artist and one by song title. The rooms are filled with couches, a coffee table, and a tv w/ the karaoke set-up. There are 2 mics. Here's my big beef with this place - they seem really sketchy with all of their random "fees" that they tack on at the end. The price is $30/hour (this may depend upon how many people you have), because we were there 4 hours, and when we went to check-out, they had all these signs saying $3/extra person/hour. And then with a liquor license, they still charge you $2/person with that. Over the 4 hours, we had friends come and go, but only about 5 of us consistently the whole time... when we told the guy at the counter that we had 12 people at one point, he tried to charge us for all 12 people for all 4 hours - which came out to about $230!!! he had all these random charges on the bill. We then asked him to break it down, which he said he couldn't do and keep track of... like, um, isn't that your JOB??? Anyways, we ended up having him base the price on an average of 9 people throughout the night, but that was still about $130. Still seems like a lot of money when you could go to a karaoke bar (like the Rickshaw up north or IMO Sushi in Pioneer Square) and do karaoke for FREE. I mean, sure it's nice to have your own room and have control over the songs/tv, but for $130, it's not THAT nice, especially with how grungy the place is. They should take a lesson from Japanese karaoke joints and clean up their place and make it more inviting. Plus, when you're leaving, it's funny b/c it seems like $100 is their "magic number". There are all these signs that say, "if you bring alcohol in without a banquet permit and are caught, it's $100 fine".... "if you are caught smoking outside within 25 feet, it's $100 fine".... really?? I wouldn't ever go back there. I suggest you save your money and go to a real karaoke bar. read more

This place is awesome on so many levels! I'll start with 4. ONE you bring your OWN booze. Saves you a lot of money. TWO you bring your OWN food. Again, saves you a lot of money. THREE you have your OWN room which is large enough for you and your friends to act real dumb. FOUR it's only $5 a person per hour!! At least when I went it was that cheap. It's not all classy looking like Rock Box, but it has all that you need to get your karaoke on. Once you have a few drinks you wont care that the rooms look like a mental institution. For real. I will continue to go to this place! read more

I've been coming here forever with friends and i can't believe I haven't written a review! this is a great place to come with a big group of friends! yes, it is fun to go to a bar and get drunk and sing crazy songs in public, but I do enjoy the fact that I can sing more than one song within an hour! They have a huge list of songs to choose from and they are always updating! since it's private we can be a little more silly and sing the craziest songs! you can also stuff alot of people in those rooms! every once in a while the machine can get glitchy and skip songs but ehh, we've gotten used to it and, again, you just pick it again or put in another song from their huge selection! no alcohol allowed unless you get a liquor license but those are easy to grab! another plus is the people in front can split the cost on multiple credit cards! makes it really nice and easy to pay for especially since I never carry cash! I've been to a few karaoke rooms in seattle and this one is definitely the best one so far! read more

This is a pretty cool place. It's not a swanky karaoke bar or anything like that. You have to make a reservation, but if you buy a banquet permit you can bring all your own food and booze. PARTAY! And you pay about $5.50 per person per hour. They have a laptop to pick the songs. They have a screen for lyrics. Our rooms have had two mics. But... I would rate it higher except the sound system really wasn't working well. Also, the whole place is a little rundown these days. And the rooms are small. Also, there is nothing to deter crazy drunks from barging into your party. Which happened to us. The one guy was actually pretty aggressive. So, keep that in mind. Also, the street it's on is a little sketch. So, for a big karaoke party on the cheap or for die-hard karaoke lovers, this is perfect. read more

Are you typically the person that won't do karaoke at the bar because you don't want to sing in front of a bar full of strangers? Well this is the joint for you. Here it is just you and your friends in a tiny little room with a private karaoke experience. You choose the songs so the music is always good and you don't have to wait for 45 minutes for your turn. Basically it ends up turning into a drunken sing along with your friends by your side. On that note, get yourself a banquet permit from the city of Seattle which will allow you to bring in your own booze and snacks. Nothing like a little liquid courage to get you to grab the mic and sing away! read more

SBK holds a special place in my heart, but it is quite pricey so I don't go very frequently. They have some pretty sizable rooms and probably the best song selection in Seattle. Also, if you go to the liquor store and get a banquet permit for about $15 you can bring your own booze. Very. Fun. Times. read more

This place sucks. I wanted to bring my wife here to have fun with the girls...it would have been better if we had stayed in our living room. It is a waste of my time and money. My wife hated it but put a brave face on. This place has had very little money put into it. No decor. No atmosphere. Not a nice place. I can't believe they charge money for this. I guess you have to be drunk to enjoy it. read more

This is a peculiar place, I suppose mostly because of the name. I don't know if I've ever been to a more spartan, minimalistic karaoke place than this. It's room karaoke, but usually in the ID or UD I'm used to getting offered drinks or, I don't know, chairs that match. But is that really what you go to karaoke for? (well, maybe) My experience was for a birthday party with a pretty substantial number of people and we barely fit in one of the larger rooms, so chairs were a precious commodity. But we also were able to bring in our own food and alcohol, and we stayed pretty long. In the end it was remarkably cheap. If you want swank and fancy then this is a 1 star. If you want cheap minimalistic karaoke and byob then this is your place! read more

This place is soooooooo awesome! The dude who runs it has been there for over 15yrs! It's so amazing that a retail establishment can survive/thrive through everything that's happened over the last 15yrs. The furniture in the one room we were in was adequate. Not outstanding. But my comrades brought their own miniature tamborine and shake-it-noise-maker thing! Sometimes you gotta futz with the mic and music levels to get it just right. The song selections are amazing! It would be nice if they had more country, and show tunes. But I was pleasantly surprised to see selections from Glee and Cake's rendition of "I will survive". Good times! read more

When it comes to renting systems for private parties, SBK has always been a pleasure to work with. Shinji will come out and set up the system, show you all the tips for working with it (it's pretty straightforward, but the tips are still useful), and make sure you're ready to roll. The system has a great selection of material, and Shinji's super-friendly and helpful - SBK is worth every penny! read more

SBK is more about the people you bring than the venue itself. It's basically just a room with couches and a karaoke machine. So if you come with a bunch of boring people, then you will have a boring time. But it can be a blast if you get a liquor license (or just sneak stuff in, they don't seem to mind) and get some liquid courage in people. Plus it's fun to hear people sing Japanese and Korean pop music. Is this the only of its kind in the region? read more

So...much...fun. Gotta get a banquet license, bring booze, get that big room in the front by the window, and go crazy. So what if it smells like Led Zeppelin had an afterparty there about 30 years ago? Just wear lots of shiny pleather and PVC clothing and not only will you look hot and edgy when you go out for a smoke, but your ass won't pick up any germs. For a little local flavour check out the badass mini mart at the corner for Pibb and Red Vines...crazy delicious. I would go here every month or so if my friends liked to show off as much as I do. SBK RULES! read more