Winnie’s Bar

It's a small inexpensive Karaoke place wthat goes from empty at 9pm to overcrowded by 11pm. Just a great positive vibe by the crowd, whether you can sing or not everyone cheers and claps.

Really great neighborhood bar that has friendly and welcoming vibes. I don’t usually like to karaoke but I felt so comfortable here that I sang multiple songs. Bartenders were really fun and sang a few songs with us. Bring cash for the songs! But they do have an atm if you forget.

I stayed in North bay for a night wanted to go to a pub, stopped in at this place because it was close to my hotel Best Western. It was, very dark, lousy snack ok wine but cheap will not return.

Everyone is welcome here! 2nd floor space is a little hideaway! Low key, fun vibe, no pressure. Believe it or not before I started my nonprofit Inform Your Community, before I wrote 6 books, before I had 2 kids, and before I taught college for 20 years I went here constantly. They had a Hawaiian Punch drink that was amazing. Long since closed down, we found it again after the pandemic. Winnie, the owner, REMEMBERED ME!!!!!! Love her, love this place.

Bartenders won't even look you in the eye as they lie to you about having tables "reserved" and kick out paying customers for their friends. Do not spend your money here unless you want to have a terrible time and NOT sing - bartenders were also seen skipping everyone but their friends' songs, even when customers tipped more than the required $1.00.

Great bar if you like fast service on well drinks while people yell off key into microphones. Bad bar if you like to sing karaoke.

The bartenders are really rude and they’ll lie to you on your face. Will never go back to this bar again. The bar isn’t the problem, the bartenders are.

This is the best karaoke bar in New York City and it’s not even close. The bartenders are the best the music choices endless. This is my favorite bar of all of New York City. The vibes are always great. I’ve had so many wonderful memories here!! This place truly is very special to my heart. Love it !!!

Wow! What an amazing time, sang, drank and vibed. Shoutout to to Lucas and Izzy!! Also the door guy is a hunkkkkkk.

The best karaoke bar in the city. Bartenders are always sweet. Sometimes annoying tik tok customers but owner/ staff are always awesome

We went for the bottomless brunch and had a good time. The menu wasn't very extensive but the types of bottomless drinks you get were awesome. Lots of variety and they were good drinks. The food was good and the service was great. The bar wasn't that full so we didn't have a huge vibe going especially because the music wasn't our thing with all that pop music but it depends on what your taste is. It could be a great place for a group brunch but it wasn't anything to rave over in my opini

2/5 stars if you're looking to sing, and 4/5 stars if you're just going to drink. My friends and I put in a song request and waited 2 hours to sing the song. Some groups who came in after us were singing before us, so I'm not sure what the organization is for the karaoke. The drinks on the other hand are tasty and fairly priced. I had the dragon punch which was a gin based drink. They have other fun cocktails and a fun list of shooters.

Here's the thing. Don't go to Winnie's on a Saturday night if you don't like crowds.* The real move is to show up to Winnie's on a Wednesday, right when they open. Not because you're old as fuck and now eat dinner early so you can be in bed at a decent hour because your children will wake up at the crack of dawn no matter what (never that**). But because you're in the know. Because you read this review, and I told you how to live your life properly: 1. On a nice Wednesday evening, grab some friends and go eat entirely too much Chinese food nearby, drinking whatever alcohol is available (usually just beer and wine, but you never know). Bonus points if you stopped at 169 Bar earlier. 2. Go to Winnie's. It'll probably be empty, assuming you get there early enough, or nearly empty. 3. Immediately take shots of Jameson, because the bartenders at Winnie's pour the finest Jamo in all the land. 4. Sing your favorite karaoke songs enthusiastically, but terribly,*** with no shame because there's no one there but the bartenders, who you're paying to pretend they enjoy your antics. 5. Drink more drinks while watching Predator with subtitles, or whatever they have playing. 6. Run out of your usual songs, and start mixing in some more ambitious choices. Maybe some Sister Christian. Or a little Queen. If everyone gets the news that Coolio passed away, do Gangsta's Paradise as a tribute. 7. If you are forced to stop in the middle of a different hip-hop song you evidently don't know at all, the rules state you must take whatever terrible shot the bartenders feel like giving you. 8. Reach your limit (embarrassingly early). Thank the patient, excellent bartenders for their hospitality. Tip generously. And tell them Peppermint Patty sent you (only do this if you tip generously). ______________ *Really this could just read: Don't go to any popular bar in Manhattan on a Saturday night if you don't like crowds. **Actually always that. ***I have no choice here, but you're welcome to sing well if you are able.

The haphazard nature of Winnie's is part of its charm, but it is downright chaotic on busy weekend nights, where they pack people to the gills in a barely air conditioned room and it's impossible to get a drink with just 2 bartenders, one of whom is plugging in karaoke song requests into YouTube. Maybe that's why they're still checking vaccination cards, an anomaly at this point in the pandemic, but when the air is that stuffy with little circulation, I don't think most people mind. The bartenders are understandably overwhelmed with loud, drunk, young people shouting drink orders and song requests, but there's one particular bartender who is actively unpleasant to deal with. You can't ask any questions without them rebuffing you, including how exactly one should request a song. It turns out the system is simply to write your song down on a provided piece of paper for $1 per song, and they'll eventually plug it into YouTube, where it will play for the room. Between the chaos of the bar and this song entre process and the bartenders themselves taking breaks to sing (which I think is fun and okay), you'll be lucky if your song plays in the time that you're at the bar. On quieter nights, Winnie's can actually be a fun time, particularly when Winnie herself is present at the bar. I think she mainly speaks Cantonese and doesn't ever get on the mic herself, but when she proudly points at framed pictures of her on the wall with the likes of Bill Clinton, you can't help but be ever so slightly charmed by the place. Not ever on a Saturday night though.

Ever since the Golden Cicada served its last shot of maotai in 2019, I've been longing to settle into an offbeat dive with Chinese beer and karaoke streaming from a laptop running YouTube. Lo and behold; Winnie's was a revelation. Dropping by at opening time (8:00pm) on a Saturday night, my friend and I were the only ones at the small bar for about an hour. This left plenty of time to knock back a few bottles of Tsingtao and take in the atmosphere. Soon after, things got lively: a crowd packed in and karaoke kicked off in earnest. With friendly staff, a covered patio, and good prices: settle in and sing the night away

The bar is so cute but the bartender is one of the most insufferable people on the planet. Physically yelled at me for being on the "wrong side of the bar" and continued to shout at me for tipping $5 on a $15 tab. Rude and condescending to all 30 ppl in there, and made an entire SCENE when somebody mentioned the low volume of the microphone. Scene as in grabbed the mic, shouted into the microphone and walked up on stage shouting at people. Bar has so much potential, so sad that one guy can make the experience so awful. Heard every other person in the bar individually complain about him too. I have a lot of respect for service workers but never have I seen anybody - worker or customer behave this way.

This place I feel has it's good days and bad. Unfortunately we came on a bad day. A group of about 8 of us got here last Saturday night. It was packed as expected. Getting a drink was incredibly difficult to do. There was only 2 bartenders and a hoard of people at the bar waiting to be served. On top of that the bartenders were running karaoke. I honestly felt bad for them. People were asking for drinks and requesting for songs. It must of been a nightmare. It was clear that they were under staffed. Even with all this chaos the bartenders were still taking song request. I mean why not right? They were getting a $1 gratuity per request. I mean it would of been fine with me but they weren't even playing any of the songs requested. It was literally streaming off of karaoke videos on YouTube. You had to be lucky to get on that mic, it had to be a song you knew and if someone was kind enough to give you the mic. But wait...the mic didn't even work! The mini led screens indicated it had juice but it was muted for whatever reason. Good luck to anyone who decides to come here. I'm sure they have better nights..

Place ain't the vibe if you want a chill time. Blonde girl is cool and friendly, even offered to make our drinks even though she wasn't the bartender. The black guy is super rude, and looked like he didn't even want to serve us drinks. It's like he doesn't even want to be there and he will give you attitude, literally put us on the spot for touching the power button on the mic because I couldn't hear my voice and the LED screen was off so I assumed it wasn't on (didn't bother to restart the song even we paid and he even took the time to get everyone's attention to call out our mistake) . Ain't worth the sass, honestly prefer Upstairs way more with their friendly bartenders and better sound system.

What makes this place one star is the really nasty guy behind the bar running the karaoke. The bouncer, bartender, and customers were awesome, but this one guy was so horrible it honestly ruined everything. It was clear that the regulars and other staff knew this guy sucked. Maybe he was the owner or manager idk but it was not good. From the second my friends and I walked in the door he was mean. I tried to order a beer and shot from him in a friendly fashion, he just rolled his eyes and pointed at the other person behind the bar. I tried to use a karaoke mic that wasn't working, he told me that it was my fault it wasn't working and seriously tried to shame me for hitting a button on the side of it. Then, I watched him be horrible to a lady who jokingly flipped him off while singing a song, he blew a gasket and kicked her out while every other staff member apologized to her! It was such a strange vibe. I will not be back.

it's a distinct feeling of disappointment when you buy 6 drinks and request a kareoke song and they point to a sign that says "1$ to request a song" and you point the sign next to it, in confusion, that says "minimum 2 drinks to kareoke." and when the bartender tells you no, you need a dollar, you say ok i don't have cash and you eagerly find your nearest friend for a dollar, and they give you four quarters, and then you excitedly bring the four quarters back to the bartender only for him to reject you, saying "no we only take cash." what should i call this type of service? i truly wanted to support this low key kareoke bar but everyone deserves better. come to my future bar - litty titty kareoke, a place that will never discriminate against quarters

I miss the old Winnie's. I even miss the old new Winnie's. Most of the bartenders are dicks now, they keep the mic volume incredibly low but then sing their own songs at full blast even with tons of people waiting. They are rude to longtime customers and the new "rules" are annoying. Winnie, you likely know which bartenders this is about, get rid of 'em - you're turning off a ton of great people that used to love your bar.

I'd like to preface this by saying I worked in the service industry in NYC for more than seven years - bartender/waitress/hostess, you name it, I did it. This is why I always try to have a great time at a bar/restaurant, spend a lot of money, and tip well. I tipped a whopping zero dollars here and wrote "horrendous service, do better" on the receipt. Yes, that's how bad it is. When I say that the bartender here who wears a wife beater and a black trucker hat is the biggest a**hole of a bartender I have ever met - I'm not exaggerating. It's beyond me how this guy has kept his job or someone hasn't clocked him (maybe that has happened, and if it has, it's been warranted). And the young woman working with him honestly wasn't much better - horrible attitude. My family and I tried to come in and enjoy a night of karaoke and drinks (we had relatives visiting as well), and these people were incredibly, over the top rude to us. We hadn't been there before, and when I simply brought a dollar to the bar and nicely asked how to do karaoke, Mr. A**hole Trucker Hat abrasively strutted to the end of the bar and slammed his hand down where the instructions were saying, "RIGHT HERE!" Then, he doubled down and got on the mic, announcing to the entire bar the karaoke instructions and talking to me like I was an infant. I literally was just asking a question and had never been there before - super unwarranted behavior and it took all of me not to throw my drink in his face, frankly. He's clearly on a power trip and must have lost sight of the fact that he's a bartender at a dive bar in China town, not Jay-Z. Then, when my husband and his cousin were done singing their duet, the female bartender made a point to scream, "BRING BACK THE MICS," which she hadn't done for literally anyone else singing karaoke. I'd also like to point out that we were by far the most sober people there - everyone else was nearly black out drunk falling all over the place. Yet we were the ones getting singled out and screamed at. They were also clearly skipping songs we had put into the queue and playing other people's songs (who had arrived after us), because we had caught onto their rude behavior and weren't going to put up with it. Needless to say, can't recommend this place. There's plenty of other karaoke places in the city that won't treat you like garbage, will make better drinks, and are way more fun.

The bartender here needs to be fired. now. he makes this place one to tell your friends to NOT go to. i've never been treated with such disrespect from someone behind the bar, and looking at the reviews, this is a common theme. i don't know how this place continues to employ him when he acts like he couldn't give a f*** about the quality of service. do not go here.

Most piece of shit business I've ever encountered. They will treat you like a customer until it doesn't benefit them. Then they will be a total asshole about anything and everything.

It's July 2022 and they asked for a fucking vax card. Cringe as fuck and absolutely embarrassing. Anyways beyond that, they charge upfront for songs despite not telling you how long it will take and have employees sing in between songs which normally I would be fine with since I think that's cool to have the bartenders sing, but not when the bar is busy and you're charging people to sing. Fuck that.

I want to preface this by saying i've never left a yelp review so this just goes to show how upset i was with my visit to this bar (my second and last visit) Although it's massive fun to get on the mic and watch others perform, good luck getting on the mic. the bartender most people talk about in these reviews who wears a trucker hat and tank top and is horrible and rude is in fact one of the worst bartenders ever. This guy just has to take a dollar, a song request, and look it up on youtube to play on the screen but he likes to act as if this job is extremely hard. He picks and chooses who's song to play and who to serve. I stood at the bar for about 45 minutes and he ignored me as i tried to wave him down. He yelled at me to just leave the dollar and walk away and he will get to it but what a surprise, he never did. Another bartender had to man down rest of the bar because he decided to talk to the people he wanted to talk to and not do his part as a hoard of us stood at the bar waiting for drinks and song requests. I don't think i'll be returning which is a shame because it's a fun place but not when someone's talking down to you like a child. when you work at a bar you know what you're getting into (from personal experience).

Great karaoke place with reasonably priced drinks (in New York! Gasp!) and incredibly lovely staff!! What compromises our experience was a huge group of white people having a birthday party and being extremely entitled and cancelling our songs (once after it was already a minute in! And then having the audacity to scold us for getting upset!) and screaming loudly and taking up all the space - truly the personification of gentrification in Chinatown. Really a disappointment because the venue is so lovely, but I'm chalking that up to a one off bad experience.

Not your typical asian ktv spot. It's a hipster kind of vibe. We went in for a few minutes and left. All I can say is, if you want asian songs, they might not have it.

The best hidden karaoke gem in all of NYC. I will be a loyal Winnie's stan forever! I love that it's done thru laptop so they can find ANY song youtube offers

I can't wait to go back to Winnie's! Management kindly reserved me a booth since I was expecting ~15 friends to celebrate my birthday. They were friendly and accommodating. I was worried about some of the reviews about rude bartenders, but both bartenders were super nice and it wasn't hard to get a drink at all. It started getting crowded around 10:30 on a Friday but was never uncomfortably packed. This has everything a karaoke bar should have - a welcoming vibe, a nonjudgmental clientele, and a little stage for performers to bask in their few minutes of fame.

We paid $200 in drinks and put in $20 for songs and they never played our any of our music after 2.5 hrs. Another person sang 3 songs in that time. Very disappointing experience.

Don't go here, the staff will be really pissed off by your presence. I have never felt so unwelcome.

I have literally been living here since 2014. I had dinner here several times as well as just popping in for a drink or two before the pandemic 2020 shutdown and it was mediocre at best. Tonight's debacle really put a cherry on it tho. Didn't write a bad review because I wanted this neighborhood place to be good but the staff here tonight practically insulted me with their nonchalant behaviors and disgusting and absolutely appalling attitude about their service.

the bartender was such an asshole and skipped songs we paid for. he had a condescending attitude and would only play your song if you tipped more than 5 dollars. they charge 1 dollar for a karaoke song and make you wait 3 hours just to sing it. worst service i've ever received. it's a joke that they are still open

Favorite spot to chit chat with friends and family. Love the environment, guess what guys they have open karoke everyone can sing instead Love this place.

Came here for a whiskey cocktail class with Matt. It was so fun, just the right length, and drinks came out delicious. The local bourbon selection that had was also on point. Jazz came after, such a talent, and fun night. Thanks for making it the highlight of my week.

This place is everything I was looking for. They let me sing and they let other people sing, in exchange for money. They also give me alcohol, in exchange for money. Solid.

Oh Winnie's Bar. I found this hidden gem in the middle of Chinatown. I used Yelp to discover it. My GPS led me up some stairs to a door. I thought twice and asked myself "is this really the place?" Once I opened the door I was greeted with open arms. The place was crackin' with people of all sorts and karaoke was going down! The bartenders are extremely friendly here and they had snacks to munch on as well. It was someone's birthday so this guy was singing his heart out to much of his delight. The cool thing about this karaoke spot is the karaoke machine. You can go to the machine, browse and pick out your song either by artist or song title. Once you choose your song it will be put into a queue. You can see the queue on the top of the screens they have around the bar and they also play the music videos for the song you have selected. Be careful though, some of the songs have the translation of the lyrics on the screen in Chinese. This happened to me when I performed "Dr. Dre - Forgot About Dre (feat. Eminem)" Luckily, I knew the entire song so I rocked it without the lyrics. But imagine if you didn't know the song, you'd be in trouble. It was fun being at this bar not to mention they also have decently priced drinks and if you perform well, who knows you may get a free one. If you are in Chinatown on a late night, check out Winnie's bar!

#Cool that Winnie's came back, but missing some of the charm of the old place. Drinks are kinda pricey, but karaoke is free now. I think you used to have to pay a dollar (or at least a tip). So it kinda evens out. #Self-serve karaoke now. The #karaoke machine is a little difficult to use if you don't know Chinese, but I'm also guessing it might be difficult to use even if it was all in #English.

Never go here. The owner herself complained to the bartender ABOUT ME while I was trying to order a drink because I was taking down my ponytail next to her and she felt like I was in her space. Like this is a dive bar and I wasn't even. She was being extremely rude and I felt bad for the bartender that they had to put up with this. Not supporting this business again.

message to the owner: fire the male bouncer on friday nights. ive never left a yelp review until today (and i even worked for the company). he made fun of our order because we asked for 1 shot...he said shots should be ordered in bulk....i am a customer. then he proceeded to take other peoples orders after already taking ours and didnt serve us until 10 minutes later. i hate this place so much. then he had the nerve to get on the mic and complain about a tip someone left him...i dont blame them for tipping shitty.

Finally back and on a second floor. With a Chinatown view. New/old custom laser disc chandeliers. A shiny rose gold microphone and stand.

The male bartender has an atrocious personality and is ruining this place. He lacks basic respect and a is a complete buzzkill for the bar. If you can't handle the karaoke, apply to a different bar job preferably 20 miles away from the city. If the whole bar is talking about what a jerk you are, maybe you're the problem. Also insane how his coworkers allow his behavior and don't check him. He could solely be the reason this place goes under because he's that horrible and disrespectful.

One of the bartenders is the rudest person I've ever encountered. He screams at everyone, even hijacked a customers song to scream at everyone over the mic about how they are making his job suck. Terrible attitude and ruining everyone's fun. If he doesn't wanna work at a karaoke bar then he shouldn't. Why is it everyone else's problem.....

Amazing bar with both an outdoor backyard and indoor area. The dragon shot is lethal but also delicious. Tori was great and somehow kept up with my group's persistent calls for more drinks.

terrible experience... we put in a request for songs when we arrived and nothing played after 2.5 hours. We spent over $200 as a group and didn't get to participate in karaoke at all.

One of the last real Chinatown bars left. This place is a neighborhood treasure. This ain't Fubu it's Bufu.

Cute and small bar hidden in Chinatown. I was walking around looking for somewhere to grab a drink and I saw this place. As you walk in the door it is a very welcoming environment. She brought our drinks and even a little bowl of munchies to snack on. Reasonably priced drinks too!

Stumbled across this place when I just moved here back in May. I've been coming to this place now for 3 weeks. No regrets, no issues. Great date recommendation. Will see how this plays out. Fun sized place but always a good time.

Glad they saved the laser discs from the old location, but the new one is a bit too sterile (maybe that will change over time) and hard to hear who's singing.

Torrey is a terrible bartender. She isn't customer facing and thinks she's more Important than she actually is. She needs to go. The other two bartenders are great.

Winnie's back, b*tches! The karoake is good, everyone is super friendly and very wasted, and it's an overall charming spot. While private room karaoke is fun in its own way, it's a riot to hear strangers' song selection and get rowdy. I'll be back for sure! Tips: ladies' room door appears to lock but does not so use the guys' bathroom. Also, it's cash only!

I secretly want to give this place "0 stars" because I dont want anyone else to know about it. But its not fair to keep this amazing gem a secret :/ This place is amazing!! It feels like I am on the tv show "cheers" but with a karaoke machine. Bartenders are super nice, the crowd is young yippies but its entertaining to see them sing and cheap drinks. This is a bar I want to go and want them to know my name. This is the bar you should call home if booze and singing is your game

The best Bar in CTown with Karaoke the staff's are very friendly. It's in great location it is safe.

I desperately needed a drink so I just hopped into the first bar I saw in chinatown. I was expecting some tourist trap that gouged you at every turn. Instead I got one of the best bar experiences I've ever had. The drinks were amazing and the bartender Fannie was so passionate about chinatown and talked to us for hours about the things to do while we were there.

Yes the song selection isn't great but they have enough. And the energy is awesome. Winnie the owner was there and treated us like royalty. The space is really fun and it's a laid back atmosphere that makes it easy for karaoke newbies to have fun. It wasn't crazy crowded which is also a plus to me!

I love the music selection, particularly of East Asian songs, and the staff is sweet. The stage has a cute setup.