Much of the information we cram into our heads barely seems to be used or even tested. Whether it is some trivial fact you memorized for a long forgotten science class or a deep recollection of film history, there are some things we can’t help but remember.
Even if you feel like you don’t know much, there is always something that you know that may surprise you. Through the many trivia nights in the bars of Eugene and Springfield, you and your friends can tax all those facts that you thought you had no use for.
As bars have started up trivia events again, due to the easing of COVID-19 regulations and the opening up of establishments over the past year, they hope to have customers return with joy. Events like trivia nights help draw in excited customers and perhaps will help people come back every week to test their knowledge. Participants may be challenged by the deep dive of questions, but you may learn that your friends know something impressive that you don’t.
Public House (Monday 6:30 p.m.)
Best Food Selection
Inside the former First Christian Church on A Street, you’ll find the excellent wood furnishings of Public House. The business houses six different food vendors, like Hawaiian, Seafood, and German, to satisfy any type of craving. Inside the main hall, groups can sit at a stretched out table in the middle of the room, but when competing against your neighbor you should be cautious with your excited answers.
Geo Carcamo, host of trivia at Public House, has worked at multiple trivia events since 2017. “I feel like there’s been a good mix of different teams who win, maybe the first time they win or things like that. The feeling that there is always a real shot that they’ll win is an addicting thing that I see teams come back for,” Carcamo said. A chance to win bragging rights as well as prizes from brewers like clothes or gift cards.
Questions are turned in via QR codes and online answer sheets, making quick results easier. This also makes it more comfortable for people wanting a safe activity to do in a restaurant during COVID-19. If you can come out on a Monday night with a mentally prepared group then it’ll be a worthwhile challenge.
Rennies Landing (Tuesday 9 p.m.)
Best for a Young Crowd
This classic campus bar draws clamoring students to its many tables for its famous Trivia Tuesdays. Even though it can get very packed inside the bar you will be able to hear the tricky questions being read by host Cassidy Deblois who has created the questions with Lily Guthorn for the past six months.
With much of Gen Z slowly becoming of drinking age, Rennie’s is an easy bar to experience public drinking for the first time ever.
“I try to relate to them, but I also try to educate them on different things,” Deblois said. “It’s a wild crowd this year because of everything. It’s persuaded our new generation of 21-year-olds on how to act and play trivia here.”
Three rounds that dive into monthly themes like women’s history, movie quotes and guessing songs, they hope to test the next generation of young brains for their chance to claim victory and free beer. This is a perfect place for college kids to test out their knowledge.
Tap & Growler (Wednesday 7 p.m.)
Best for Difficult Trivia
In the busy businesses of the 5th Street Market, you’ll find the garage door windows of Tap & Growler. Here, they serve a wide array of mixed drinks, beers and wines for any person’s taste buds. Trivia nights are hosted by Bethany Smith of What Do You Know? Trivia, which hosts a plethora of trivia events every night across Oregon bars.
Groups all sit in the main area of the gastropub with easy viewing of the TVs that display the questions. With seven rounds, a confident group can select a “joker” round which if the team gets a correct answer in the round they receive triple the points, potentially boosting their place.
“I’m glad that we have the crowd that we do have and the regulars and the new teams that come,” Smith said.
Even though this event leans more toward a millennial crowd, the trivia night here has a friendly atmosphere with a lively host. It is a classic example of trivia with geography and obscure history rounds. Gianluca Lubrano and Maria Ayala of team “Mio Amore” are first timers here. “It’s great!” Ayala said. “It’s fun! People should be more funnier and louder,” Lubrano added. The restaurant is a great fit for groups looking for harder questions to challenge themselves.
Viking Braggot Westside Brewing (Thursday 6:30 p.m.)
Best Hidden Gem
A little farther from the center of Eugene, one can find many breweries crafting beer and serving other drinks and food. Viking Braggot is one of those spots, with a charming brew house that creates a warm environment as well as a great space for getting away from the other busier trivias. With spacious indoor and outdoor seating, teams can separate themselves to help put their heads together.
The host for the brewery, Dan McCraw, also known as Big Dan, has been doing this for about two and a half years for Viking Braggot. A more relaxed, casual trivia gives you plenty of time to answer his many questions.
“I just try to set an easy tone, put on some fun music and try not to take it too seriously. If you go and you bomb, but you think the questions are fun and you have good conversations with friends then it’s still worth going,” McCraw said.
Heather Hayward and Ian Mctavish have made a tradition of coming to the trivia nights. “We love coming here,” Hayward said, with Mctavish bragging that they win every week. It’s chill environment inside the brewery leads to an easy place to work on your trivia skills.
Bartolotti’s Pizza and Bistro (Friday 6 p.m.)
Best After Class Trivia
The EMU houses many activities each term, but every Friday the new pizza place in the east side of the building next to KWVA, Bartolotti’s, hosts a perfect end of week trivia night for any student looking to celebrate. Teams of up to seven cram inside the booths to tease their young college brains. Be sure to be cautious with your answers in your booths because your neighbors are always within ear shot. With the restaurant being right on campus it makes it easy for students to come in right after class or straight from their residence halls.
Forest Davis has been running trivia here since it was owned by Falling Sky in 2017 and has hosted many other nights around town. Most of the questions he comes up with come from facts he has learned through life, such as the phone booth in the Mojave desert. “That’s a fun fact, so you can build an entire category based on phone booths or stuff that is out in the middle of nowhere that you wouldn’t expect. You kind of have to thread the flesh around a skeleton of an idea,” Davis said. This helps keep the rounds fresh and interesting for participants.
Fifth year student Ryley Steel likes the difficulty of this particular trivia night.
“The questions are definitely nice because I like the Jeopardy format, and in Jeopardy they do a lot of word play questions, and they do that here too, but you have more time to think so they’re kinda more complicated,” Steel said.
Even though all the places who host trivia nights may share similar ways of running the show, they all provide unique experiences with food, drinks and the environment. There is a place for any group of people who want to have a good time while using their brain. Each location provides fun and drink to help you come back for more next week. It’s fun to challenge you and your friends at new places with facts that may teach you something new about yourself or the world.
