Blog du Wren

Trivia Town

For the past couple years, I've rarely passed through Portland without stopping in for one or more nights of pub trivia. The options are vast and convenient, the trivia is high caliber (mostly), and it is a great excuse to see friends that I might not other be able to see. When taking stock of where all I've played trivia here in Portland, I was amazed to find that I could name 9 places off the top of my head. Here's a quick review.

39th St Sports Pub: This was one of my fist Portland trivia endeavors and, if I remember correctly, one of my least favorites. Pretty much all I can remember about it was it non-syndicated and pretty unanimously agreed to be low caliber*

Basement Pub: Owner run (i.e. non-syndicated), quick and to the point (30-ish questions rapid fire with no breaks), decent food, kind of a late start time, but it is made up for by its quickness. I've done trivia here a number of times.

Eastburn: A ShanRock trivia venue. A good personal game of trivia. The person reading the trivia is the person that writes it (a big plus), encouraged interaction between teams, and a non-trivia interaction round (the time I went, it was competition Barrel of Monkeys).

Belmont Inn: One of the harder, yet better attended Pub Quiz USA venues. Pub Quiz USA has a format that I love with lots of questions and lots of variety in types of rounds and questions (anagrams, music, etc.). There is a theme each week which is announced via e-mail newsletter. The Belmont costs $3 to play, but the winning team gets the whole pot. I've played here a number of times and enjoy it quite a bit.

Morrison Hotel: A one off trivia (i.e. non-syndicated) that is very topic oriented, which is good and bad. The people are totally fun with lots of interaction. This isn't a trivia I see myself going to a bunch, but was a lot of fun when we did go.

NePo 42: A Last Call trivia syndicated venue. Last Call trivia has a rather common format of one question with the time span of one song to answer it (rather than many questions per round). That means fewer questions, but more chat time. Another added feature of the format is being able to wager based on your confidence of your answer. This makes it a strategy intensive game (which can be good and bad). I had an enjoyable time at this and hope to try it again.

Rose and Thistle: Another Pub Quiz USA venue and my current favorite. The questions aren't too hard, the quiz master is super awesome, it's free to play, but has good prizes. Oh, and we totally got first place there this week.

Sante Fe Taqueria: Last Call Trivia here. The night we went, it was underattended with only 3 teams. We won the $30 gift certificate for first place, but couldn't feel too good about ourselves because of the lack of competition. It is really nice having trivia in a non-bar, though!

Biddy's: Pub Quiz USA again and about in the middle on difficulty and attendance. This it the place I've done trivia the most, but mostly just because of location. But it is a place I would gladly go back to.

Yep, Portland is pretty rich in trivia options. I look forward to exploring more of those options in my [hopefully many] future Portland visits.

Wednesday June 16 2010

File under: misc

Toggle Comments (3)

comment?

on Thu 17th Jun, 2010 11:26 am PDT soreyes said:
http://googlemobile.blogspot.com/2010/06/settle-trivia-debates-anytime-anywhere.html
************************
on Thu 17th Jun, 2010 12:30 pm PDT jen said:
Congrats on your first place at trivia this week! I expect nothing less from you though, I mean you ARE Wren after all. :)
************************
on Wed 05th Dec, 2012 05:31 pm CST Wren said:
In an effort to keep this list up to date, here are a few off the top of my head that I've been to of late:
Bar Bar in Mississippi: One off hosted by an authentic eccentric. From what I remember, I like it, the menu was decent, it's hosted outdoors in the summer(!) and we won, so it can't be all bad.

Sandy's at 59th and Foster: Rain Brain trivia, which has some fun format highlights (a list round, varied audio clips), but the bar is a total dive, the host and regulars have too much false enthusiasm for me, and the format disproportionally weights some topic specific questions so overall is hit and miss.

Press Club at 26th and Clinton: Another Last Call venue, which happens to be a format I really like. The host was great here and the teams fun. The menu is a bit fancy for me, but the owner seems nice and there are lots of magazines to read as you wait for your teammates to arrive (last minute no doubt).
************************

<<Familiar Giant

Vancouver and Its Mad Skillz>>

Name:
URL: (optional)
Comment:
speak yer peace