About six months ago, I lamented the passing of Big Slow Tom's Trivia from Connolly's Irish Pub in Cary. This forced my trivia group, the Fallopian Swim Team, to seek better waters elsewhere, a place hopefully nearby some of our trivia members' homes (mostly based in Cary/Morrisville with Ben and I being the regular out-of-town contingent from Durham, though the occasional New Yorkers appear, too). Here are a few of our findings after trying various new spots since then:
- Big Slow Tom's Trivia is everywhere! Seriously, I had no idea it was a Triangle-based trivia business. Apparently, I didn't know there were Triangle-based trivia businesses, because we also discovered Team Trivia. Learning about both these groups was thanks to their owners/regional managers dropping by to comment on my last trivia post, so good job promoting yourselves, Tom and Mark, and nice to meet you, Mark, a few weeks back!
- Big Slow Tom's Trivia at Ben's Place Pub in Raleigh was definitely fun. It's very popular; the restaurant is quite large and I'm fairly certain every table was playing. Definitely make reservations in advance if you go here. Food was good, and I think I remember that cocktails were as well. Memory's fuzzy; it's been awhile. They usually have a few rounds of trivia where answers are worth increasing point values in each round, ending in a final round that often involves guessing the top ten of . . . well, it changes every week, of course. This final round is of utmost importance in Big Slow Tom's Trivia because it can often add up to more points than you'll get in the other rounds combined.
- Connolly's has a new person doing trivia who is very nice and definitely has a good time hosting. We didn't find the trivia challenging enough to keep our interest however, so we haven't gone back. I'm also not a big fan of their drinks, which is an important consideration for me if water just doesn't loosen my trivial knowledge stores. Oh the curse of not being a beer drinker and insisting on creative cocktails, not just rum and cokes.
- Team Trivia at Buffalo Wings and Rings has been quite good, and our team's pleased with the setup.
It gets crowded, but I don't think we've needed a reservation as yet. Each round, you have to decide whether to assign your answers a 1, 3, or 5 (points double later) point-value, using each amount only once of course. The final question involves wagering points based on your confidence in your guess, Jeopardy-style. Personally, I don't like betting in trivia-wins should be based on your knowledge, not your strategy!-but the rest of the group enjoys the betting system. Plus, Team Trivia sponsors regional and national championships with opportunities for making good money if your team places well in the ongoing online rankings! Nice, huh? However, I'm not a big fan of the drinks at Buffalo Wings and Rings, either, as you may have noticed lately, so we are thinking of trying one of the other multitudes of spots where Team Trivia or Big Slow Tom's Trivia host weekly events.
- West 94th Street Pub, right down the road from Ben and me, are holding weekly trivia nights now. Think I can convince the Swim Team to come our way to try them out? Any blog readers gone to their trivia night yet?
I think this post now qualifies for the greatest amount of links I've ever had in one post. Oh wait, no; that was the outdoor seating list I compiled for Carpe Durham from bloggers' and readers' suggestions. Sorry if the links are obnoxious! I suppose if they were too bad, you'd have stopped reading by now, anyhow.
If you have a favorite trivia location, please let us know! The hunt for the perfect spot for us continues, mainly because I get bored with drink lists too often. Yes, I'm the hard-to-please member of the team!
