Nick’s Lounge

Karaōke is one of my favorite drunk activities, but I typically only do it in the private rooms with my close friends. This was my first time doing it in front of a bunch on strangers but I had a great experience. It was a big and diverse group of people that night and it worked out great. Everybody was very supportive and cheered each other on, even when I had forgotten half of the words to 99 Red Balloons, people still clapped and danced along.
4 stars because the place’s interior is a bit run down, but I assume it has been at the spot for a while. The drinks are well-​priced, the bartenders are all nice, and the regulars are fun as well. I’ll definitely bring my friends here again soon. :-)

FYI this is my updated review. I’ve been coming to this place for a long time and the fall from 4 stars to 2 stars has been a long time coming. The DJ is the worst and should have been fired years ago. I’ve put up with his unconventional hosting methods because I felt it was part of the vibe, but let’s be real, he’s an unbearable a$$hole who ruins the experience of coming in the first place and is the main I think better of coming here as much as I used to. Also, the talent level has gone down significantly. This used to be a place you could stop in for a free concert but now it’s just a bunch of drunk white people singing their favorite tune out of tune. Gentrification of the neighborhood has brought this place down with it. There was a time when this was my favorite bar and now I can’t stand the place. Oh well.

Fuck this place. I waited 3 hours to not sing. 1 hour in hour after submitting the song I was 7 hours away
2 hours later no song. I had a friend who was a regular and he told me about how regulars get first priority. Okay fuck this Place. Waste of tips

First and foremost, I HATE Unilocal.People on here bitch and moan and blast small business for the dumbest crap I can imagine. «The bites were too big and I had too use a knife.» Seriously? You guys are killing the country on your own with your priveleged BS complaints.
However, Unilocal is good for blasting the places that actually deserve it. And that is why after 3 years of not touching this ludicrous site, I have returned this one night for NICK’S LOUNGE.
I’ve come here once before and had a great night of drinking and (eventually) making a fool of myself singing. Tonight, I came with a friend and waited about an hour to get my turn at singing. We also ran into some other friends of ours by sheer coincidence who I hadn’t seen in awhile. Just before my friend was called, the bartender spilled a bottle of pineapple juice all over me. Soaked my pants and a small part of my newly purchased sweat shirt.
Hey. It’s a rough night. Yeah, I am mad but I could tell she was embarrassed and felt guilty and jumped right out to clean up. She told me the owner BRIAN would be out so amend things.
He comes out and I ask for a $ 50 dollar credit. Yes, I would agree that was a joke of a demand so I ask for $ 25 instead and he gives me the «well I don’t see what the problem is» blah blah blah shpeel. By this point the smell of pineapple juice has permeated and smells like asparagus urine. Don’t believe me? Apply it to your clothes and wait 5 minutes. It’s gross… so then he pulls the «I will buy you a drink next time you’re here.» Hilarious considering how the hell do I know you would even remember me? Shady.
He agrees to pay me $ 10 to cover my drinks. I push for $ 20 and he dusts me off disrespectfully. Fuck you, bud. I tried to be amenable but you were a dick and completely lacking in any sensible reaction to my situation. My Saturday blows now. I waited forever to sing on top of that. Their KJ totally needs to be bribed or you need to be very close with him FYI.
Won’t be coming back.

Great service always, from all of the bartenders and the owner. The fellow patrons are always friendly and likeable as well. I like to stop here and have a beer or two as I wait for the traffic to die down on my commute home, before the karaōke rush.

I love karaōke, but I left this place feeling disappointed. The space itself isn’t great — the lighting is too bright and it’s hard to move around when it gets packed — but the crowd was awesome and fun to sing along with. Normally that would make up for the less than perfect set up, but my boyfriend and I both felt like the Karaōke DJ (Alan?) was rude to us and just down right cranky. Every time we went up there he treated us like we were idiots that were wasting his time. He definitely had a favorite group of folks (who, to be fair, were fantastic) that he let sing over and over again, while pushing our songs to the back. Granted, my boyfriend and I were both drunk, but we were never disrespectful. If anything we kept trying to be friendly and get on his good side and he just would not have it. Overall his vibe definitely put a damper on the night.

The bartender was not very nice. My boyfriend thought the service was so bad that he refused to leave a tip. I thought «maybe that is just how he is» as I don’t expect workers to be peppy all the time as some reviewers here on Unilocal do, and left a small tip. I later noticed though that he was definitely way friendlier to customers that walked in after us. After reading the other reviews, my boyfriend and I have to wonder, is it the same bartender that was unreasonably rude to other Latinos? Is that why he was rude to us? There’s no way to know. Even if it wasn’t the same person, it still was a negative experience.

Decided to celebrate my 46^th birthday. We called ahead to make sure we had tables for the anticipated 24 invitees (20 showed up). 3 of us arrived right at seven and secured to tables to sit 10 people. Brian, the manager, bullied the 3 of us into purchasing drinks as soon as we sat down & said we could leave if we didn’t like the 1 drink policy. We understood the 1 drink policy, but not within the first 5 minutes of sitting down. We even mentioned waiting for a few more people to arrive.
Too late in the night to change the venue, as my guest were all en route, two us us ordered a bar dink, and 1 water to start the evening. Brian, brought the drinks and glass of water. He quoted the drink prices, including $ 5 for the glass of water!
As we tried to explain that water is a courtesy beverage, and we were expecting at least 20 more people who would be purchasing bar drinks (plural), Brian insisted the water was a bar drink and it would cost $ 5
Needless to say, when the Karaōke DJ arrived and more folks arrived, we began to enjoy the birthday celebration. The playlist was great, the crowd was very fun.
Brian, the management, need to take a second look at the «water» policy and not force a large purchasing power to be forced into buying drinks within a certain period of time. Bad business Brian. Shame on you. That was horrible customer service. I’ll be spending my money elsewhere going forward. Not because I didn’t have a great time, but because you, Brian, you were not a good host!

As a karaōke fan, I thought this was a pretty cool place. It’s not without it’s flaws.
The first thing that stood out was the acoustics. One of the single best sounding karaōke setups I’ve ever heard.
The library wasn’t overly extensive (unless they have more than is not offered in the book), but they offered enough for everyone to find something they’re looking for.
Drink selection seemed to be good, $ 4 24 oz cans of PBR — not gonna get a much better deal than that.
I’ll be back here for sure.

This place is a lot of fun. The bartender and the customers are super friendly and the drinks are strong. I’m kinda shy about karaōke, but I really enjoyed watching the show and cheering people on. Definitely a fun place.

This is one of the coolest bars I’ve ever seen. The amount of joy it’s brought me on good days and bad days is beyond words, which might be indicated by the length of this review. Hopefully the following will do this institution justice, and will be informative to you.
As a musician/​general-​music-​freak that lived in Japan for years, I’ve been to more than my share of karaōke bars, and this is one is really special. The crowd is always diverse, and I’ve never seen the unifying power of music demonstrated more. Every day you can see strangers from all walks of life singing together and high-​fiving each other for hours. It’s beautiful. When I moved to the East Bay several years ago, I kind of felt like you have your Berkeley bars, where you’re sure to overhear graduate students in a mandatory meeting convincing themselves and each other how smart they are. And then you have your Oakland bars, where the «nightlife» is real «cool» and stuff. But this bar is different. It’s a place that celebrates and addresses the human condition through music. It really seems like the least pretentious bar in Berkeley.
The karaōke song book (the book that you can pick songs from) is the second best I’ve ever seen. They’ve got classics from all decades and genres, musicals, joke songs, you name it.
Here’s how it works for anybody that doesn’t know:
— You arrive, buy your one-​drink minimum, and tip the bartender.
— You grab a karaōke book, a pencil, and one of the slips of paper provided, and write your song and name on it.
— You give the paper to the KJ (karaōke jockey, yes that’s a thing, haha), and they put you on the list. Don’t forget to tip the KJ
— You sit back, relax, and enjoy the other singers that put their songs in before you.
— You don’t pester the KJ about when your song is going to happen. It’s a list in a computer, relax. On busy nights, it could be an hour wait or more, but in that hour you’ll hear some really good songs being done.
— They’ll call your name and you go up to the front and just totally celebrate the song and the artist you’re doing, get in the zone with the song, and don’t worry about your voice or what people think. If you are in the zone with the song everybody will get there with you.
— Repeat
There is also poetry reading and quality live jazz sometimes. Check the bar’s website for scheduling.
Their drink selection is comfortable, and well-​curated, with a full range of drinks.
It’s cash only, and there’s an ATM inside with a very low fee.
The owner/​manager is a good guy, knows his drinks, and his music. He does close a little earlier than some bars sometimes, but that’s his prerogative, so when the bar is closing, don’t drunkenly argue with him about it. It’s perhaps a tribute to the beauty of the place that people don’t want to leave at the end of the night. But come on, there’s always tomorrow.
I don’t know who’s going to read this, but for goodness sake people, don’t be self-​conscious about your singing voice. Yes there are some regulars who were the lead in their high-​school musical and can really sing, but what’s that compared with having FUN? Just have fun. And this is a great place for it.
On nights when there are smaller crowds, it’s more about the music, easier to get several songs in the queue, with a shorter wait for your song, and a little more intimate of course. On nights with bigger crowds, it’s more a party vibe, and you’re more likely to be sitting next to a birthday party of people who aren’t that into the music. In order from smallest to biggest crowds, here is the general trend in nights of the week as I see it:
least people — Monday — Sunday — Tuesday — Wednesday — Thursday — Saturday — Friday — most people
Okay I’m done writing about this. Don’t forget to be polite, tip the good people that make it happen, and for goodness sake have fun.

Nick’s rocks. Cool and eclectic crowd. Always good vibes. A good mix of real singers (not me =) and drunk folk just sharing their love of the song (like me ;^). The heart and soul of Karaōke… every freakin’ night of the week. What???

I have never been the type of person to have a «regular» bar, but that was before I found Nick’s!
The drinks are cheap and strong, the bartenders & KJs are all friendly and welcoming, and the songbook is huge and ever-​expanding. I have made many new friends and had so much fun!
I have been enthralled with karaōke for many years, and Nick’s is the absolute best place to do it. If you want to get lots of songs in, before 9 on a weeknight or On Sunday evening are the best times to do it!
Come in and say hi sometime, don’t be a stranger, and bring your best song game, see you there!

Come on karaōke, cheap drinks, a stage, good sound and walking distance to my house. ALL WINS!
Negatives pretty dark, cash only, and it seems like it is pretty difficult to get your song picked if there are any sort of parties going on

The bartender was extremely rude. I felt very uncomfortable and racially stereotyped. He yelled at me for not being sure what I wanted to drink saying I had to leave if I didn’t order a drink. I had every intention in getting a drink (otherwise I wouldn’t have been standing at the bar) I just needed a couple more seconds to see what there was. He also refused to take my friends drink orders even though we weren’t paying together. I should also add that the bar was practically empty. A couple of minutes later my boyfriend (who is white) went to the bar and said the exact same thing I said and instead of threatening to kick him out, he patiently told him the beer selection. My friends and I were so upset when we found that the same bar tender had been rude to all the latino people in our group on separate accounts that night. Similar scenarios where the bar tender assumed we had no money to buy drinks. I have never felt so uncomfortable in my life.
We spoke to the owner of the establishment and while he listened to what we had to say, he just argued that the bar tender couldn’t possible be racist because he’s Scottish. Right… Because Scottish white people are immune to racially profiling??? The saddest thing is that you wouldn’t expect that kind of sh*t to happen in this part of the state. The bar tender probably considers himself «progressive». It’s Berkeley for crying out loud! Racial profiling is damaging and should be addressed. The way he made us feel was unacceptable. Please don’t support this establishment.

The bartender was ok, but the patio
Closes super early and if you plan on singing anything every you better have the karaōke djs privates in the palm of you’re hand.
I waited over two hours and never sang. It’s super crowded and it’s lame.
#jokesonnicks

Let me just start by saying that I have developed a deep and passionate relationship with karaōke, thanks in LARGE part to Nick’s Lounge.
Karaōke every night?! Yes, please! They have a great song list, and are always receptive to suggestions abut new songs. Sometimes the wait to sing can be a teensy bit long on a Friday or Saturday especially, but that’s only because this place gets so poppin’ with people that love to sing, which makes for a fun atmosphere. Pro-​tip: if you don’t want to wait, come on a weekday, especially before 9 or 10 pm. It tends to be pretty slow at that time, and you can get a bunch of songs in before the whole crowd gets there…
The drinks are cheap, which is awesome, and consistent. Rarely have I been poured a weak or bad drink by the bartenders (who are all amazing). The owner, Bryan, makes delicious batches of sangria, which aren’t always advertised, so make sure to ask! Yum! The KJ’s are all AWESOME, and have always been very welcoming and friendly in my experience.
Overall, great times to be had at Nick’s! Highly recommended– I literally take everyone here when they come to visit from out of town. :)
Oh yea, and it’s cash only, but their ATM only charges $ 1.50 service charge… pretty sweet.

When I went to visit friends in Oakland we went on Unilocal to see where a good bar was on a Thursday night. A few clicks later we ended up at Nicks Lounge because wanted to check out the karaōke bar.
Being not from the Berkeley area we were surprised at how hometown and friendly this bar was. It felt like everyone at this bar knew each other and definitely had a local following. When we ordered at the bar and made song requests we were immediately welcomed by the bartenders and people there’s. We even met the owner!
If I ever live in that area it would be a great local hangout. Good vibes, music, people and the drinks are affordable and they make em strong too!
Go have a drink and then sing your favorite 90s karaōke song! They have books on books of songs.

Nick’s was a not-​so-​surprisingly good time… I mean really you can’t go wrong with cheap drinks and karaōke.
My friends and I arrived at around 9ish on a Saturday night and this place was already overflowing with music and patrons. The inside is relatively small for the amount of people occupying the space but as time went on people cleared out.
The drinks were pretty cheap. Managed to get 3 shots for a little less than $ 20. This place is cash only so please bring your coin purse.
The karaōke line was pretty hefty but we managed to sing two songs within an hour of being there (not so bad) and the MC/​host was super nice and even backtracked on a song we neglected to come up for.
The atmosphere was super chill, everyone was friendly and courteous. The crowd even cheered and danced while we butchered No Scrubs by TLC.
Great way to spend a Saturday night, no cover, cheap drinks and tons of songs to choose from *inserts smiley face*
Only negative is its really small, so if you are with a group of 5+ you may need to divide and conquer.

Bad review because of one member of staff. Now, me, my roommate & work friends come here often. We enjoy the karaōke & cheap drinks. What I don’t like is the guy in charge of the karaōke.
POWER TRIP
We get singled out by him all the time. He refused to let us sing a song last week because we ‘disrespected’ him by wanting to put in more than one request. We were there for hours buying drinks while other groups went up time & time again and we were waiting.
Lesson learned, even as a patron don’t mess with the king and his castle.