Looking for a good night out with friends in which you all get embarrassed equally? Try some karaoke at a local bar. Here’s our day-by-day guide to the area’s best karaoke spots.
SUNDAY
Skydome Lounge (300 Army Navy Dr., Arlington; 703-416-4100)
If the natural high you get from karaoke isn’t enough, try pouring your heart out to “My Life Would Suck Without You” at this rotating lounge on the top floor of the Doubletree Crystal City Hotel. No cover, specials on select cocktails, and you don’t need to be a hotel guest. Sunday, Wednesday, and Thursday 8 to 11 PM.
MONDAY
Finnegan’s Bar & Grill (Ashburn Village Shopping Center, Suite 199, Ashburn; 703-723-5885)
Formerly Kirkpatrick’s Bar, this Ashburn bar and restaurant features karaoke night on Monday. Chicken tenders are half price from 4 to 7, and kids eat free all day.
Irish Channel Bar
Sing your heart out at this Irish pub in DC’s Chinatown every Monday starting at 8:30 PM. For $6.95, you can get fish and chips, and Yuengling flows for $3.95 a pint.
Ned Devine’s
Enjoy half-price steak (5 to 8 PM) before getting your groove on every Monday at 9.
TUESDAY
The Reef
Karaoke Twisted Tuesdays, on the second and fourth Tuesdays of the month at this Adams Morgan restaurant and bar, begin at 9:30 PM and feature $5 Jameson cocktails and $3 Miller High Life. Hungry? The menu features organic produce and free-range meats from local farmers. Make sure to sample the half-price burgers in between songs.
Tommy Joe’s
This restaurant and sports bar offers karaoke on Tuesdays from 8 PM to closing. Specials include $3 margaritas, Coronas, and Corona Lights, and nachos are half price. If you arrive early for happy hour (4 to 7), there are $3.50 domestic and premium pints, rail drinks, house wines, and domestic bottles as well as half-price wings, quesadillas, and chicken tenders.
WEDNESDAY
Cobalt
Karaoke night at this popular Dupont Circle gay bar is fun, but be forewarned: Sweet tunes from Depeche Mode and Pat Benatar are often followed by rounds of cloying songs from Kelly Clarkson, High School Musical, and—gasp!—even O-Town. Karaoke every Wednesday night from 9 to closing. Specials include $5 Absolut and $3 Heineken.
Ned Devine’s (Centreville)
Sing the night away Wednesdays from 9 PM to 2 AM.
THURSDAY
Phase 1
This lesbian bar, within walking distance of the Eastern Market Metro, has a booming karaoke scene Thursdays from 7 PM to 2 AM. The “beeramid” happy hour cuts Bud Light to 25 cents a bottle from 7 to 7:30, 50 cents from 7:30 to 8, $1 from 8 to 9, $2 from 9 to 10, and $3 for the rest of the night.
FRIDAY
The Meeting Place
Sit back, have a couple of drinks, and get in the right mood for some singing—or slurring—with this downtown DC karaoke happy hour. Wednesdays 7 to 10, Fridays 7 to 12:30 AM.
1707 L St., NW; 202-293-7755; dcmidnight.com.
MULTIPLE NIGHTS
Cafe Japone
Sushi, live music, and karaoke every night 9:30 to closing. There are more than 14,000 songs in English, 8,000 in Japanese, and 300 in Spanish to choose from. Weeknights $10 per person; weekends $15. Reservations recommended for parties of six or more.
Eat First Chinese
Enjoy entrées for less than $10 along with karaoke Friday and Saturday. 10 PM; reservations required.
1409 Playbill Café
Performances take on an added level of theatricality here, with actors from the bar’s black-box theater often joining in the karaoke fun. Show tunes are, not surprisingly, quite popular. Monday and Thursday 9:30 PM to 1:30 AM. Rotating specials on beers and rail drinks on Thursday.
Freddie’s Beach Bar & Restaurant
Karaoke is king at this Crystal City gay bar, where you’re guaranteed to catch someone at the microphone every Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday night from 9 PM to 1 AM. With a real stage for performances and plenty of people in campy costumes, weekends are your best bet for an experience that makes an art out of public embarrassment. Specials on drafts and rail drinks. No cover.
Green Lantern
Not all performers like the spotlight. For the slightly timid or bashful, this gay bar’s karaoke—Sunday and Monday 9:30 to closing—is decidedly more low-key than some others. No cover and an all-night happy-hour drink special on Monday.
J.J. Muldoon’s
A lively Gaithersburg hangout where karaoke happens every night from 8:30 PM to 12:30 AM except Wednesday and Friday. Specials on domestic beers and rails drinks. No cover.
Peyote Cafe
An Adams Morgan Tex-Mex restaurant featuring karaoke and happy hour Thursday through Saturday 8:30 PM to 2 AM. No cover charge, reasonable drink prices, and lots of tequila.
Remingtons
Shamelessly belt out Shania Twain’s “Man! I Feel Like a Woman!” or Big & Rich’s “Save a Horse (Ride a Cowboy)” during Mama’s Trailer Park Karaoke (Friday and Saturday 10 to closing) at the upstairs lounge of this Capitol Hill country-western gay bar. A $5 cover charge Friday and Saturday includes a discount ticket for rail drinks. No cover for regular karaoke Wednesday and Thursday 10 to closing.
Rock It Grill
This Alexandria spot features karaoke every night from 9:30 PM to 1:30 AM. No drink specials, but with no cover charge and a low-key atmosphere during the week, this may be the right spot to either butcher or perfect your Whitney, Christina, or other VH1 diva.
