There are two kinds of karaoke in Boston, and picking the wrong one ruins the night. One is a bar with a mic and a stranger's playlist. The other is a locked room with your friends, a screen and a bill by the hour. Know which one you want before you leave the house.
The private room: you pay for the door
The Chinatown-edge option is Viva Karaoke. Time Out says it sits on the outskirts of Chinatown. Its reservable rooms hold nine to 20 people. Its catalog covers songs in eight languages, which matters in a city this mixed.
The prices are the part to read twice. In a launch write-up first published in September 2023, Boston Uncovered listed a $125 an hour room for 20 people. A room for nine was $75 an hour. The same piece said rooms booked before 7 PM had a special rate. Those figures come from a launch article and rates move, so confirm before you book.
Do the split. Our own arithmetic: that top-rate room shared by ten people comes to about thirteen dollars each per hour, before anyone orders a drink. That is cheaper than a cover at most clubs, and you get the room to yourselves. Our read is that the private room beats a bar for any group of six or more.
Allston: the old room is now Viva
Allston used to have Stage Karaoke, and Time Out still lists it as a private, friends-only outing. The small studios there held 10 people, with a VIP room above them. Do not trust that page for the name. Stage's own website now reads that Stage Karaoke is now Viva Karaoke, and it points you to the Viva booking page.
Call it a rebrand, not a closure, but check the booking page before you go. Older guides still send people to a name that now redirects.
The bar with a mic: free, loud, and unpredictable
This is the better night for one or two friends. Time Out lists Hong Kong at Quincy Market as a bar with nightly karaoke sessions. On Tuesday it runs 8pm to 2am. From Wednesday through Friday the list says it starts at 6pm. The bar's own karaoke page agrees, and it adds an early weekend start of Saturday: 5pm - 2am. Monday is dark, listed as Monday: Closed. Hong Kong is not on our venue list yet.
dbar in Dorchester runs karaoke every Friday night at 10pm. Dani's Queer Bar lists a no cover karaoke night on Thursday. The hours are 10pm-2am every Thursday. And Club Cafe runs Karaoke Wednesdays in its Moonshine room.
The Midway in Jamaica Plain is the loud one. Time Out calls its Queeraoke one of Boston's most interactive karaoke nights. Time Out's two pages disagree on the time. One gives Thursday at 10pm. The other gives Thursday at 8pm. Plan for the later one and check the bar. Midway Cafe is on our list.
Suburban and restaurant karaoke
Not every karaoke night is a dive. Kings Back Bay has a backstage karaoke bar for parties. Its karaoke nights fall on Friday and Saturday at 9pm. In Brookline, Hamilton runs a weekly karaoke night each Wednesday from 9pm to midnight. Orleans in Somerville does Saturday sing-alongs from 9pm to 1am.
Charlie's Kitchen in Harvard Square used to sing on Tuesday nights upstairs, and Time Out's list still has it. Skip that listing: the owner announced it will not reopen, on Friday, November 6, 2026, after a January closure. Harvard Square karaoke needs a new address.
Two more bars that sing
Jacque's Cabaret in Bay Village has weekly karaoke, per Time Out, and it also keeps a midnight curfew. The Alley downtown runs karaoke on Sunday nights. Both are small, which suits a night where the point is to take turns.
A week of singing, by night
Use this as a planning grid. Every line comes from a posted source above, so confirm the night before you go.
- Monday: no listed karaoke in our sources, and Hong Kong is dark. Spend it on bingo instead, per the drag guide.
- Tuesday: Hong Kong at Quincy Market 8pm to 2am.
- Wednesday: Hamilton in Brookline 9pm to midnight, and Karaoke Wednesdays at Club Café.
- Thursday: Queeraoke at the Midway, and the no cover night at Dani's.
- Friday: dbar at 10pm. Kings in Back Bay at 9pm.
- Saturday: Hong Kong from late afternoon. Orleans in Somerville 9pm to 1am, and Kings again.
- Sunday: the Alley downtown, with its Sunday karaoke night.
The pattern is plain. Tuesday and Wednesday are the cheap, easy nights, with room at the mic and no line for a song. Friday and Saturday are the ones with a crowd. If you want to actually sing and not wait, go on a Tuesday.
Who each night is for
A first-timer should start at a free bar night in a room that already likes bad singers, which in our read means a queer bar or a big restaurant-bar. Put the private room on the calendar for a birthday. A big group that wants to split a bill and sing without an audience belongs in Viva, and anyone who wants a stranger to cheer for them belongs at a bar.
What to skip and what is worth the cover
- Skip the private room if you are two people. You pay for a room built for nine or more.
- Skip any bar night where you cannot find the start time on the venue's own page. Karaoke schedules drift.
- Worth it: the free weekly nights at Dani's, dbar and Club Café, where the only cost is a drink.
- Worth it: a private room at the early rate, if it still applies. It was the cheapest hour on the sheet.
Getting home
Karaoke ends at the same hour as the bars, so the ride home is the same problem. Check the last train page before you book a late private room, because a two-hour booking can run past your train. For the rest, see getting home after last call, late-night food and the broader queer nightlife guide.
The Chinatown end of the scene has its own plan in a night in Chinatown.