Would You Like a Round of Trivia With That Beer?
If your head is full of useless factoids but you’re not quite ready for Jeopardy!, test your knowledge against other like-minded people at bars and restaurants that host trivia nights. Here are a few we checked out:
Big Belly Brewery
If you keep up with current events, watch Entertainment Tonight, know a little about pop culture and you either smoke or don’t mind second-hand smoke, this is the trivia contest for you. You don’t have to be smarter than a fifth-grader to win at Big Belly, but you do have to be old enough to take advantage of the drink special—$3 for all-you-can-drink Miller Lite.
Trivia Night: Wednesday, 5:30-7:30
Prizes: From $25 gift
certificates to free bar tabs on a weekend night to cases of beer.
33 W. Church St., Orlando
407-649-4270; churchstreet
bars.com
Fiddler’s Green Irish Pub & Eatery
“Eclectic” best describes both the crowd and the range of trivia here. Regulars boast creative team names (“Trivia Newton John” among them) and run the gamut from slacker twentysomethings to eccentric professor types. Tip: You’re guaranteed to earn at least five points if you go to floridatrivia.com Wednesday afternoon to get the “free answer” for the night. The mood is collegially competitive, and affable host Will Ogle keeps the pace lively.
Trivia Night: Wednesday, 7.
Get there by 6:30
Prizes: Fiddler’s Green gift cards; $50 for first place, $30 for second and $20 for third.
544 W. Fairbanks Ave., Winter Park
407-645-2050; fiddlersgreen
orlando.com
Hamburger Mary’s
A dirty mind is what you’ll need for coming up with a team name, but you’d better be intellectually sharp to compete in Mary’s trivia contest. The questions host Doug Bouser throws out are not softballs, which may explain why recent Jeopardy! champ and UCF grad Tom Kunzen is a contest regular. Mary’s has a gay following, so its atmosphere is campy. A young crowd, 2-for-1 drink specials and table vs. table competition combine for a frisky evening.
Trivia Night: Wednesday, 7:30
Prizes: $10 and $5 gift certificates to Hamburger Mary’s.
110 W. Church St., Orlando
321-319-0600; hamburger
marys-orlando.com
Liam Fitzpatrick’s Irish Restaurant & Pub
It’s more a family-friendly restaurant than a rowdy Irish pub, so you won’t need ear muffs for your kids if you bring them. Still, the table vs. table competition is intense. History and pop culture are the main topics for questions, with music played between them to give teams time to brainstorm the answers. A lot of regulars in their 40s and 50s play.
Trivia Night: Monday, 7:30-9:30
Prize: $50 gift certificate.
951 Market Promenade Ave., Lake Mary
407-936-3782; liamfitzpatricks.com
Graffiti Junktion, Thornton Park
Regulars get here early on Thursdays for Trivia Night with John Clementson —Orlando’s own version of Jeff Foxworthy—because the Thornton Park hotspot fills up fast. The crowd is a mix of 25-to-40-year-old urbanites that also come for the burgers and drink specials—it is ladies night after all. Questions cover every possible topic, and you would have to be a trivia genius to know the answers to some of them. Tip: Get three extra points by visiting Earth Trivia with John on Facebook for the “Smoking Hot Word” of the day.
Trivia Nights: Monday and Thursdays, 7:30-9 at Thornton Park location; Wednesday, 9, at College Park location
Prizes: $35 Graffiti Junktion Bucks for first place, $25 for second and $15 for third.
Thornton Park: 900 E. Washington St., Orlando, 407-426-9503
College Park: 2401 Edgewater Drive, Orlando, 407-344-1961
graffitijunktion.com
—Compiled by Shannon Scheidell, Denise Bates Enos, Leigh Duncan and Mike Boslet
