There’s no lazier way to ensure you see your friends and family on a weekly basis than tracking down your local trivia night and registering a table, plus it’s a great excuse to have a pot and a parma every week. That’s why we’ve put together a list of the best trivia nights in and around Melbourne. Time to get memorising all of King Henry VIII’s wives.
Sunday
Cornish Arms
Brunswick
Forget drink specials, pencil the fam in for a Sunday sesh because Brunswick’s Cornish Arms have a 3pm trivia slot AND their $15 parma chameleon special happening all day.
When: Sundays at 3pm
Spread Eagle Hotel
Richmond
Get stuck into prizes and giveaways galore at the Spread Eagle Hotel this Sunday, hosted by trivia bosses, the Melbourne Trivia Company. They also boast the best steak in Melbourne, which means you could be in a very delicious two-birds-one-stone situation this weekend.
When: Sundays, 3-5pm
The Local Taphouse
St Kilda East
Our last Sunday trivia sesh of note in The Local Taphouse trivia evening. The night’s hosted by trivia queen—Janet A Mcleod—plus the venue hosts a superb range of craft beers. It’s time to call in sick to work this Monday.
When: Sundays, 7:30pm
Monday
The Arcadia Hotel
South Yarra
Not only does the Arcadia Hotel in South Yarra have a ripper Monday Night trivia night where the giveaway handfuls of prizes, but it also falls on their $10 bowls of meatballs night. If that’s not a sign you’re supposed to be up late answering sports questions on a school night, we don’t know what is.
When: Mondays, 8pm
Queensbury Hotel
Carlton
The Queensbury has shifted their regular trivia night from Wednesday to Monday (people need a laugh on Mondays). These days it's coming with $1 wings (score) and cheaps jugs of beer and cider (double score). Prizes include a $50 food and drink voucher and teams can start from as little as two. Nice.
When: Mondays, 7pm
Palace Hotel
Camberwell
Another Monday night trivia hub is the Palace Hotel in Camberwell. This trivia night doesn’t make the list for its superb music, quezzies and audience participation alone, but rather it’s $15 porterhouse steak special every Monday night. You can also when a tonne of prizes and you’ll at least be in the running to win their growing weekly jackpot.
When: Mondays, 7:30pm
The Hawthorn Hotel
Hawthorn
We’ve all been to the Hawthorn Hotel, not so much for trivia but at least you already know where it is… In the best news to date, the Hawthorn Hotel not only has a Monday trivia night worth phoning home about, but it also happens to fall on the same day as their $14 parma! We highly recommend arriving between 4-7pm to make use of their $5 basics happy hour.
When: Mondays, 8pm
Tuesday
Northcote Social Club
Northcote
Northcote’s resident live music oasis also happens to host one of the best trivia nights of the week. Tuesday Trivia with the Funky Bunch is the perfect opportunity to put your brain cells to the test and answer questions from every category under the sun. The winners go home (or rather to the bar) with a $100 bar tab, and there’ areheaps of other prizes to win. Plus there are $6 house wines all night. You heard us.
When: Tuesdays, 7:30pm
Revolver Upstairs
Phrahan
Forget 4am on a Sunday, the best time you’ll have at Revolver Upstairs is from 7pm on a Tuesday where you’ll be treated to a touch a trivia, live DJs after 9pm and even some stellar Thai food on their comfy couches if you can resist dropping by KFC on the way home for a three-piece feed.
When: Tuesdays, 7pm
The Worker’s Club
Fitzroy
Our final fave Tuesday trivia night is at The Workers Club, hosted by Peter ‘Dr. Pump’ Lawler from Triple R in Fitzroy. Here you can pick up prizes, food and both $6 Sailor Jerry and $6 Gin. Basically it’s win, win, win.
When: Tuesdays, 7:30pm
Wednesday
Beer Deluxe Hawthorn
Hawthorn
Don your thinking cap this Wednesday for your chance to take home the massive cash jackpot and heaps of prizes that come with throwing your hat in the ring at BeerDeLuxe Hawthorn’s Wednesday trivia night. To add the enticement of cash prizes, they also have a $15 burger and beer deal on Wednesday nights as well.
When: Wednesdays, 7pm
Lucky Coq
Windsor
You may not have known that the Lucky Coq serves up more than $4 pizzas, but you do now. Every Wednesday they throw down a late night trivia sesh with heaps of prizes to be won. Plus, yes, there’s $4 pizzas between 7-11pm.
When: Wednesdays, 8:30pm
The Sporting Globe
Richmond
You've probably swung by The Sporting Globe to catch any number of sporting events that are being held around the world, but if you find yourself there on a Wednesday night no doubt you'll have come across their trivia night. It's not just sporting trivia you'll find here, they cover a wide array of topics for you to test your skills on.
When: Wednesdays, 7:30pm
Thursday
Penny Black
Brunswick
Head over to Brunswick this Wednesday for the Penny Black’s weekly trivia night where you can ‘earn your beer’. Entry is free, plus there’s a DJ throwing down some like tracks in the Royal Beer Garden if the trivia gets too much.
When: Thursdays, 8pm
Albion Hotel
North Melbourne
North Melbourne’s Albion Hotel hosts the coveted Thursday night trivia time slot. Frequent primarily by uni students, you probably have a good chance of winning if you have a few more than twenty years of life experience behind you (and all the U.S. presidents memorised).
When: Thursdays, 7:30pm
If you're not into trivia there are—of course—plenty of other bars to grab a beer in. Here are Melbourne's best bars.
Image credit: The Local Taphouse