Maru Karaoke Lounge

Lamest karaoke I’ve been toIt’s a jokeIt literally made us feel like LOSERS just sitting in that roomWe felt so uncomfortable点歌系统跟个90年代是的😅 没有原唱 不能插歌 哈哈哈哈Some of the staff were nice butThere’re no music videos, you’re singing Rihanna to like random videos of grass and mountains 😅Staff came in so many times just interrupting for no good reason and banged the door when they got outWe’re in the middle of a song they just kept walking in and wanted us to either decide whether we’re leaving or not or wanted to notify us of our time left and put the bill on the table.The bill was seriously RIDICULOUS.We spent 120$ for 1 hour, we got no water no alcohol and just some chicken.Most of the time the system didn’t even work.The remote control is so old school lol I felt like it was a trip back in time 😂😂😂😂Terrible music qualityUtterly weird experience

I went with a group of people for my friends birthday on 6/21/24. Ladies were free. I’m going to assume that they were racist, because they charged the one asian guy in our group $20 for the cover fee, and the rest of the guys who were a mix of black and hispanic were asked to pay $40. My partner who is Hispanic knew that the cover charge was expected to be $20, because thats what they charged our asian guy friend, but upon meeting the bouncer, they completely switched up and demanded $40.On top of that, the place was dead with barely any people at 12 am, the dj had trash music with terrible transitions between songs. It is unreasonable to charge people that much for club that was not even good, and it is racist to charge people more because they don’t appear asian. As an asian myself, I would never ever recommend this place to anyone.

I hardly leave reviews on anything but Im just doing this to possibly help anyone even considering Maru. This place is a scam. Spent $1000 for 2 hours after they upcharged us a mandatory bottle service for $530. 2 hours for 10 people were $100 per hour and minutes before our time was up their bouncer came up and tried to intimidate us out of the room faster 🤡. There are dozens of karaoke places/bars to go to in New York. Dont go here. Scummy business.

Servers are rude. Atmosphere was nice but my party was treated very poorly. We werent instructed on how to use the karaoke machine which is completely written in Korean. Took us some time to figure out how to use the machine which cut into our time limit. Very overpriced and unreasonable. Dont come here.

The machine was a bit confusing at first, but we had a blast once we figured it out. The place is a bit pricy. The tips here go crazy. I recommend going to the other karaoke building across the street by Hmart, it is better.

Great Club! If you wanna read something about Karaoke then this is the wrong review for you to read.I was there on a thursday night and was just looking for a good place to drink and dance. This place had it all. After like Midnight the place got filled with people and i would consider the drinks for the area not too overpriced. Normal prizes for K-Town. Fun and nice dancefloor. Loved it!

3rd floor club its a mess . No space for larger crowds. Door wont control the amount of people going into the 3rd floor theres a bartender () who wont smile or give good service not very friendly ( if you want to sell baby be more approachable ) its a good place for certain type of people . Not a super bad place but not the greatest . Music ? Depends whos mixing . The crowd? Mix mostly Asian ( Korean town ) good drinks price affordable gratuity included if you pay with any type of card or mobile pay . ( Which its mandatory ) will be keeping an eye on this type of business.Worth the experience ? Definitely then dont forget to write a review .

These bouncers are racist and dont let foreigners in. They judge by looks and try to justify rejections in other ways. My friends were extremely offended and don’t ever want to repeat this experience again.. change your employees..

They dont give out tap water. And charge $6 for bottled water with a minimum $20 for credit card. I think they want us to get dehydrated and die here?They also charged a $20 cover per person for our group and literally no one was here at 10:30pm

Maru is a fancy hot spot in K town. Delicious food, great drinks, cool atmosphere and fantastic service! Great rooms for karaoke and great service. The staff is attentive and the acoustics of the room is great. The place got very busy as the night went on but when inside one didnt really feel it.

Maru Karaoke Bar. Oh man. I can write a whole essay why this place is absolutely TERRIBLE. My friends and I came here to celebrate a birthday and the staff were rude, it killed the whole vibe of the place. The staff would occasionally come into the karaoke room interrupting us in the middle of a song. When the fruit platter came, my friends and I noticed that they served a pineapple peel with 3 edible pieces. TALK ABOUT CHEAP. By the end, the host lady basically kicked us out of the room. As we’re collecting our things to leave the lady is standing in the doorway waiting for you to be gone. Not once did we feel welcome, the staff doesn’t smile, they have attitude, and charged our group 500$ for a bottle service. But the bottle they gave us was Jameson ($20 retail). It’s definitely a rip off. I work for the spirits industry and the quality of what they were giving us was NOT worth it. DO NOT COME HERE. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.

Was treated with prejudice by a female bartender. Male bartender apologized for her behavior and bar manager serviced my orders.

I could write a whole essay on how terrible this place is. YOU WILL GET SCAMMED. There is clearly an intent to take advantage of people drinking and having a good time. A group of 10 of us went on a weekend and upon getting off the elevator noticed not a single other person there but a few employees. One employee took us into the karaoke room and briefly showed us how to use the remote control. He then let us know that only karaoke was half off during happy hour, not drinks or the price of the karaoke room/package. AND karaoke was only half off for the first hour not any additional hours. Then he left for like 20 mins and walked back in with 2 other employees carrying a tray of fruit and a tray of fried food along with 2 bottles of Tito’s with a sprinkler on the top but had no energy or music and that’s what they called “bottle service”. Then, once we had some drinks going, the employee who originally brought us into the room would walk in during the middle of a song and ask one person if we all wanted an extra hour (made it seem as though it’s free and didn’t give any details on the additional price). Then one of us went out to get another 750ml bottle of Tito’s ($17.99 retail) and they charged us $280 and another $70 for mandatory gratuity. $350 dollars for a small bottle of vodka. Absolutely ridiculous. At that point I went and talked to the employees and they said the bottle had already been opened so it cannot be refunded. They also said that those are “normal NYC prices” and I told them I’ve lived here for 5 years and have never witnessed such a scam. We finished out our second hour and headed straight to a few other bars and ended up having a great night. They did an awful time of setting the vibe and the only reason we had a good time was because we were a big group of friends singing together. It would’ve been far cheaper to have bought a small disco ball and all gathered at my apartment to do karaoke. PLEASE save your money and don’t contribute to this awful business.

For the private karaoke rooms there is a very large square table that is bolted down in the middle of the room. This means extremely limited let room and also not much room to perform/dance.The built in karaoke remote system doesn’t seem to have popular Korean songs.I’m not particularly impressed with this place.

This place is expensive!!! The lyche drink is a pitcher. Drinks aren’t that strong. The songs are played from YouTube.There’s really cool decor and the rooms are great sizes. We had a party of 10. The wait times are very long.

Bouncers power trip and act like the club is exclusive when they have zero line

My experience might have been different had I not reserved a table; however, in doing so, I received excellent service from the staff. As we arrived, we were promptly brought inside, and the bottle service package offered impressive value compared to rival clubs. The team constantly restocked water, napkins, and kept things tidy. Although several partygoers attempted to approach our table, the bouncer skillfully deterred them. In summary, this venue provides great service and value for your investment, even though the clubs crowd may be somewhat lackluster – theres not much one can do about that.

Place was cool but they kept coming the room like our card wasnt on file. It was just weird and annoying.

If I could give this place zero stars I would. We made reservations and then were forced out after an hour because we didn’t want bottle service. Our waiter forced us to order our two drink minimum right away and then didn’t even give us time to drink them. Our songs were interrupted constantly by the waiter asking us to order or pay. Truly so rude and terrible vibes. He told us someone else was coming so we had to leave but the bar was completely empty. Also it’s full of security guards for no reason. I think 90% of their budget is security.

Ive been around the bars in Korea town but I have to say that Maru is my favorite based on the setting, menu, and the crowd that this place brings in, especially at night. If youre only in Ktown for one night I say come to Maru.I came here with a large group for one of my friends birthday and Mark the manager was extremely accommodating. We took over one of the karaoke rooms. Ill be coming back here!

The security at MK (5f) was so niceee! I wanna make friend with him. He made my day!!! I will back for him, for nice person for nice security, for nice friend! Feeling like safe and comfortable with him!!

I came with a group of 15 people and we all got over charged on our drinks by double the original happy hour price. The moment a few of us noticed it the staff provided us another drink. Very unethical business. Do not go will be reporting them to NYPD to investigate.

Cool, red lighting in the bar w good customer service. Wasnt able to check out their Karaoke rooms, but their food menu was pretty decent.

Scammers in this place, they thought my group of friends and I were stupid to not see them double charge us on the drinks. when asked why we were charged we were given attitude and told that she can void charges in all of our credit cards or give us a free drink. drinks were watered down and it was too loud and dark to even have a casual time with my friends. in addition the staff was very sneaky and kept upselling us for no reason

Accidentally got there with a group of friends on the Saturday night and absolutely loved it! 2 floors with different style music, neon lights, stylish people. For me, as a tourist, it was a great experience to end up parting surrounded by 95% Koreans in the middle of Manhattan!

This establishment has a tendency to overcharge for standard drinks while pushing upsells to create a perception of a good deal. Its advisable to steer clear of this place, especially if you dont align with their preferred clientele, as some patrons have noted unwelcoming or semi-racist vibes.

This place has great aesthetics. The customer service was wonderful.The food was delicious and worth the price. I would recommend anyone who decides to come here for karaoke bring a group of 5 or more people.If you bring any less I dont think the price is so great. Overall if you want great time I highly recommend this place for karaoke.

Trashed and Overpriced.I asked about the price before they said $70.On top of that, we only ordered water because apparently “ It is mandatory to have at least a drink”. All of us ordered Fiji water. I ended up paying $138. I don’t know why I had to pay a $100 - more dollars extra. On top of that, they kept rushing us because we didn’t order food or any other service. They couldn’t even take a decent photo. Not to mention, they kept interrupting our performance. Like who does that?? Like are you stupid?Bunch of scammers!! Pathetically, cheap and greedy folks. Give me my $100 bucks back.

There was one nice person who showed us how to operate the karaoke remote, and the elevator dude was nice, everyone else acted like we were committing a crime by paying them to sing karaoke at a karaoke spot. I should have read the other reviews. The food and beverage purchase that is required for a room rental is actually a mandatory bottle service ($270 minimum at least on Fridays and Saturdays.) Definitely skip this place, there’s way better karaoke spots in Ktown and beyond. Oh, and gratuity is included!

Good for karoke but horrible for a night club ... Such a remarkably horrible experience - dont come here. They fit 3x the number of people past the fire code and youll continually get elbowed the whole time. This is such a waste of your fee, go to mission or marquee instead.

This place is an absolute scam. No where when you are booking your reservation does it stay bottle service is mandatory. The way they are running this business is a disgrace. Do yourself a favor and go to Insa instead.

Predatory sales practices. They wanted to charge me and my other guy friends a cover to get in to wait for a karaoke room. We decided not to pay but so they let us up to wait without a cover. Get to the bar, theres a $20 minimum for credit cards and a mandatory 18% gratuity. Fine. Ordered a Vida mezcal on ice and paid cash, $23. Wild. Finally get our karaoke room, they make us buy a bottle to stay in the room. We were a group of 8. $10 a person plus bottle service for 1 hour. Cheapest tequila bottle was $260. Insane. Didnt have any of the food but my friends said the mozzarella sticks and fries were delicous. They tried to jerk us out of our start time but a friend argued for the full hour. Room wasnt that good. No AC and garbage karaoke system. Save your money.

If I didnt book a table, I would probably have a different experience but I did and got attentive service from the staff. We were immediately let in as soon as we arrived. The bottle service package was a good value compared to other clubs. The staff were always replenishing water, napkins, rearranging things and etc. A lot of people tried to go to our table but the bouncer was pretty good at shooing them away. In short, good value and great service.The club crowd is pretty meh though... what can you do?

There are better options in Ktown for groups 10-20. way too crowded dance floor with no well drink options. bartenders lied and said they didnt have my card when they did... took me about ten minutes to close out.honestly wouldnt go back if they paid me.

Last time we were here with my girl & boy friends. They were very good music. And a lot of Korean people, but I like them a lot, so we liked the place.🇺🇸🌃🤗🥰😍

Booked a private karaoke room for a friend’s birthday. The machine didn’t have a lot of recent songs and was difficult to use. Originally we were told it was a 2 drink minimum but once we got there they made us do a drink package (Tito’s vodka) and charged us almost $1,000. Many better options for private karaoke in nyc and I won’t be going back

Very welcoming ! Customer service is A 1. He made me and my friends comfortable off the walk in

Management extremely rude and petty. Wouldn’t recommend coming here.

He was veryyy welcoming and nice. he explained everything perfectly!! definitely recomm coming here if you are ver in ktown!!

We spent $$$ over the course of 2 hrs and left more sober than when we arrived. They water the f out of the Patron shots and top shelf booze (+ 18% mandatory tip lol). Pro-tip: dont drink here. Ever.

They rip you off on normal drinks and try to upsell to make you feel like you’re getting a deal. Avoid this place, especially if you are not their kind. They give off semi racist/unwelcoming vibes

This place has terrible customer service. We rented a room for my friend’s birthday. No one communicated anything to us regarding how long we had the room, that we needed to buy a bottle to stay longer than an hour, and people kept coming in to “check on us” which felt invasive. Don’t come to this place. There are so many other great karaoke bars to go to besides here.

Very rude staff. They try and push you into buying ridiculous bottles for up to $300-$500! When you do find the actual decently priced drinks they LIMIT YOU TO 2 DRINKS EACH. Karaoke rooms are also lacking modern updates(no air conditioning in the rooms). You can find better karaoke 🎤

Ive been grateful to have been to many night clubs, 1Oak, Mission, Slate, Den, Up Down, PHD, really goes on. Been to Maru 3 times, so 3 chances, nastiest people, bouncers, staff, really goes on, will never come back again. They will discriminate, if youre a girl, judge you by looks, if youre a guy, charge ridiculous covers, to enter. They forced my group, with great ratio, to purchase a table for a couple $100s. We didnt have a cover, they literally said they only wanted to sell tables.We got a table, then another group of friends coming later. They werent allowed to come, unless they paid a cover, even though we were together, claiming our table only covered a certain number of people. Apparently their excuse was if we paid a couple $100s for a table, a small cover shouldnt be much. When you see their bottle service menu, itll say its for a certain number of people, they mean literally only that number of people can enter under that table, any additional people, theyll require more bottles or fees. Very money stingy, arrogant, horrible people. We just wanted to hang around for an hour, prob wouldve spent more on alcohol anyway, but felt like they were trying to rob us of every last dollar. Go to many other clubs, they might be strict, but you can at least talk to them, unlike soulless Maru.

Guy at the door tries telling me its 30 to enter. Then another guy lets us in for 20. Tequila soda is $29 and its a minimum $50 tab if using a card. Small. Way too loud. Believe the bad reviews. Place is the definition of a waste.

I met Savon, a security guard, passing by. And he was so approachable. He was very poignant, yet doing is job. Very great man. He is the best! He deserves a raise for his hard work ◡̈ .

This place was so crowded! They dont charge a cover so it makes sense that it would be popular with a lot of the younger crowd but its ridiculous how crowded it can actually get. There are three floors I believe and for most of the night the first floor, which is the third floor of the building, was the most crowded. There is a bar on the first and second floor but since I never went to the third floor Im not sure what is there. Theyre also karaoke rooms that you can book for a group of people. The rooms looks pretty nice. They were spacious and clean and provided all the regular amenities that most karaoke rooms give. The bar was well stocked but definitely super expensive. At least from what Im used to. Also there tequila tasting water down. My friends and I ordered 3 rounds of drinks and every drink tasted water down. If theyre going to overcharge you for drinks they should at least give you more alcohol in the drinks. Also it was really hard to get the bartenders attention. Overall this place was fun. We went to New York City really last minute so for having done little to no research it was a good place to just have a good night.

TLDR; save your money and go somewhere else. Duet is great for karaoke, and theres way better bars in ktown.I booked a large karaoke room. When we got there, they told us we had to purchase 3 bottles, or else we had to leave and be charged $40 for missing the reservation. When 4 people from our party was turned away from the door later that night, we asked if we can return one of the bottles since our party was smaller due to their door policy. The waitress gave us so much attitude and blamed us for agreeing to stay, even though they never disclosed they had this bottle policy when we made the reservation. They forced us to finish our bottles and I ended up getting really sick from their alcohol.

Lively bar! 20 dollar shots, the waiters are wild and will have a good time with you. Small but good dancing area

Had a horrible experience, the staff was rude and they double charged us. The private rooms are set up poorly, the table takes up all the space and a small selection of music. Many other great karaoke places in the area, dont waste your time.

We came here for my friends bday, she had called on the phone prior to reserving and been told that we could have up to 20 people in a karaoke room and the room charge would be $30 each per hour, we could stay for three hours. We got there and learned that actually we could only stay for up to two hours, the room fee was $30 each per hour and everyone had to have a two drink minimum for each hour. We ended up staying and renting two hours because we were already there. Because of the confusion the room fee was waved for everyone which was really nice so we ended up spending $85 each for the two hours... I guess standard for New York but its unfortunate that you are basically forced to spend that as a minimum. The room itself was very nice but the karaoke system did not have all the songs and it was missing some VERY vital songs (Before He Cheats, Maneater (Nelly Furtado), etc)!!! They did have an option to get any song from YouTube but we couldnt queue up songs on that. Anyway I just felt the need to share this information as a heads up because I think if we had known all of this we would have done something different, but we definitely dont regret going and still had a super fun night

They will kick you out from your table you reserved or they will force you to order more bottles. I couldnt take the disrespect and ended up literally shoving the nasty lady. Thank god the bouncer was on my side, cause I come to Maru quite often with friends and this time I decided to reserve a table for a friends birthday . Not coming back again.

Pretty chill lounge and attentive staff. Big shout out to Mark whos done a lot to make sure the groups I bring in always have an awesome time!

When I came here with my friends this place was over capacity. We were sitting all the way in the back and whenever we had to go to the bathroom it was IMPOSSIBLE to get through the middle and to the bathrooms. Such a safety hazard. Not to mention how overpriced they are.

I cannot believe I even stepped foot in this establishment. I am in complete disbelief that they would play such trickery and foolery with any paying customer. Complete rip off and lies! Please avoid this place and go to the nearest 7/11 for some dranks.

I had a great experience on a Saturday night!

I went to the club they had on a separate floor. The environment is nice the bouncers were really cool. But the female bartender was really rude. As soon as I walk in I look at her to get her attention and then she throws her hands up and says what am I looking at. I just want a drink that’s your job. She gave me attitude the whole night. I honestly think is was because of my ethnicity she was good with Asians but with anyone else of different Ethnicity she was real nasty. My friends were there as well and got the same treatment. None of if are Asians. Racist bartender got a big fat 0 for a tip. She threw my bill on the table and walked away then charged me for a beer I didn’t even drink because she made mistake. Change the racist bartender that works there Friday nights then you have yourself an amazing place. I liked it but felt uncomfortable with her treating me in that manner.

Reminder to future self to never go againThe Karaoke box experience was laughably bad. The $10 per person per hour pricing was a hook to get you in, because to guarantee an hour in the box you also need to order an unspecified amount of food and drink, which were of high school cafeteria quality and severely overpriced ($560 for six people for 2 hours, ouch). The system was antiquated and all in Korean, so an English speaker would have to do a lot of guess work. The place looked trendy but the boxes felt cheap. Service and communication was rude and unclear, but its ok since tip is included in the price :(. Drinks were watered down. Song selection was abysmal. Sound quality and mic quality was bad.Funnily enough I came here a few years back, did not enjoy it, and forgot about it. This is a reminder to myself to avoid this place at all costs. I mean, I feel ashamed for this place to call itself an Asian karaoke experience, we can do so much better.

Went here a for a friends birthday (drinks here then went to Chorus for karaoke). The interior is very nice, the music is decent, but the drinks are overpriced ($10 for a well G&T). To combat that, my friends and I bought a few of the Happy Hour bracelets (good until midnight) for $35 each. It seemed like a reasonable deal, but I noticed that after the second drink, they started to serve us our drinks in small plastic cups instead of highball glasses.The bathrooms are clean, sleek, and the sink is pretty impressive, but with that said, I doubt I would come back here on my own.

Service was really good, shout out to Chris for great service!However, the room was really hot. We asked a few times to lower the temp, but to no avail.Mandatory bottle service can get very expensive so be aware ahead of time.

Came here to celebrate my friend’s birthday and I thought this place was pretty unique. It was a bar and lounge, but they also have rooms to dine. The thing I like about this place is the giant-cast iron bell that they have in one of the rooms, makes it fell like a bar and lounge at some temple. Clearly, the place is for hipsters and hey, I consider myself hip! =D The food may be good, but my friends and I felt like everything was overpriced, including their drinks. Downside about this place is that it’s pretty dark and I don’t remember how many times I tripped on one of their steps, but this place should have a trip hazard sign somewhere. Also, the waiter kept telling us that there was a table ready for us, and then told us the table is not yet ready. How could someone tell you that a table is ready when it’s not really ready? Because of the waiter’s inconsistency, we had to wait a while just to really get a table. The place may be a cool place to hang out to eat and drink, but yet, there are also so many flaws with this place—poor service and safety hazard issues makes an unpleasant evening.

This placed turned me away for wearing Crocs (designer salehe bembury Crocs) meanwhile they let in people wearing converse high tops (ugly no swag) . Bouncer was very rude

Its very cool inside, went here for a friends birthday. We rented out a private karaoke room, they served food and drinks and was tasty. And service was good. There is about 3 levels of entertainment, we were on the 4th floor and you have to take the stairs down that sucked, but you can take the elevator up. On the 3rd floor theres a another lounge but its mostly standing or $400+ for a table.

Come before 11PM and youre treated like you own the place. We were offered a table on the 3rd floor and enjoyed our drinks.However at around 11:30, our party was abruptly told to leave the table to make room for a reservation. Reservations are understandable, but I didnt appreciate being booted from our spot with no prior notification and no help to move our belongings or drinks.

Music is decent on the first level, but better on the second level however the crowd stays on the guest level. The drinks are good, butt not great. Security is pretty good and can handle the crowd. Mostly everyone here is pretty cool, but youll notice on the first level against the bar is a meat line lol....

This place was awful. First we were not asked how long we want to stay in the karaoke room. So we assumed we can stay for as long as we want. The Sound system was awful the echo was so loud and when I asked to lower it down they said they couldn’t. The bathroom was so small and dirty. Also no one went inside our room to get our order so I went out and asked one of the staff that we are ready. No one came. Had to ask 3 time before someone took our order. After 50 mins a girl came in kicking us out of the room she said the next guest is waiting outside and they have to accommodate them. Then they said guests can only do 1 hour but they never said anything before going in the room. Our drinks just came in and they kicked us out not even an hour in. Hate this place.

THIS IS NOT A SAFE CLUBSomeone attacked my friend on the dance floor and the bouncers just stood there watching. When I stepped in to help I got punched in the face by the same person. This time the bouncers decided that they should do something so four of them grabbed me, ripped my clothes, threw me to the ground, and stood around watching me bleed. They were totally indifferent about me being hurt and did nothing to find the person who was attacking people. Eventually they dragged me to the elevator and threw me out onto the curb where one of the bouncers told me I would regret it if I caused them any trouble.

Great karaoke experience, rooms are comfy, food is ok (finger food like wings, calamari, pot stickers, fries) and abundant, and service is really good. But VERY expensive!

We reserved a 10 people karoake room for $270 for 1st hour + a bottle of vodka, + $60 for an additional hour. Although we thought its expensive we decided to go and have fun. When we got there, at the end of the first hour, they said they wouldve to cancel our previous deal, and if we wanted to stay one more hour we would need to pay an additional bottle (around $200). We didnt. And we are not coming back.

Always come here for a girls night ! Its popping for sure, I love the décor. Many seating options -- maybe too many? It seems recently that the dance floor space on the third floor was cut in half by the addition of new vip tables. I love coming here to dance, I wish they had more space. It gets packed on Fridays and Saturdays -- music is also great. Drinks are on the pricey side, otherwise would recommend

The large rooms are super spacious and have a great ambiance. Perfect for a group of friends! Oh and the drink special for $20 W/ (select) unlimited drinks didn’t disappoint. I stuck with the wine as the mixed drinks seemed a bit watered down.

Absolutely LOVED this place! I came here this past Friday 9/20. My dear friend Lexi recommended I add this to my bachelorette itinerary and Im so happy I did! It was the best part of my weekend. I came with my girlfriends, it was 9 of us around 1230/1 and enjoyed myself more than I expected. The videos I have are hilarious. They give you tambourines along with yummy drinks and fruit platter. The service was awesome, everyone that worked there was so sweet. The DJ was awesome, he played music that was our vibe which I loved. I think there was a mishap as the staff thought it was my birthday lol I received the whole 9 yards from sparklers to downing champagne to confetti the air. I remember them also pouring more champagne for myself and my girls to have but we didnt drink it cause we were heading out and drank enough already and I just want the staff to know that it was not because they did anything wrong, they were so great to us and we will be visiting again.

Theres two floors. The drinks are pretty expensive. They have a $20 minimum on cards otherwise pay in cash. DJ is really good but its pretty crowded so it can be hard to enjoy.On the 3rd floor, theres private lounges thats by booking. Best way to book them is to call them in advance.

I brought my group of Australian co-workers here to show them a good time, they werent disappointed. Maru is a decent club without a strict dress code, and their music is mostly American pop and K-pop remixed with EDM. My friends and I werent charged a cover fee (not sure if there is one), but maybe it was because we were a group of 8 girls (and 2 guys) rolling into the largely male club. My friend lost his backpack, but security was very efficient and was able to find the bag for him.

WOULD NOT COME BACK HERE! I have been to numerous bars and clubs but never have i been refused a glass of water… common bar etiquette and just plain decency was ignored. They demanded $6 cash only for a fiji water bottle and refused to let me pay with my $100. To make it worse, the fiji bottle was room temperature…

It was a bit of a bait-and-switch, no cover charge but we had to buy a bottle....cheapest bottle was patron...for $200! And you only have an hour to drink it unless you want to buy another bottle to stay longer.The music....it was the worst karaoke backtrack Ive ever heard. They had very limited selection. Honestly the only good part was the club downstairs!

Nani took such good care of us tonight! She was attentive, sweet and so helpful since it was our first time! We will be coming back. I never do reviews but I had to do it because she was that incredible.

Do not come here for table service/a reserved table. Spent over $500 on 2 bottles of vodka, a fried food platter, and a fruit platter. If I went down the block to the liquor store those bottles would’ve cost me $20 each. Ridiculous prices and rude service. Music was bad. Do not come here unless you don’t care about money or quality.

A little overly crowded but it has a fun loving/seeking crowd in their 20-25 mainly. But if you like to have a drink and some good old hip hop beats you cant go wrong. Since its in K-Town I assume I dont need to mention that the clientele is 90% Asian/Korean. Not that theres anything wrong with it.

NY native - I always have a blast here! An OG staple in NYC Ktown nightlife. Def recommend making resos in advance on the weekends.

I have never visited Maru. But I normally go to MK which is in the same building. I was curious to visit Maru because of the long lines. So I suspected that they must be just as good or even better than MK. However, two nights ago when I decided to visit Maru one of the bouncers was very disrespectful to me. As I was leaving MK on the 5th floor to visit Maru below. I ask one of the bouncers why they closed so early. He immediately give me and my friends an attitude. He did not answer my question and threatened to kick us out; for asking a question. I ended up having to ask one of the bouncers, Chris from MK what happened and without hesitation I got an answer. MK bouncers are generally nice and responsive. I normally bring my friends out with me and they bring their friends at MK. I’ll keep it that way. I won’t be giving Maru a chance anytime soon.

The thing that sticks out of my mind is that huge chain from roof to floor - what the hell is that thing? I think the design of the bar itself is very classy. The lights are funky and theres a separation between a normal bar talking area upstairs and more of a dancing loud music place downstairs.I didnt see any special drinks like single malt whiskeys that I usually take part in trying, and I wasnt too fond of the crowd I had met, but its all about personal preference and first impressions. Id give it a higher rating if everything wasnt over-priced or if hot girls threw themselves on me. Just kidding.... maybe.

Packed place hot asain all over. Great drinks and super nice bouncers!

Please DONT go here. They entice you with a crazy cheap $60/hour price for karaoke, but then make you purchase a drink and food package, which is at minimum $360. Its actual robbery, especially since they didnt tell us that caveat when we walked in. To add insult to injury, the $360 only got us a bottle of Titos and a kiddy size portion of fruit.

Private lounge spaces for you and your friends to relax and have a good time. There is a central bar though so you can also socialize and dance outside of your booked Karaoke room. Go early because it gets pretty crowded. May have a wait to get admitted.

They jipped me. They increased the hourly price for karaoke and also required 20% tip as a mandatory gratuity. I ended up paying $123 for less than 1.5 hours. We had just 1 bottle of soju. The security guard even pushed me as I was contesting the price. On a Thursday night.

The place has a good ambiance and the bartender on the top floor was chill. However, the staff is rude as hell and can really ruin the experience. The only thing more shocking than how terribly we were treated was how well we maintained our positivity. A lot of stuff happened but the general experience went like this:We got to Maru at a good time; there was no line (just 4 other girls that were in the elevator with us) and there was just enough people inside to make it lively but not too many that there wasnt space to dance. Of all the places Id been to during my four years living in the city, this place had the quickest and smoothest entrance Ive experienced. After walking in, my friends started ordering yaegerbombs for the table. At that point, I got a text from my friend saying he didnt get in and in my mind I was thinking what? How? The two lines the bouncer kept giving him was that the occupancy was full and wait on the line, which made me even more confused because he literally WAS the line.So, I decided to try to get him in by talking to the bouncer because I know my friend wont try talking to the guy. I asked two of the girls that I was with if they could help me get my friend in and they agreed. We took our yaegerbombs and tried going to the door, but before we could get too close, two other bouncers further in the club removed the drinks from our hands as we were exiting without any explanation. I figured it was club policy (sort of like how the MTA doesnt want people drinking in public without a bag) and asked the guy to keep my drink to the side because Im coming back in. I thought it was a simple request, but the guy gave me the ugliest, contempt-filled look. The girls, understandably, didnt want to leave their drinks behind, so I was the only one who left through the door, only to find that my friend who was outside went to the downstairs entrance. I went back into the club to go downstairs through the club so the bouncer downstairs would know that I came from inside the club. I go to bouncer who took my drink away and asked him for the drink, to which he replied, what drink? ... -_-Anyways, we went to the door downstairs and once again, they tried to take my friends drinks, so I told them to wait inside but close to the door so they could talk to the bouncer and keep their drinks. We told the bouncer that this guy was our friend and was with us on the line, but somehow he didnt get in. While we started to ask the bouncer if he could let my friend in, five people came out of the club. The bouncer replied that occupancy was full, despite the fact that both of us know that 5 people just exited. At this point, I have accepted that every staff member is going to be difficult as hell.So, me and my two friends went back inside to go upstairs and explain to our friends at the table what was happening.Two minutes later, we get downstairs again and now theres a line of people going all the way down two flights of stairs. I talk to the bouncer. The whole 5 minute exchange boiled down to this:Hey man, I understand you have occupancy rules that you have to follow. It must get pretty hectic and I really appreciate what you do. Im (my name), whats your name?>*reluctantly* ChrisSo, Chris, there were five people who just left, can you let him in now?>*Ignoring the fact that my friend has been here before everyone else on this line*>No, wait on lineHey man, have you ever made an exception before?>NoCan you make an exception just this once, Chris? Please?>Wait on lineMeanwhile, a girl walks out of the club from upstairs, pulls her friend out of line downstairs and walks up to Chris, who lets them in without even checking the other girls ID. Great work Chris, great work.Tl;dr this place has good music, good bartending, but has grimy tables, sticky floors, awful bouncers (as basic human people) and the worst staff I have ever experienced. Most bouncers Ive met, especially when talked to, are actually pretty chill people. These guys were not.

This is actually a club more or less, and its awesome! Upstairs has a cool interior design and below is a dance floor. Tables, bottle service, DJ under the stairs + amazing Korean food next door. Great spot for a night out.

Worst experience I’ve ever had - treated me like a. Second class citizen despite paying for coat check and asking why I couldn’t go to the second floor. Absolutely disgusting service - go to mission instead

This place seems like a cool club but not a good karaoke place.There are 1-way glass panels that let club goers SEE INTO YOUR ROOM from the bar, from the halls. I pay for privacy when I pay for karoke. I expect privacy. I want to be free to act a fool with my friends without fear of strangers watching or recording me.Maybe we caught them on a bad night, but the drinks were trash. Super trash.I feel bad for the staff, its not their fault that the bar has nothing and the rooms have creeper windows but they have to deal with the backlash

After 1 hour in this place we knew we have to buy 1 bottle of vodka, whiskey or tequila PER hour! And one bottle costs $200. $200 per hour of karaoke? $200 per one bottle of an alcohol? Come on, guys. Are u ok? I hope you’re sure we’ll never come back and never recommend you everyone.

Maru is a trendy multi leveled Korean lounge located the heart of K-Town. It is good late Fridays and Saturdays but can get very crowded around 2am. Their drinks are a bit pricey but the food is good and their DJ is usually on point. This place can easily handle large group and since it has no door fee or real dress code it is a fun crowd.

Horrible service and really rude staff. The machine didn’t work half the time and the song selection was terrible. Wouldn’t recommend especially when there are so many other karaoke places in the immediate area.I’d give them zero stars if I could but since I can’t they get 1 star.

The place can be very full or very empty. they are classyThey charge some women and not others, I can say it depends on what they identify as beauty

Ive found myself at Maru more often than I wouldve thought. Its my friends favorite karaoke bar. The drinks are on the expensive side, and Ive heard of some confrontations with the staff, but theyve always been affable and polite with me. The vibe here is very cool. At times, it looks like something out of a movie.

I had such a bad experience with security guard there. This place got crowded at front door overnight. They let you be in the line and wait forever even inside was empty. The guard was overwhelmed with his job but put it on the customer. I left the line even I already had friends who got the table inside :(

Bartenders should work on service skill. Zero service skill. I won’t be mad at over priced drink if the service was good. They are very rude. Ruined the mood coz of their service. Plz work on it!! You guys are in hospitality and service business.

Depending on what time you go, it gets pretty packed. Barely room to dance sometimes, and feels like a high school prom sometimes. Random girls and boys trying to dance. Drinks were, to my thought, moderately priced

I love it best for event like birthday party special events and night life etc . Best karaoke room system you can enjoy with friends. They have best drink ever ^^

Great experience. Just wish the area was more clean and trash wasnt everywhere. But I guess its fine for the young crowd it attracts for the free party. VIP room however is great.

They make you wait in line for over an hour outside, then make you wait another hour on the staircase. Please get your stuff together and just tell people if you’re full so we can go do our own thing

The security is rude and racist. They had no manner at all. They treated guests like garbage. They even charged one hundred tips for guys to get in. One of my friend went out for cig and couldnt make the way back, and was asked to pay 100 to get in. Dont go there! Let them collapse and rot!

FYI, Ive only been here to go out; I dont have any opinions on the actual karaoke bar.Pros: NO COVER. If youve been used to going out (clubbing) in Manhattan, youre probably used to the annoying cover charge just to get into the club. This is not the case at Maru, with cover being absolutely FREEEE.Bottles are also on the cheaper end, with prices ranging from$300 - $400 for a bottle of Grey Goose.Cons: The club is absolutely packed. Its a given given the lack of cover, and the fact that there is essentially no crowd control. Youll barely have any room to move, let alone dance.

Booked a Karaoke room a week in advance. The day of the event they called to confirm and stress the packages. We got the pack that included 2 bottles (Jameson & ELit ($50 extra) and appetizers. After our 2 hours finished, we headed downstairs, where it was a bit crowded. Got another bottle and the guy was saying something about having to get additional... Dude! we just drank 2 bottles upstairs... a bottle of Elit, please. I cant count how many times he checked if the bottle was finished yet, which was slightly annoying. I got the feeling if youre spending money, staff is nice.After reviewing the pictures, that curtain was so dirty. I dont even want to think about how many times I touched the curtain that night.

This review is only for the nightclub: This place is overrated. Always over capacity. Legally only allowed 220 or so people on the 3rd floor but always packed like a sardine can. You dont have space to even dance. Hard pass of you hate overly packed, loud places.

Maru has really terrible bouncers and door men. They are rude, aggressive and very unprofessional. Avoid at all costs, unless you want a terrible experience at a very crowded venue with bouncers who will man-handle both ladies and gentlemen.

Among the best ktv in ktown. The rooms are fairly spacious and clean. They features a large library of songs with great sound quality in the rooms. Mark the manager was a great host in making sure we were having a good time when we booked our room. This is my go to ktv in ktown. Would return.

This place is always a good place if you want to enjoy your weekend and let loose to destress from the week. They offer great bottle service, but if you want get table service you need to contact their great staff of promoters. out of the promoters I would highly recommend looking for Paul Choi or Jenny. They will do their utmost best that you have a great experience to this trendy ktown nightlife where everyone in your party is well taken care of. Come in and check this place out on the red floor for a club vibe with a dance floor where you can experience a wide range of music from edm to hip hop and kpop mixed in with a live DJ that makes the transition between all categories flawless so you can keep on dancing the night away

Upstairs club/lounge. Overall it was ok, the music wasnt bad but like other clubs in k-town the drinks are overpriced and it gets really hot (temperature wise) in the club real fast. Overall, nothing special about the club and if you never come here youre not missing out on much.

Its ok. Decent drinks, but a bit overpriced. DJs are usually pretty good, playing mostly clup hiphop with a tiny bit of EDM, and Korean hiphop. The worst thing is the floor by the bar and dance floor is ALWAYS sticky!

One of the more upscale lounges in K-town that serves as a good venue for group gatherings or birthday parties. Fancy cocktails are offered at around $13-14 each, but consider opting for the pitchers of flavored soju or sangria for your group to share.

Great atmosphere. Staff were extremely polite. Large rooms for New York city! Large selection of drinks. Appetizers were filling.

Make sure u bring $20 for the cover cuz finding an atm that works at the time in the area is a nightmare. Experience is also mid despite all the effort we went through

Rude staff that had little idea what the word efficiency meant. No real urge to cater to my group who rented a table for karaoke. Would recommend not holding a group gathering or party here due to the poor service qualities of the staff.

Lost my coat check ticket and they really refused to give me my coat back. Took a long time to find someone willing to actually help out. Shout out to that guy, but everyone else was a nightmare to work with

If yourre looking for more of a upscale looking Karaoke this is your place. The lounge play great music. The crowd was surprisingly mixxy when i went. The karaoke selections suck! There bottle packages are a little pricey. Probably wont come again lol.

Had to come here because the other karaoke place were rude and completely ignored us. Im very thankful we stopped here instead, the place is beautiful, the service was amazing, they had so many japanese options and the food was delicious. I would rate 10/5 if possible. Worth visiting just for a drink or karaoke with friends.

No room to move, security doesn’t let u stand anywhere, $20 cover for guys and super expensive drinks … they play good music but everything else is a terrible clubbing experience worst one i’ve had

Drinks are a bit overpriced however at least theres no cover to get in and the staff are really nice from what Ive seen. Small place so once its like midnights its packed, but that line to the bathroom ... wow

Fun exclusive club. My group were some of the only people not Korean but the other club goers were friendly and while they didnt seem to care, they were surprised we got in. The music is absolutely awesome and the dance floor is alive!

Wouldn’t let my friend in cos of his pants 💀 what a joke. It’s NYE take a chill pillThen refused to let us take the lift down and forced us to take the stairs 😂

It was okay at best. I didnt have a bad time, but I didnt have the best time either, it was just whatever. Their bottle service is great, I think it was the DJ that I wasnt a fan of.

Gets super crowded very quickly, I prefer upstairs for just general dancing because theres room to breathe. The bartenders are nice and the decor is good too.

I would like to dook a taect and talbe please thank you

Amazing place to go. I had very very fun time in maru. Staffs were really polite and the dj was really good. I was in the karaoke room and this place had amazing karaoke system which it was really easy to use. I went to dance floor after hanging out in karaoke room and it was really fun.

The service is very good. The food and drinks were peefect. Everything was in working order and the staff were very polite. Covid restricrions were followed to the letter. The atmosphere was very comfortable and welcoming.

So much fun, highly recommend if you want to have a corporate bonding event!

Very rude customer service! !! The bouncers and hostess are very rude after we paid our $300 bill. We do not want to go there again!! Please dontvwaste your money there

This is the place to go if you’d like to get scammed by the staff. You are sure to be disappointed.

Clubby, loud bar with a very pretentious feeling in an unpretentious neighbourhood. Hard to stay long with the overly loud music and the waiters insisting on bottle service. Unlikely to return anytime soon.

Bouncers are cool, a lot of space for dancing, private tables. Drinks are obviously expensive like every other spot. Great atmosphere.

They do the whole have a bunch of ppl wait on line so it looks crowded inside thing even though its empty inside lol

Maybe just another karaoke room? But I actually used to like this place because its convenient location and trendy decor; they also used to be better tho, but better I mean you can get lots of complimentary drinks/food if you stay for a couple of hours and order food. Who doesnt love perks? Nowadays its impossible to get those perks anymore but I would still go if Im in a mood for some Asian pop songs; but I would feel indifferent between this place and other karaoke bars in Ktown.

Disappointing.Aggressive, argumentative staff lure you in on a false premise of hourly karaoke but then attempt to stack the bill with false charges.Slow service, bad karaoke systems and the plethora of other options in the area mean you should probably spend your money elsewhere.

Great karaoke spot in K town! Solid music outside with dancing or great rooms for singing. For groups you can get a bottle and 2 hours of a room for $230 + gratuity.

Best place to go in Ktown!They have great music and their karaoke rooms are very sanitized!Their updated food menu is amazing and have great bottle packages for drinks!

Pros: Nice looking rooms. Theres a club downstairs that you can go after.Cons: Poor selection of non-Korean songs, Remote control in Korean, rude bouncer.

They moved our group from one karaoke room to another TWO TIMES. So you have to re-queue all the songs. Rude!

Always the best time here, whenever I have friends in town from other areas this is where I bring them. Great staff, chill security, amazing bartenders and always amazing DJs with some great music.

The bartender yesterday (01-11-19) charged us $35 for 2 vodka tonic that we paid cash, when I asked for the menu she couldn’t find the price nor my drink in the menu. They were literally vodka tonic in a plastic cup and she didn’t ask what type of vodka. I suspect she makes up prices and keeps some cash. Such a scam I hope the owner or manager sees this.

Don’t waste your time. Low-quality audio. Only basses. We couldn’t stand it for more than 5 minutes. Please fix it

Food wasnt good at all taste like frozen food but the drink was ok and the Karoke room was fine

Fourth floor bouncer was abrasive and unreasonable. Didnt wear a mask as they kicked us out for no reason.

Cool enough in decor, but loses points for haughty service and expensive drinks. Fun for big groups, or if youre having a girls/guys night on the town and are looking to mingle.

Amazing private karaoke rooms, delicious appetizers and fun dancefloor. Drinks are expensive but this place is so much nicer than your typical karaoke lounge.

A sexy and swanky karaoke lounge – check out their work week happy hour from 6-8pm and enjoy 50% off your “Tokyo Ice Tea” or “U-Go-Girl” cocktails.

The owner will go out of his way to make sure you have a good time!!!! Best bar in ktown

Reviewing this place badly because others said it was. So it is

Nice and cozy and well coming staff

Horrible experience, came up the elevator only to be rejected and sent out the fire exit steps for the pants i had on

Been here a few times and consistently a good experience

The lounge is a chill spot to enjoy nice drinks and good food. Its a fun place to hangout.

Fun night club with yummy cocktails and private karaoke rooms. So many songs to choose from. Great for a night out or party!

Tough system to work but a great and beautiful spot. Quite expensive tho. Good for bigger groups.

The bouncer is extremely rude. The place was empty and he turned my friend away because he was wearing joggers. I decided not to go either.

Great place for Karaoke, they have a wide selection of songs both in English and Korean, with a small list in Spanish. Service is really good.

10 yrs ago nice Korean experience now is just need a make over the furniture is super old is very slow till like 1230 am .food ehh

Strict policy of no bag check and no baseball caps, no explanation provided, incredibly rude, waste of time for any backpackers or tourists.

What a rip off. Should karaoke for four people cost $600? 2 hours = $600 no thanks. Never again.

Space is limited and crowded. Music is fantastic!! Good to hang out with group of friends to relax after work.

Awesome Party, beautiful woman and energy. Music could be better, but definitely it was not bad.

The food is not good and the drinks is over price if you want to go do it and you see by your self

Fun Karaoke experience. Private rooms for your own party. Apps were good, and the service was excellent.

Covid safe private rooms are nice way to have fun and drinks in a small group.

Horrible experience! I do not recommend this place for anyone! Everything will be pricey since they just scam you out of money!

Seriously? You cant walk in with cargo pants! Dont bother

Comfortable rooms and easy ways to switch music. Great customer service to check in frequently.

Fun place to drink and dance with friends! Got SUPER crowded though, but thats to be expected.

One of the bouncers was extremely rude and literally harassed us. Poor experience.

Watch out for the waiters/servers they steal your stuff when you step out of the room.

I love to sing sooooo much!!! Best place for it

Best lounge club

Dont know how to speak Korean.....but I survived. Great vibes, drinks are a bit expensive but the DJ and music here is really really good.

A tad pricey for the bottle service but still we had an awesome time

I love this place on weekends. One of the best dance clubs I have been to.

Great music and cool atmosphere, over priced drinks though.

Pretty expensive for what youre getting - the beer is overpriced and the selection of songs is not as extensive as we wanted.

The club has great music and atmosphere.A little crowded on weekends.

I had a blast here. Drinks were a bit on the pricier side, though.

The club plays ok music but lets too many people in so theres barely space

Very modern and sleek. Gives you an authentic karaoke in Seoul experience.

Interior a little shabby. staff a bit pushy; but thats K town baby!

Take care of your personal belongings! Someone tried to open my bag twice!!!

Didn’t let me be on the same Floor as my girlfriends, felt segregated to me

Went there a couple of times for a friend’s birthday. Loved it!

Small hidden club located on the third floor, lounge on the fourth floor. Super crowded on Fridays and weekend.

This place is great for after party because it charge no cover and close late

The best place to sing eat and drink, they gave us free 1 hour :)

Fancy decor, good music. perfect place for a bday party or just another GNO

Friendly staff and bartenders! Great open space which is great for large groups

Fun inside, got in a fight outside last time though. can be hectic and chaotic.

Maru is a great venue to host private events. And super accommodating.

Bad karaoke experience, small rooms and youtube playlists.

Always fun! Great song selection and service

Pls come here if you wanna dance to rnb with friends

DJ STA HIGH IS THE MAN. ALSO THE KARAOKE BOOTHS WERE AWESOME.

Fun kpop spot in NYC.. lots of hiphop good variety all around.

Very nice decor , service wasnt as pleasant

It was so fun with Fantastic DJs 💕