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- Hours:
Mon-Sun 6 pm - 2 am
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Parking:
- Street
- Price Range:
-
$$
- Outdoor Seating:
- No
- Music:
- Karaoke
- Best Nights:
- Fri, Sun, Sat
- Happy Hour:
- No
- Alcohol:
- Full Bar
- Smoking:
- No
- Coat Check:
- No
- Good For Dancing:
- No
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- No
About This Business:
Private room karaoke in the heart of downtown Toronto. Small rooms 1~5 people. Medium 6~10. Large 11~ 20. Beers, Shots, Cocktails, Soju, Wine, Bottle… read more »
14 reviews for XO Karaoke
14 reviews in English
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Review from Denise S.
2/5/2012 1 Check-in Here
XO is a fun karaoke bar in K-town, on par with nearby BMB Karaoke. It's upstairs, just next to Clinton's. It's a great place to head after dancing! They are open until 3am on weekends, although last call at the bar is 2am. The rooms come in S, M, and L sizes and prices are good. For a small room for 4 people, it's $20/hour. The song selection is alright. Most of the new releases are not in English, but they'll have enough classics to keep your group entertained. They had 3 microphones in our room, which is great for those group numbers! Most other places only have 2 microphones. Staff are helpful and nice. They explained how to use the machine and we had no problems. It was almost closing when we went, and they gave us bottled water and pop for free! Not as good as Bar+, but pretty solid if you happen to be in the 'hood.
Listed in: Karaoke!
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Review from Shiona R.
3/1/2012
Beware of the stairs! They should have this in flash on their website, as someone who nearly face planted the final set going down, they are steep and damn awkward when you have had a few drinks/are wearing heels!
That said a group of 10 of us went to XO on Saturday, ready to screech along to our favourite songs. They have a decent selection of music, we were right on the top floor, fine getting up there...more difficult to manage on the journey back down. Black lights on, main lights out, long island ice tea in hand and I was ready to to belt out some "living on a prayer" and "if I could turn back time". For 10 of us, assuming we were in a mid-sized room, there was not enough room for all of us to attempt the "Single Ladies" dance - especially the run at the wall bit haha!
Service with a smile...don't expect it. I drink very fast as do some of my other friends and I do not think the girl seemed to get more and more miserable each time we called for service. On one occasion she walked in and out again without taking our order...just rude!
The washrooms...nothing quite like trying to perch on the loo whilst also holding the door closed!
The other noteworthy point is that everyone can hear you, my friend commented that she did not need to know which room we were in because she heard me from the floor below!
Despite all my bitching, I did have a good night. Get a decent group together, be prepared to sing your heart out...the time flies by! -
Review from Vivek S.
2/18/2012 1 Check-in Here
XO is an all right, sort of, kind of, OK karaoke bar in Koreatown. It's a sticky, sweaty place with thirteen rooms (in three sizes) that smells like beer and bodies. According to their website, it's $20 per hour for a 5 person room. $40 for a 10 person room, and $60 for a 20 person room. Pretty standard for this strip, I believe.
As our group grew, we graduated from a medium to a large room. The large room was awkwardly laid out. I took the liberty of graphing price per person, quantity of people, and a coefficient of fun[1] against time:
https://skitch.com/viv...
As you can see, the sweet spot of fun peaks for the middle-sized room. As your group and room gets larger, service grinds to a halt, the awkward layout makes it harder for everyone to see the screen and the general experience is less fun. This is science people, don't argue.
The staff are also a touch on the defensive. It's true that hipsters like to sneak in alcohol in back-pocket flasks, but having the servers declare that they "will catch you" was a bit Tommy Lee Jones-esque and off putting. Add the decrepit facilities and this place makes Bar Plus on Yonge, look like Caesar's Palace. And since their prices are only marginally higher for facilities that are exponentially classier, I'll probably be taking my karaoke needs there from now on.
Obligatory Title Pun: I am NAUGHT likely to CROSS paths with them again.
Menu Readability: I found their songbook a bit hard to navigate to be honest.
Need to mention: Lots of stairs. Be wary drunkos.
What this place teaches me about myself: Yeah, I'll graph out my karaoke experiences. Wanna fight about it?
_____
[1] Coefficient of fun is a unitless measure that combines Enjoyment, Glee, Mirth and Happiness. It is inversely proportional to the coefficient of lame.Listed in: Uno Dos, Places to get crunk in the…
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Review from Kent P.
2/18/2012
Poor customer service (had or room booked incorrectly by a week), lack of help with basic questions, poor ventilation in rooms, medium selection of songs. Bar Plus, although not in Korea town, is much better.
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Review from Greg C.
Toronto, ON
2/19/2011
XO Karaoke
Look XO, we've had some good times, some great times and a LOT of sweaty, ugly pics. But it seems like you haven't changed since 2002. Oh sure, it was great at the time when you were constantly getting new songs from the White Stripes or The Strokes but what have you done for me lately?
You're like that (proverbial) guy I taught ESL with in Japan in my 20s who decided to hang back "just a little bit longer" but now you're in your 40s and rocking a gross ponytail and going to underground sex clubs in Tokyo because everyone else has moved on. Now the only difference is you are stingy with the echo and music volume controls and I have to summon the staff to move a dial when every other karaoke joint in Toronto let's me do it myself.
And the art on the walls? FML! -
Review from Nicole P.
7/9/2011
Xo, there are a few reasons why I love you.
Somehow, although "Love Shack" wasn't listed in the booklet, you made it happen. Also, you brought all of us drinks and shots and overall happiness.
The place itself is nothing special- kind of dirty, some songs didn't quite work at first, and the remote was not really explained to us so we tried to make it work for longer than is reasonable- but all in all, its provided plenty of photo opportunities, awkward and amazing drunken musical moments with friends, and an excellent way to say goodbye to Toronto. -
Review from Tara Z.
1/8/2011
I haven't been here and years, and it feels like the song selection's gotten smaller. I'm talking about the English songs, by the way, as we're a bunch of cultural imperialists who appropriate other people's entertainment and add a fuckload of beer.
P.S. They will bring beer to your room! You will need a lot.
The staff is really awesome about tolerating belligerent drunks, though--we stayed well past closing, but the front desk guy was really gracious and didn't make us feel like we had to hurry out of there. Props to him! -
Review from Diane C.
5/2/2011 1 Check-in Here
XO Karaoke has been on my short-list of places to go since (a) I heard it had undergone some big renovation and (b) the one time a bunch of friends and I had tried to get in, we were told by staff it was full - reservation only, they said. (I was annoyed at the time. But that's okay - I appreciate a challenge.)
So when I came here for a friend's b-day last week, I couldn't believe my luck when we got in, no problem.
Well, well, well.
XO, I have no idea what you were like BEFORE the reno. But I don't think all the word-of-mouth hype was warranted.
Yes, your song selection is slightly different and maybe a wee bit larger than your neighbour, BMB. And yes, your mics and your fancy-complicted song selection equipment actually work.
But what the hell's with the music videos you've clearly pirated off MuchMusic and MTV? The point of karaoke is to (a) have fun and (b) have THE WORDS ON THE SCREEN when you sing.
If you're going to showcase your voluminous R&B and hip-hop song selection, make sure it's actually got the lyrics. If I wanted to GUESS the lyrics to, say, Ludacris' "What's Your Fantasy" (save for the chorus), then I would've just gone to Hip-Hop Karaoke instead.
(Not that Hip-Hop Karaoke would even LET me rap Ludacris. The purists would punt me faster than I could say "conversate".)
Yes, I had fun, but it was because my friends and I got drunk on sake and cassis at the sushi bar next door. Don't make me WORK for my karaoke, yo.
I would say this place is a one-hit blunder ... except that my friend JUST booked "The Big Room" for her birthday this weekend, so I'll be giving you another chance for the sake of my friend.
Maybe I'll change my mind. But frankly, BMB is currently out-ranking you on my personal list. BIG time.
** Update (Nov. 5, 2011): I've upgraded XO to 3 stars because I made a second visit. The room was better, and so was the selection. Perhaps it was the selection made by the company I kept? {shrug} ** -
Review from Angela H.
5/3/2009
Last night my friend and I were total losers, and spontaneously decided (drunk) to do karaoke for 35 minutes. XO Karaoke is located conveniently above Clinton's on Bloor, so after dinner, we shot upstairs and gave it! A small room for 1 hour of full-on singing power is only $20. Song selection is huge, and beers are cheap. I've been here a couple of times before, and this song box place rules! From experience last night, M.I.A. does NOT make a good karaoke song by any means.
One sad note: A couple of years ago there was a huge crowd of us who went to XO, and one of our friends fell asleep on the couches in the room we were in. He got fleas. -
Review from Rj P.
10/15/2010
XO Karaoke is great option for a night out with friends.
Yes, it's dark, yes it's a little dirty - but for $20/hour you can party like a rock-star (and sound like one too).
Drinks are reasonable, you can bring in your own food (if you dare!) and there are enough English songs that you can be entertained for a reasonable amount of time (the selection can be dated at times).
I've closed the place out a few nights (4 AM?) with terrific performances - once you start signing (and drinking) you never want to stop! -
Review from Jennifer L.
Toronto, ON
3/4/2010
The last time I had gone here, I found a giant chunk of human hair (maybe it was an extension, I don't know) laying peacefully on the floor. Did someone get into a fight and have their hair ripped out?
Was it also a coincidence that the last few times upon visiting this establishment, myself or a singing friend had gotten terribly sick with a throat infection the next day? One of them had gotten H1N1!
Should I tell you a story about a guy puking his guts out behind one of the karaoke couches and all over the remote? I doubt it had a good cleaning, that room.
Although XO Karaoke has the biggest selection of songs, it is not clean. Every other Karaoke place along this Karaoke strip is the same price ($20 and up per hour) and has a similar selection of songs. They are also cleaner and not as wildly packed. Protect yourself and wear a body condom if you happen to end up at XO Karaoke. -
Review from Diane R.
Toronto, ON
1/26/2010
It's not often I'm surprised with a hidden talent, but last weekend I went on a little journey of self discovery at XO. I've frequented this venue for a few late night jam sessions but my enjoyment has generally been voyeuristic. This time around I realised in another life somewhere I'm actually a hip hop star, and in this one I'm an xo karaokee hip hop star. The music selection ranges room to room, but friendly patrons don't mind interruption (I don't!) if you hear something appealing going on next door. Xo is also open far later than most other spots, I've walked out at 4:30am before. Get there before late night karaokee becomes ironic and overun with Pabst!
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Review from Anna V.
Toronto, ON
11/19/2008
Group Karaoke is something that I've only found in Canada. In Japan, it's al private room stuff. XO is in the middle of Koreatown, but it has the best private room karaoke in the city. You can't smoke in the rooms, but I almost always do. You order drinks and all that at the front and just give er'. Sometimes, there's nothing better than leaving a bar at 1AM on a Friday, skipping up to Bloor, hitting an hour of Karaoke then Korean BBQ and home to bed. If you have the right group of friends, you can't beat it.
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Review from Elizabeth L.
Toronto, ON
5/28/2009
Here's the thing - everyone loves karaoke but no one likes acting like an asshole in front of a bunch of strangers. XO is awesome because you can rent a room suitable to the number people you pour in with after the bars stop serving. It can be pretty pricey but sometimes you just have to belt out some Hilary Duff or Aqua without anyone passing judgement on you.
The song selection is pretty current and decent, but you should know that it varies from room to room. It took me a few trips to XO to realize this. Some rooms have kind of a lame selection, especially compared to some of the larger rooms. Also, you'll be irritated when the room you're in has the WORST and LEAST RECOGNIZABLE songs from your favourite artists. It's really odd.
And drinkers be warned: if you order about 17 beers at last call employees WILL come in and clear them all out moments later. This has happened to me on a couple of occasions. You assume that as long as you've bought them and you're in a private room that they will let you guzzle them all down. Not the case.
Again, it's pricey but if you go with a group amped on singalongs then it's a wicked time.
