Tequila Karaoke

Quick update: Texas Star turns out to be just as late as everyplace else, nominally starting at 9pm, and definitely not for kids. But it’s still awesome.

Karaoke is definitely a late-night activity, at least the way it’s done around here. It’s seen by bar owners as a way to induce patrons to imbibe larger quantities of “liquid courage”, so the typical hours are 9pm to 2am. The early Karaoke at Paradise Burger Company in Rockwall has been a big hit with families who want to put their kids to bed at a reasonable hour, and reasonable adults who want to put themselves to bed before the bars close. But with rumblings that Paradise’s Karaoke might end after the Rockwall Harbor concert series ends (a big mistake if they follow through with the threat), I wanted to find a new early midweek Karaoke.

So I went to the place that pointed me to my very first Karaoke bar, One Nostalgia Place, almost two years ago. But the site, dfwkaraoke.com, is suffering from the sort of link rot that is almost inevitable without constant pruning. Here’s a list of venues in central and east Dallas, and on through the eastern suburbs, that *don’t* have Karaoke on Thursdays (much less 8pm or before like their listings say):

• Decanter Wine Bar, Oak Cliff. Went out of business shortly after shafting their Karaoke host.
• Dos Banderas, Garland. Doesn’t do Karaoke any more.
• Knox Street Pub, Uptown Dallas. No Karaoke, just a DJ on the weekends.
• Scooters, Trinity Mills Rd. in far north Dallas. I work nearby, and saw the place close several months ago.

I did find one place, Tacos Y Salsas in Sachse (just past Firewheel)... but their early Karaoke is on Wednesday, not Thursday. Not helpful; that’s choir practice night.

Down in the T’s, I was pretty sure I wasn’t going to find anything. Terrell Bowling Center looked interesting, but my phone call went to an answering machine. I didn’t leave a message there; I left one on their Facebook page instead. I hope they’re better at visiting Facebook than I am!

By this point, I was really wishing I lived in Fort Worth. The site lists literally dozens of early evening Karaoke venues. I don’t have time to validate them — if I did, I could start my own index (and then watch it fall apart when I ran out of time). But if you’re lucky enough to live on the west side of the Metroplex, call around and you’ve got a good shot. Also, if you’re in Sherman/Denison, you can Karaoke at a Taco Cabana, and in Canton there’s a winery and tasting room where the Karaoke starts at 6:30. But I’m in Mesquite, and while the drive to Canton or the Red River is fun, it’s not happening on a Thursday night.

So when I saw a joint called “Texas Star”, at Ferguson Road and Gus Thomasson in East Dallas, I figured it would be more of the same. I tried to check the website and almost gave up, because the website was for the wrong Texas Star. (I submitted a correction to Google.) But I figured I’d call anyway... already late getting home, may as well.

To my great surprise, the phone picked up on the first or second ring. On the other end was a very friendly man, with the sort of voice that tells you he’s busy, but he’s happy to make time for you. I asked — tentatively — if he had Karaoke. Sure enough, he has Karaoke tonight... and every other night except Monday! And without any prompting, he named off the drink specials in effect tonight and most other nights. I’d have loved to talk longer, but I could tell he had a lot to do to get ready for the evening. They don’t have a website, just their DFWKaraoke.com listing, but Texas Star in East Dallas is absolutely on my list of Karaoke joints to visit ASAP.

But that wasn’t all. The guy at Texas Star specifically mentioned that tonight’s Karaoke was presented by “Mom & Pop Karaoke”. A quick Google search turned up their website: SingYourAssOff.com, with the disclaimer “Don’t let the name [Mom & Pop] fool you — we are Kick-Ass Karaoke!” And get this... all their Texas Star gigs are early, by Karaoke standards. Three nights a week at Texas Star: 8:30 Tuesday/Thursday, and an awesome 7:00pm show on Sunday night. Their Friday/Saturday gig in Rockwall (at a joint called The Scoreboard) isn’t too late, either: 8pm Friday, 9pm Saturday. I’ll send them an email to hopefully verify the times.

I guess the moral of the story is that looking for Karaoke is like singing a song like Bon Jovi’s “Livin’ On A Prayer”. Sometimes, just when you think you’ve got things figured out, you get a kick in the pants that reminds you why you do it in the first place.

Tags: Dallas, Mom and Pop Karaoke, Rockwall, Texas Star, The Scoreboard