I have been somewhat addicted to this place since my first visit two weekends ago. My favorite songs to sing are Utada Hikaru's "First Love" and "Foolish Games" by Jewel. Asian languages featured were Korean, Japanese, Chinese, Vietnamese, and what might be either Indonesian or Malaysian. (So sorry!)
Austin Karaoke was originally owned by a good friend of mine (with the Korean name "noraebang" meaning "karaoke room"), but it has been under new ownership with its current name for quite a while now.
Two doors down is the World Food Market Asian food store.
I couldn't give you a review as well as Laura Capitano's, so here is her article.
Enjoy relative privacy while belting 'em out
http://www.jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/090806/enc_4873037.shtml
Open since February 2006, Austin offers private room karaoke, much like the place Bill Murray and Scarlett Johansson sing at during their big night out in Lost in Translation. Now that I've experienced this more authentic version, I can see why the Japanese are comparatively more enthusiastic about karaoke.
The private room aspect negates most of the cons of bar karaoke: the hecklers, long waits for your request to turn up, four different dudes crooning She Thinks My Tractor's Sexy over the course of the night, and the inevitable Girls Night Out group that crowds around one microphone to spill White Zin and screech I Will Survive.
Austin Karaoke in on Beach Boulevard, east of St. Nicholas, west of University Boulevard South.
At Austin, a friendly staffer greets you in the immaculate reception area and, depending on the size of your group (they can accommodate parties of up to 50), leads you down a hallway to one of nine party rooms.
The hall has characteristics of a high-class dormitory on a Friday night: clean, stylish decor, with the din of a wild and goofy party audible from behind every door.
It's easy to launch right into a toe-tapping good time when you have all the cool stuff Austin provides. Each room has a quality sound system, plenty of dance space and monitors that play humorously random video accompaniment (Material Girl featured video footage of farm animals, for example).
Rooms offer comfortable furnishings and plenty of song guides, so the whole crew doesn't have to fight over one copy.
The slim English section in the song book initially concerned us (it had plenty of Japanese, Chinese and Korean), but our group had no problem finding material and rocked steady for hours.
You even get tambourines and sleigh bells to give your performance some added flair.
The guides and equipment are user-friendly. The Speak & Spell-size remote control looks intimidating but is pretty intuitive, and we had no problems programming our play list. (Capifacto: Laura prefers any and all Madonna hits when singing karaoke. Like a Virgin is best because it's fun to make the "Ahhhhhhh!" whisper sound into the microphone.)
Each room also has a little red Montgomery Burns-style buzzer that signals a server, who pops in to take orders for cool Japanese juices and other drinks such as fruit-infused sake, rice punch - even the exotic delicacy known as Miller Lite. Servers also keep the complimentary snack tray stocked with pistachios, peanuts and little crunchies I can only describe as pre-cheesed Cheetos.
Austin is one of the best discoveries I've made since I started writing about First Coast happenings. It's a novel concept in our area, a great change of pace from the typical nightlife choices of crowded bars, overpriced movie theaters or the couch at home.
My crew was finally worn out close to the 2 a.m. mark, and we waddled out with dry throats and sore cheeks from all our smiling.
But I can manage to muster the energy for one quick encore:
"Ahhhhhhh!"
laura.capitano@jacksonville.com,
(904) 359-4370
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