The best trivia in Melbourne

We’re diehard fans of the best trivia in Melbourne because we know the pub is a place for spinning yarns, knocking back some beers with mates, and proving your knowledge in extremely niche and useless information, is in fact very useful.

Luckily for us, a solid trivia or quiz night offers a chance to do all three. From nights based on fun and breezy questions that anyone can get around, to high-tech trivia showdowns with all the modern bells and whistles you could ask for – we’ve compiled a who’s-who of the best places to bust out some facts and take home the glory.

Now all you’ve got to do is get a team together. Happy quizzing, Melbourne.

Check out the latest trivia nights in Melbourne here.

Ollie’s Pizza / Stay Gold

Head to Ollie’s Pizza at Stay Gold every Tuesday at 7:30pm for an explosive evening of fun, laughs, and brain-teasers at Ollie’s Pizza Parlour—the home of the (soon to be) legendary Tuesday Night Trivia (TNT)! Hosted by the one and only Con Dodgie, it’s the perfect blend of competition and camaraderie.

Ollie’s crafts a unique pizza that blends New York and Neapolitan styles. Their thin, crispy base and chewy crust are topped with the freshest ingredients for unbeatable flavor. They prove their dough for 36 hours and hand-stretch it before cooking it super hot and fast. Dedicated to the art of pizza-making, they honor the great Pizzaiolos with every slice. Located at 133 Sydney Road, Brunswick, Ollie’s is perfect for after-work drinks or lively weekend nights.

Funky Bunch Trivia 

Funky Bunch Trivia is one of the most popular quiz nights in the country, covering venues across the country and even taking hold overseas. As for prizes? Someone recently won close to 5k, so there’s some solid incentive for you. This night is all about keeping it fresh, so you wont’ find any dull ‘What’s the largest river in Woop Woop?’ questions here. There’s video elements too, with a solid emphasis on keeping it all exciting, fun and accessible to every punter keen to prove their knowledge over a few froths.

Funky Bunch trivia nights go down weekly at numerous venues throughout Melbourne and Victoria. Head to their website for more information. 

Rock and Pop Culture Trivia

Rooftop trivia at the Corner Hotel has earned itself a golden mark in the weekly events calendars of Melburnians. Over its 11-year tenure, it continues to attract rock and pop culture aficionados alike. Get down to win a slab of beer for the top prize, as well as jugs galore. Plus, $20 will get you a trivia meal deal (read: a classic pot and parma to help your brain cogs tick along nicely).

Rock And Pop Culture Trivia goes down at the Corner Hotel every Wednesday from 8pm.

Tuesday Trivia at Northcote Social Club 

Every topic under the sun is covered at this all-rounder’s night. Not just your average pub trivia, this night takes punters on a mind-twisting journey that’ll challenge even the smartest of cookies. The perfect place for anyone who’s mind is full of otherwise useless random facts and enjoys a beer or two.

Tuesday Trivia with The Funky Bunch goes down at Northcote Social Club every Tuesday night from 7.30pm.

Off the Wall Trivia 

Off the Wall Trivia got sick of boring exam-style trivia nights so they made their quiz for folks that just want to dick around and have a hilarious night out with their mates. They award points not only for correct answers but also for any answer that makes them crack a laugh. First place takes home a $100 bar tab, and their serving up $8 schooners all night.

Off the Wall – Trivia With A Twist goes down at The Carlton Club Tuesdays at 7pm, kicking off Tuesday June 20. 

Provincial Trivia Tuesdays 

Count on this night for a fun mix of general knowledge and current events with extra games and challenges thrown in to keep teams on their toes. There are two rounds of 20 questions including pictures, audio, cryptic clues and plenty of banter plus pre-bookings get a free jug on arrival. Happy Hour quiz time will score you $6 bevvos, with $10 parmas all day. The winning team scores a $50 voucher and a bottle of plonk.

Provincial Trivia Tuesdays goes down at The Provincial Hotel, Fitzroy every Tuesday.

QuizzaMe 

All rounds of QuizzaMe trivia feature randomly selected questions from their massive database across a range of categories, so you never know what you will get, but there’s always something for everyone. They also run a social quiz night that’s family-friendly and suitable for all ages and abilities. The QuizzaMe wireless buzzer has A – E on it, and every question is multiple choice. So the right answer is always on the screen and there is no need to write answers down or worry about Dave’s dodgy handwriting

QuizzaMe goes down in numerous venues in Melbourne from Monday to Friday from the CBD to the outer suburbs. For a full list of their trivia nights, head to their website. 

Trivia at The Beast 

The Beast’s Tuesday night extravaganza will have you jumping through hoops ranging from famous heroes and villains to Seinfeld, and even the solar system. Teams will often need to draw their best picture of something to do with the theme of the night for bonus points, and the losing team gets to pick the theme for the following week. First prize wins a slab of beer courtesy of Two Birds Brewing, second prize wins a bottle of house red or white wine courtesy of The B.East’s cellars, and third place wins a jug of beer.

Get down to The Beast every Tuesday night for your dose of trivia. 

The Elsternwick Hotel

Quiz Meisters have been running trivia at The Wick for almost a decade. The night is hosted by local singer/comedian/writer Alice Tovey, who warms a Monday crowd that refuse to accept the weekend is over. Segments range from a Romanian opera singer belting out pop songs in an operatic fashion, to the last game of the night called ‘Duck Lotto’ which has teams betting on rubber ducks racing in the Darebin Creek rapids.

Trivia at the Elsternwick Hotel goes down everyday Monday from 7.30pm. 

The Metropolitan Hotel

Get down for traditional pen and paper pub trivia, no screens, no special gadgets and mixed rounds of questions with no set theme to each round. After taking a year off, we relaunched our trivia night in April with great success. The Metro offers food and beverage vouchers for first, second and third place on top of chances to win cocktails, jugs of beer and bottles of wine throughout the night. What’s more, their trivia night is hosted by Melbourne-based comedian, writer and entertainer Nick Caddaye who recently graced the 2017 Melbourne International Comedy Festival with his show He Didn’t Make It.

Thursday night is trivia night at the Metropolitan Hotel every week from 6.30pm.

The Reverence 

The theme changes each week. The losing team from the week before picks the theme. Exploring topics from TV shows to music genres to geography and movie magnates, in past weeks we’ve had Disney, hip hop, Seinfeld and Italy, as well as ‘90s and metal trivia.

The Rev is consumed with trivia on Wednesday nights with prizes flavoured to the theme of the night, from 7pm.

The Workers Club Pub Quiz 

The format is based on a traditional English pub quiz with three big rounds of general knowledge and a slant towards music. It’s been running the last few years and bookings are essential. Dr Pump runs the show – a former Weddings, Parties, Anything guitarist and featured personality on Triple R’s JVG Radio Method. A larger than life personality and one of Australia’s great musos. Segments include Dr Pump’s synthesiser challenge, The Dollar of Destiny, and on occasion Pumpy brings in his guitar for an interactive live game.

The Workers Club Pub Quiz goes down every Tuesday from 7pm. 

Windsor Castle Trivia 

There’s three rounds of ten questions, with our ever present music round in the middle. The other two rounds are usually general knowledge but we sometimes have specialty rounds like movies, Disney, sports and more suggested by the punters. There’s three rounds of ten questions, with our ever present music round in the middle.  Each week there’s a bonus point for the best team name, and if you’re ever unsure of an answer they encourage teams to have a guess or even just write something funny instead. If their host also finds it funny and reads it out, you’ll get the point.

Windsor Castle Trivia goes down at The Windsor Castle Hotel Tuesdays at 8pm.

SoundStorm Trivia

Why did you first start SoundStorm and how was the idea born? We began as a weekly trivia night at the Mitre Tavern in 2003. I was doing a course in radio and doing some work at 3AW when the pub rang the radio school to see if anyone wanted to host their night – and the rest is history.

What sets your trivia nights apart from the pack? The three things that come to mind are format, professionalism and trust. Our format is a more traditional night without the use of TV screens or DVD questions. Our nights are professionally run and well-choreographed with a more corporate feel rather than a uni night, and regarding trust, we have a “no swear” policy so companies know what they are getting and don’t need to be on edge wondering what the host is going to say next.

What companies have you worked with in the past? We work regularly with major banks as well as financial institutions and law firms. We can cater for companies from any background, from tradies to retirement homes. United Airlines use us each year and we provide The Spirit of Tasmania with the trivia entertainment for passengers onboard their day sails.

What’s the hardest trivia question you’ve got to challenge us with?We don’t generally ask questions that are “too hard” or “too easy”. Our questions are written to evoke conversation amongst teams. One of my favourites is: “The three heaviest living land animals in order are the elephant, the rhino and the hippo. What’s the fourth heaviest living land animal?” A: Giraffe.

Lulie Street Tavern

Tell us about your trivia night and what makes it tick. Lulie St Tavern’s pub trivia is for people that spend their time trawling through their news feeds half reading ostensibly interesting articles and intermittently switching their Spotify playlist between trap music, ambient electro and (mostly) ‘90s rock.

Who’s the host? Dan Watt and Brendan Esmore.

What prizes are on offer? $100 voucher.

What drinks specials can I get on the night? Lulie’s ridiculous happy hour has extended from 8pm until 9pm, and we offer $7 pints and $10 house cocktails. Plus, there’s booze give-aways throughout the rounds.

What food is dished up on trivia night? Your choice of Rita’s Pizza and Kelso’s Sandwich Shoppe.

What’s the best thing you’ve ever seen at one of your trivia nights?I reckon it was the ostensibly off-putting situation when a team requested a “How well do you know: Placebo” round for the following week, then that team proceeded not to rock up. The plus side was that all the other teams remembered Placebo were actually a pretty good band and Dan realised he could now go to BANG! and pick up a goth.

The Metropolitan Hotel

Tell us about your trivia night and what makes it tick. We offer traditional pen and paper pub trivia, no screens, no special gadgets and mixed rounds of questions with no set theme to each round. Our trivia nights are always a great success.

Who’s the host? Our trivia night is hosted by Melbourne-based comedian, writer and entertainer Nick Caddaye who graced the 2017 Melbourne International Comedy Festival with his show He Didn’t Make It. He also hosted Late Night Letters and Numbers, adding a hysterical spin to the favourite SBS game show.

What prizes are on offer? We offer food and beverage vouchers for first, second and third place on top of chances to win cocktails, jugs of beer and bottles of wine throughout the night.

What drinks specials can I get on the night? Our happy hour is from 5-7pm and we offer $8 selected craft beer pints as well as $6 spirits. Our $12 espresso martinis also run all night.

What food is dished up on trivia night? Our menu sprawls wood-fired pizza, pasta, char grilled steaks, salads as well as a classic chicken parma and burger options.

Funky Bunch Trivia

The age-old mid-week tradition of trekking to your local pub for a night of trivia is now stronger than ever, and that is largely due to Mark Doble’s brainchild — Funky Bunch Trivia. In 2005, Doble was pouring beers at South Melbourne’s Limerick Arms Hotel and began putting on a weekly trivia night, which quickly evolved into his full time gig as more venues vied to get on board.

Hotly in demand from the get-go, Funky Bunch has now been lapping up the world of trivia rockstar style for 13 years. As well as pub trivia, Funky Bunch also do corporate events.

“I did a tour around Australia in our early days with an events coordinator and we travelled interstate doing big events for Telstra,” Doble says.

“It was a rock trivia theme, so I got to dress up and wear leather pants and I had a big crazy wig on. It was as close as I could get to my dream of being a rock star without being able to sing or play guitar very well. I kept worrying at the start that it might drop off, I wondered, ‘How long will trivia nights be this popular for?’”