Cincinnati's new Tokyo-style karaoke bar serves drinks via robot
It's eccentric, bright and totally takes karaoke to new heights
It's eccentric, bright and totally takes karaoke to new heights
It's eccentric, bright and totally takes karaoke to new heights
The folks at Gorilla Cinemas like to stick to concepts, and their latest endeavor is no exception.
They are opening a new karaoke bar Friday in downtown Cincinnati and the best way to describe it, in the words of the staff, is a "portal to Tokyo."
Jacob Trevino, one of the brains behind Tokyo Kitty, said the bar is a love letter to Japanese pop culture.
In particular, movie buffs will notice a lot of the bar draws from cult classic "Lost in Translation." A dead giveaway: the Bill Murray-themed room.
And by room, I mean this bar isn't just one, big karaoke party. The main bar allows for the classic singing in front of strangers, but a walk down a hall leads to seven differently themed private karaoke rooms.
The "room" concept is what most distinguishes Japanese-style karaoke from what we're used to in the states.
The smallest room holds three to six people while the largest can accommodate 12 to 20. Some of the rooms feature work done by local artists.
One room even comes equipped with several pink wigs. That one was my personal favorite.
And while you are singing your heart out to your group of friends, you don't even have to leave the room for a drink.
Perhaps the most interesting part of an already interesting concept is that the bar has something completely unique to any other in the United States: An automated drink delivery system.
That's right. Your drinks can be delivered via robot. Click here to check out Bbot.
Drinks can be ordered straight from a phone or on the iPad that's in every room, and anyone can send you a drink from anywhere...as long as they can access the Bbot website.
And besides all of the really fun, cool stuff, the bar also provides a super practical solution to the annoying problem of waiting outside in line, drinkless.
Before you enter the bar, there's essentially a bar before the bar.
It's a waiting room, away from the cold (or hot), where you wait to enter the big doors. But it has a bar, so you don't have to wait around sober.
It has karaoke flowing seven nights a week with DJs spinning 10 p.m. to 2 a.m. Thursday through Saturday.
Prices for rooms vary from $20 to $50 dollars an hour.