Gamba Karaoke

Definitely a solid place to go karaoking. The early bird $ 1/​person/​hr special cannot be beat. Although some of the rooms could do with an upgrade, they have everything you would need to have a good time. They sell water, drinks, and snacks up front if you want any, or better yet, they let you bring whatever you want in (except for alcohol, which is a slight bummer). There aren’t music videos to go with the songs, but at least they have a huge variety and they are frequently updating their song list.

LOVE LOVE LOVE this place! After moving up here from Los Angeles, I was a bit worried that I wouldn’t be able to find a Karaōke place that fit what I needed: 1) affordable, 2) have my preferred song books, 3) private rooms. Most of the places up here that I found were Karaōke bars, or had the song books I hate, or were more expensive than what I was used to paying at my spot in LA (Max Karaōke). I was soooo glad when a friend told me about Gamba! It is exactly what I was looking for! They have the song books by artist AND by title, a new songs binder that gets updated frequently, and private rooms. It’s a bit far from San Mateo, but for $ 1 per hour per person between 8am-​2pm, I’m willing to make the drive down to Cupertino for it. Granted, the rooms aren’t as fancy and trendy looking as some of the other places here, but, seriously, who needs fancy? We’re just singing songs here, people, and badly at that, so the less fancy, the less pressure I feel to put in a solid, American Idol worthy performance. While I feel sorry for the employees who have to listen to me sing super depressing songs alone and off key at 8 a.m. on a Sunday morning, I’m more glad that I have a place I can go to where I feel comfortable, and the song selection is amazing.

If you can come here during the day before 2 p.m., it is so, so worth it. (I can’t really speak for the other prices since I’ve only been here during the daytime.) $ 1/​person per hour! :D
The rooms are spacious and clean, with lots of couches and a whole ton of song selections. You can bring in your own food and drinks, so we stopped at 84 degrees + Go Fish Poke Bowl before coming here.
We only sang english songs this time around, and the music videos they have for them are… hilarious[ly random], to say the least. We especially got a kick out of the floating lipsticks and questionable-​looking tomato (?) in the video for Whitney Houston’s I Wanna Dance With Somebody.
They gave us an iPad for our room, which made looking for and entering songs super easy. The rooms aren’t exactly soundproof, so if you’re purposely butchering Barbie Girl, your neighbors might not be too pleased? They can always counter with something else though! :P
All in all, if my friends and I were free again during the daytime, I definitely wouldn’t mind coming back! :] It was a lot of fun!

The only place I’ve gone to karaōke and I love the private rooms they offer!
The rooms we get are quite spacious.
Super clean and comfortable (lots of couches and cushions)
I love the wide variety of English songs available — from oldies to current
They even do song requests (just ask for a slip of paper at the front desk and drop it in the suggestion box)
I think it’s best to go during «happy hour» when it’s $ 1 per hour (i think on the weekend?)

Such a wide variety of English songs, and the rooms are very clean! The owner asks that you take your shoes off in the room. There’s no alcohol allowed though, and there are hidden cameras in the room so you can’t sneak it. Prices vary but you’ll pay around 10 – 15 $ during late night if you go! Very affordable if you split the cost.
They don’t sell much food but chips and little snacks. They also sell water and soda for like a $ 1.
This place doesn’t closed at 1AM, 1AM is the last time for you to check in. The owner stays open until 3−4AM.

One of my favorite places to karaōke. I don’t come here often but when I do… I sing my heart out. I’m Asian and I like to karaōke, I know, so stereotypical but it’s soooo cathartic. Sing when you’re happy, sing when you’re sad, sing when you’re mad.
What I like about this place:
They offer private rooms — I’m not always comfortable singing in front of a crowd full of strangers… or even a few strangers. A private room allows me to be comfortable while I’m singing my heart out.
Music selection — They have a wide range of music selection. Their songs are pretty up to date. You can rap, sing, or do a musical, all up to you. They also have music in different languages. I’ve seen Japanese, Chinese, and Vietnamese.
Price — The prices are not bad, they do go up but not by a large margin. Not that I can think of. It’s still pretty damn affordable to me. Plus, they have an early bird special, which I love. It’s only $ 1 per person per hour on Sun-​Thu, Fri and Sat between 8am-​2pm. So cheap! They also have duo special which is like $ 10.00 for 2 people for one hour. Regular rates aren’t bad either. Especially, in a group. Whenever, I go in a group, I usually pay $ 10-​$ 15 for an hour to an hour and a half.
They don’t sell hot meals kind of food here. They only have snacks available, chips and cookies. I don’t think they allow food from outside either. Sometimes, I still sneak in my boba drink. It would be nice if they sell boba tea and boba tea style snacks here.

Looks sketchy from outside but super fun. The small booths have a great selection of songs and it is a great place for group get togethers.

Very friendly employees and the happy hour rates are great for this area. Unfortunately the rooms can be slightly better furnished with microphones and speakers, sounds like you are just singing in your room.

Good first experience karaoking in the South Bay. Sunday morning deal of $ 1/​person got me in, totally! My boyfriend and I love to sing, and I wasn’t expecting to have such big variety of Spanish songs (I was biased that will be focused on an Asian clientele). The room was fun, all painted in apple green with matching fuchsia sofa (matching with my clothes, for some reason). I felt like at home, in a small room, feeling comfy and doing our ‘awesome performances’. I could hear some of the bad singing coming form rooms nearby, but it did not matter too much as we yelled harder:). I will repeat the experience.

Gamba pretty much ruled the 408 for private karaōke a few years ago. But here at the closing of 2015, their jacked-​up prices and newer competitors don’t give much reason to come back anymore.
Gamba’s core strength is having a vast song selection, thanks to their decision to use a licensed system from a company called Karaōke Champ (if you’ve ever been to the excellent YamaSho in San Francisco, you’ve seen it before). Ok, a few too many of the songs are sourced from crap vendors like Sunfly and Sweet Georgia Brown, but simply having legit versions of 80−90% of what you want to sing goes a long way. Another great thing about Gamba is the iPad they hand out on request, which makes it super easy to look up stuff, arrange the queue, change the key, etc.
What sinks the experience is the ghettoness of the rooms. Aside from detail stuff like fluorescent lighting, the big pisser is that they refuse to turn on the A/​C, which means after 30 minutes, you’ll be spending the rest of your stay sniffing each others’ BO, cooked to 90 degrees. It gets hella nasty hella fast, and makes this place intolerable in the summer.
And for a place so cheap, they’ve sure gotten expensive. True, the $ 1-​per-​person-​per-​hour morning special is hard to beat, but if you karaōke at night like a normal person, expect each hour to cost you $ 8 or $ 9.25 — probably the highest I’ve seen.
Thankfully, Music Tunnel sprung up nearby in 2010 to give this place a run. They don’t have as many songs, though it’s nicer inside and a tad cheaper. But what really drives Gamba into the ground is a place called Round 1 (a Dave & Busters clone that just opened in San Jose). Their karaōke rooms use the exact same system as Gamba, which means their songs and books are identical. The rooms actually have A/​C, and their prices are about half as high across the board. The only thing holding Round 1 back is the lack of sound insulation in their big rooms, which makes them almost unusable for big groups. But for parties of less than 10, it’s a pretty easy choice.
Step up your game or step down your prices, Gamba. You’re losin it.

This has been my go-​to karaōke place in the South Bay. Partly because we have history, but also because they have a decent selection of American music. The prices are pretty comparable to other places. However, in my most recent visit, I noticed that they removed the music videos for the English songs. Even though the music videos were mostly unrelated to the actual song in the past, it’s still nice to have some type of film in the background instead of reading script off a screen. So thumbs down for that change.
The asian pop songs still have the official music videos. Drinks and food here are pretty limited, mostly instant ramen, overpriced asian snacks, and drinks. There are no alcohol allowed, no BYOB either.
Overall, there are definitely areas that can be drastically improved. However, I don’t karaōke often enough to know if other places in the Bay are that much better.

People are just overrating on this place because of their $ 1/​person/​hour from 8am~2pm.
Almost every review here is just talking about their $ 1 special which boosted up their rating, but ignoring the fact that this place is actually more pricey than others after 2pm.
I think this place is 4 or 5 stars worth unless the rating is good for 8am to 2pm only.
Pros:
*$ 1/​person/​hour from 8am to 2pm.
*Japanese and English songs are pretty updated.
*Many language of songs to choose.
Cons:
*More expensive than other places from 8pm to midnight. $ 8.95/person/hour…if you have 10 people, it is $ 89.5/per hour, most of other KTV places only charge $ 40~$ 50 per hour for 10 people. If you have a small group of 5 people, normally you paid $ 30/​hr in other places, but Gamba will charge you $ 44.75/hr. Even the price during their happy hours after 2pm is still more expensive than others if you are willing to do the math and make comparison,
*Customers can be easily fooled by their per person per hour policy, and believed their cheap price while actually paying higher price per hour.
*Charge $ 2 per person if you bring your own food and drinks.
*Charge you additional 20% on the food you order from the next door,
*No original video on the songs no matter what language of songs you sing.
*Not much food and drinks choices to order.
*Room and furniture are pretty old and speakers did not installed on the walls.
*Ambience is like singing in an old apartment with old TV and speakers, and sound insulation is so horrible.

I love Gamba for their amazing $ 1/​person/​hour rate from opening till 2 pm everyday. Once every couple months, my friends and I get up ridiculously early and make the 45 min trek down to Gamba for some amazingly cheap and satisfying karaōke.
The only reason I’m giving 4 stars instead of 5 is that their set up isn’t the best. Yes, they could upgrade their furniture. Yes, they could improve their lighting (if you’re looking for cool flashing disco lights, then go elsewhere!). But you really can’t beat the early bird price.
They let you bring your own food and drinks, so typically my friends and I will make a quick stop at the 99 Ranch nearby (there’s also a Starbucks there for you coffee lovers and a couple of Asian bakeries) and grab some breakfast, and then carry everything into Gamba without a problem.
As far as song selection goes (I sing a lot of Japanese karaōke), Gamba has the best selection I’ve found at any karaōke place in the bay area. When I call to make my reservation, they always ask which language you would like to sing in, and if you say Japanese, they’ll ask if you want to sing with Joysound or DAM (they’re two different Japanese karaōke systems). First time they asked me, I was really impressed!
I’ve been once for English karaōke as well, and I remember they had a good selection, including a pretty up-​to-​date top 40’s selection.
All in all, Gamba is my go-​to spot in the bay area for some solid and cheap karaōke. My only complaint is that it’s too far away from me or else I’d be there every other weekend!

«I could spend my life in this sweet surrender
I could stay lost in this moment forever
Where every moment spent with you is a moment I TRACTION»
From Aerosmith’s «I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing», as interpreted by Gamba Karaōke.
The karaōke system is a bit old, and it seems like some of the lyrics were transcribed, ahem, unofficially. At times you get missing lyrics or even altered lyrics. That’s one way to put your knowledge of a song to the ultimate test!
If you and your friends can suffer waking up early, Gamba has an awesome rate of $ 1 per person per hour from 8am to 2pm daily. Otherwise the rates steadily go up during the day and are highest after midnight. Because we all know that after midnight is when the party REALLY gets started!

Sound system was horrible. We were in the first room… OMG it was sooo bright and it was like 11pm at night. We got some chips… yup be prepared to spend some money. The song selection was alright…
I really dont think I’d ever come back again.

This is my to-​go (more like only-​go) place for karaōke! $ 1/​person/​hour before 2PM every day! I come here at least twice a year with my friends for this awesome deal. They have a lot of songs, but most of them are just lyrics with the instrumental, no video. It’s still really fun though! The rooms are a bit janky, but they upgraded their system to iPads! The rooms aren’t too sound-​proof either, but it’ll do. Great place.

Yes, this place could use a makeover but it’s still my go to karaōke joint in the Bay Area. Their early bird special — $ 1/​person/​hour is unbeatable. Their prices after happy hour (8am-​2pm) are still very reasonable. They have a wide selection of Japanese songs and English pop songs, with a decent variety of other genres too like r&ab/hip hop, rock, and country. You can choose to use a keypad or an iPad to enter your song choices, although the iPad is laggy sometimes. They have some awfully cheesy videos for 90s and early 2000s classics, which are always fun.
Some of the furniture seriously needs to be replaced though… last time I was there, we got a room with a couch that just sank and was super faded. They are approaching their 10 year anniversary, and it’s time for a makeover because they are starting to show their age. But otherwise, I will remain to this karaōke joint above all others in the Cupertino/​West San Jose area!

I’ve come here a bunch of times when my friends and I need our karaōke fix. The happy hour pricing is the best if you happen to be available on a weekday morning/​afternoon! If we go in the evenings I usually call ahead to make a reservation and have always been accommodated without any issues.
I used to live in Japan so I must say no karaōke I’ve done in the states even compares to karaōke in Japan, however, this place does the job. The selection of English songs is quite good, including Disney songs and showtunes (both of which are a must for us!). They don’t always have the most recent Top 40 songs but that’s typical for any karaōke place.
We usually eat before we go so I haven’t ordered any food or beverages here but the selection seems limited. The stereo systems do play the songs very loud by default which is kind of a bummer because the walls aren’t especially soundproof so it’s easy to hear what people are singing in other rooms. Sure we can always turn the volume down but we typically keep it up in an attempt to drown out the music from neighboring rooms. Not a huge deal though because if your group is really into the songs you’re singing you tend to ignore the outside noise anyway.
Overall it’s a fun place to unleash your inner rockstar if you’re too shy to do karaōke in front of strangers at a bar. I was there last Sunday and noticed they’re going to have a karaōke competition sometime soon too. Sounds like fun if you’re a hardcore karaōke enthusiast!

This place is okay. Some songs are a bit off-​key and it went by a bit slower than the usual beat. They have a lot of private rooms but I don’t think it could fit more than 7 people since my group and I had about 10 people and we need chairs. Felt like a sardine in those rooms except the one I called «special room» where you take off your shoes, sit on couches, makes you feel like it’s daytime and the room is bigger.

This place is cheaper than most because it doesn’t require you to buy a drink. On the con side, this means you should bring your own water cause those vocal cords get dry after all that singing!
It’s only $ 1 from 8am-​2pm! Granted, not sure who sounds great that early in the morning, but when you’re singing with friends, there’s nothing like bad karaōke to bring everyone together right?
Came here with some girl friends and we paid $ 4.95 per person for the first hour (the rate before 8pm) and $ 6.95 per person for the second hour. $ 11.04 for two hours of pure, unadulterated vocal joy? I’d be back in a heartbeat the next time I feel the need to get my inner diva on! (And it’s right next to Gombei so you can get food after! ;))