The best pub trivia nights in Sydney

This Monday evening trivia takes place in the Lane Cove club’s upstairs section. This makes sense seeing as it can accommodate the large numbers that turn up, but it also means you're in for more of a chic community hall vibe over a cosy pub atmosphere. You’ll find two rounds of 20 questions, that cover all sorts of topics. The host kindly gets votes from the room for some topics (‘Kardashians or chemistry?’), and may even chuck in bonus points if you make him laugh with your answer. They also flip the night’s rankings on their head with a bet-your-points-style final question.

What can you win? Vouchers for food and bottles of wine.

What’s the crowd like? Young families, loud ladies' nights and big groups.

What’s for dinner? Tapas if you're not that hungry, grilled chicken and steak if you are.

Some trivia nights are all about stringing out the fun for as long as possible, but at the Golden Barley it's a wham-beam double round that moves at a cracking pace. Lucky, as Monday isn't typically the night for lingering at the pub. Host Gavin is a no-nonsense host with some very tricky questions - don't be surprised if the questions are from events as recent as 12 hours earlier. Got specific skills? They also run a fortnightly pop-culture trivia night.

What can you win? When we visited, first prize is cold hard cash; second and third get bar vouchers; plus there are rounds of drinks for your table for winning rounds of heads and tails or "who am I?" questions.

What’s the crowd like? You'll want to be in and seated well before kick-off because every seat is filled on our visit – this is serious quiz business so there’s not a lot of time for banter. Only victory.

What’s for dinner? Plan to eat dinner here because the Barley does a very good line in pub classics.

At the Burdekin, 'Thursgay' is a trivia night devoted entirely to queer entertainment. Named 'Let's Get Quizzical' and hosted by Sydney's glitter king (@kevininthecity) this pub trivia night is all about pizazz, shine and celebrating Sydney's most sparkly of diversity. With the question time followed by Tuck for a Buck – a free and open drag competiton, this particular pub trivia night refuses to let your Thursday go by lightly. 

What can you win? When we visited, prizes included Burdekin vouchers, free shots for the best team name and a whole array of sponsored merch up for grabs for the victorious. 

What's the crowd like? Tending towards the young and queer, but with a significant sprinkling of diversity in terms of age, gender and sexual orientation, Thursgay is a night for everyone. 

What's for dinner? House-made schnittys amongst other classic pub fare, and the Thursday night special is $16 pizza. Come between 4 and 6pm for a $6 beer or a $12 Apreol Spritz. 

Hosted by comedian Jeeves Verma, this weekly trivia extravaganza will take you, and your most-hidden brain corners for a whirlwind of a spin. 

What can you win? When we visited, there was an $70 bar voucher for first place, a $30 voucher for second, and bottle of wine dispensed at the host's discretion as an encouragement prize. Plus bonus round winners get packets of Tim Tams and jugs of beer as rewards. 

What’s the crowd like? There’s a little wiggle room that develops when the after-work crowd gives way to the trivia regulars, but if you’re sure you want to play you need to get in early to secure a table amongst Paddington’s well-dressed professional set. There are at least three big tables on our visit – punters appreciate the power of numbers.

What’s for dinner? A $20 schnitty special or other pub favourites (including an excellent steak frites)

This slick Quizmeisters-run weekly competition has an eclectic mix of questions, although a good, up-to-the-second working knowledge of pop culture will come in handy. If you’re the type of person who knows more about the political history of the Falkland Islands than the TV show Love Island, you might be out of your depth. There are also video rounds to test your cinema knowledge with onscreen actors performing famous scenes out of context.

What can you win? When we visited, first prize was a $100 bar tab, second $75 and third $50. But as with all good trivia nights there are bonus rounds where you can win jugs of beer.

What’s the crowd like? The tables fill up pretty quickly even though it’s a Monday, so make sure you’re there at least before registration starts at 7pm.

What’s for dinner? A $15 chicken parm will aid your trivial pursuits.

Mondays are quiet in Sydney, but there’re hijinks to be had at Darlinghurst’s beloved beer barn. Trivia starts around 7:30pm, and you’ll encounter two rounds of questions, including 14 original audiovisual clues ranging from identifying a pop song being sung by an opera singer to discerning which famous Hollywood scene is being re-enacted by the worst actors you've ever seen.

What can you win? When we visited, winners walked away with a $75 bar tab, second place gets $50 at the bar and second last gets a $25 bar voucher, with jugs of beer up for grabs through the night.

What’s the crowd like? There’s a handful of bigger groups who reserve tables and keep an eye on the Facebook page for clues in the lead-up to Monday night trivia, and it’s worth checking – the original five members of AC/DC was worth five points we could have used.

What’s for dinner? The burgers are the calling card here with several taking their cues from the States, such as the Philly Cheesesteak and Nashville fried chicken burgers.

Quiz master Alexei packs a lot of movie-themed fun into two rounds of questions, ranging from the dead easy (who is Judy Garland’s movie star daughter? – duh!) to the more head-scratching (can you name every Spike Lee film starring Denzel Washington?). Extra points are awarded for punny team names, and it pays to keep an eye on the Rotten Tomatoes ratings because ‘Fresh or Rotten?’ is a regular feature. The chic bar is as small as Kevin Spacey’s chances of a comeback, so booking a table on the website is recommended.

What can you win? Prizes include Golden Age Cinema Gift Passes, drinks vouchers and Bottle Rocket cocktails to take home. 

What’s the crowd like? This hip young film crew knows their Truffaut from their Tarantino, so be prepared for some stiff competition.

What’s for dinner? An appropriately sexy (and similarly pricey) menu with the likes of squid ink spaghettini and stracciatella crowned with anchovies and pesto. The quiz only goes 90 minutes though, so you can go seek a more affordable late Surry Hills supper at 8pm.

Do you know whether sumo wrestlers throw rice or salt into the ring before a match? How many flags can you name with the colours red, green and black? What colour is Bond Street on the Monopoly board? If you’re a wiz at random facts you’ll meet your match in the Dove & Olive’s trivia host, who runs a tight ship at this twice weekly battle of the minds. Larger teams tend to book ahead for seats at the circular tables upstairs and the same team names tend to dominate the scoreboard each week. The fact that they had to add an extra night after Tuesdays got so popular is reflective of the calibre – laugh, learn, and come back tomorrow.
 
What can you win? When we visited, winners collected a $75 bar tab, but each bonus round came with covetable prizes such as a jug of gold coins, or a voucher for jug of beer.

What’s the crowd like? If you need to stow your laptop bag under your quiz sheet you’ll be in good company. There’s a good mix of young CBD and Surry Hills office workers here.

What’s for dinner? Expect hefty pub classics including a very strong line-up of burgers and some exceptionally moreish mac n cheese balls with black garlic mayo.

It’s not like we need much encouragement to head to the Welcome for a counter meal and a craft brew, but for low-key entertainment their trivia night hits the spot. Two rounds, famous faces and alfoil sculpting are all on the agenda, in addition to some musical numbers. 

What can you win? First prize is a $60 bar voucher. Second and third prize are a bottle of wine and last place gets a packet of chips. 

What’s the crowd like? It may have gussied up the eats and drinks, but the Welcome is well loved local and the crowd skews towards local kids grown up and catching up with dear old dad, nice young couples on a quiet night out and even a local pooch weaving in around the chairs. It’s not a huge space so if your heart is set on the quiz it’s worth booking. 

What’s for dinner? Everything you'd expect from an elevated pub menu (steak frites, ricotta gnocchi and a very bougie burger) plus excellent daily specials.

This Surry Hills favourite is busy on a slow night, so be warned: when trivia's on, the place gets absolutely packed. Get in early (for maximum dedication, you can book your team a table ahead of time) so you can order and finish off a schnitzel before you and your team take on the rest of the bar in a rowdy game of ‘know-it-all’. Two rounds with 30 questions total (spread across two rounds) and Quiz Meisters are on hosting duties.

What can you win? First, second, third (and second-last) places get a $80, $40 and $20 bar tab respectively, and there's also plentiful jugs of beer to won. 

What’s the crowd like? They're an organised bunch on trivia night, with most of the tables in the front room reserved ahead of game-time. Take that as a sign they're an I-know-my-shit bunch. 

What’s for dinner? You can do a happy-hour sesh from 4-6pm, and then graze their refreshed pub menu that does all the classics (plus Sydney's most famous Yorkshire pudding).

Quiz-masters give good chat as they blast through three rounds of ten questions that start with the politics of the day and then break down to anything they can find on the internet. No bells and whistles here – straight questions, no musical rounds and no famous faces. It’s all about the Q&A. 

What can you win? Darlo Bar themes the prizes around the time of year (be it Valentine's or the King's Birthdays) and also to match their own calendar of events (be it a '70s disco shindig or a house party inspired rager). There's also $75 and $50 vouchers up for first and second prizes, as well as jugs and schooners up for grabs. 

What’s the crowd like? It's a mixed bag of regulars, older folk and uni students. 

What’s for dinner? There's an in-house 'deli' serving cheese boards and toasties, or you outsource from Burger Joint and a local Thai spot and the team will serve the externally-sourced food at your table. 

It's a packed bar at the Ivanhoe for Tuesday night trivia, so get in well before kick off if you want to grab a table for a group (there was barely even a single seat free at 7.30pm the night we were in). Questions ranged from ’90s music to contemporary film and ’60s fashion. This ain't an exam you can prepare for. 

What can you win? Prizes vary but if you win you'll usually take home a decent bar/food voucher.

What's the crowd like? Manly’s locals come out in droves for trivia. You’ve got the young and surfy mixed with the sun-kissed middle-aged and 30-something couples. 

What's for dinner? On Tuesday nights it's all about $20 scnitty or parmi.

The topics at this one vary every week, and real fans follow along on the Facebook page for clues so they can swat up ahead of time.

What can you win? There are bottles of wine for the winners and vouchers for second and third place.

What’s the crowd like? It’s a chilled suburban crowd with a pretty wide age range. If anything, questions favour the older crowd.

What’s for dinner? The drawcard here is the large indoor self-serve barbecue. Choose your meat and cook it yourself to enjoy a big discount.  

Questions lean more towards pop culture, sport and animals than politics or global news stories, but host Tyson likes to shake things up by throwing in a Who Am I?, bonus points for correct spellings, heads and tails based on flipping a coin, and a puzzling riddle to unpack between rounds. 

What can you win? When we visited, first prize was a $100 bar voucher, second place scored one for $50 and the team with the third highest score walked away with a $25 voucher.

What’s the crowd like? The outdoor tables are long, which is perfect for groups of six-plus players. It’s also helpful to have at least one team member who loved British TV in the ’80s.

What’s for dinner? It’s time to show your Aussie pride – the Australian does an epic line in Down Under-themed pizzas, with toppings that include saltwater croc, peppered kangaroo and emu.

The Triple H hosts weekly trivia in its ground floor public bar. It's run by the guys from InnQuizitive trivia, so you'll get to know different hosts throughout their stints, which range from long term to drop in gigs. They say a quick game's a good game and the HHH delivers with eight rounds of ten questions delivered over about an hour. No mucking about here. 

What can you win? When we visited, winners scored a $75 pub voucher for first place, with $50 for second and $25 for third. 

What's the crowd like? It depends on the night – some weeks it's super busy with trivia nerds from far and wide, other weeks it's a quick game with locals only.

What's for dinner? They do $20 parms and $18 schnittys on Wednesdays which is a good deal given counter meals are a little bit fancier and more expensive here – extra motivation to win that dinner voucher for your next visit.

This red bricked Milsons Point pub dishes out weekly trivia that often packs out well before the kick off time, so book a table ahead if possible. A roster of different personalities from Left of Centretainment's Comedy Trivia host the evening, so expect quick-fire rounds with laughs interspersed throughout. 

What can you win? When we visited, first prize was a hefty $100 voucher, while second is $50, with a variety of prizes and giveaways also available throughout the night. 

What's the crowd like? It's a mixed bag but there’s always a big turnout. It skews a little older, but the questions don't necessarily cater to that age bracket. 

What's for dinner? You'll find classic pub fare, mixed in with some more exotic and flavoursome additions (dukkah, baja fish tacos, truffle waygu burger)

If you’re not following the bell ringing you in for start of a theatre production downstairs, you’ll setting up for trivia at this famous old pub. You'll get sped-fled through two rounds of questions, interspersed with quickfire-rounds: you’ll score an instant jug of beer or choccies for the table if you can match quotes to films, guess-that-song Spicks and Specks-style, or answer a cooking question.

What can you win? On our visit, bar tabs of $50 and $25 were awarded to grinning winners and runners-up, as well as beer jug giveaways. The team that came last was awarded a bag of random goodies 'sponsored' by Coles which could contain multi-purpose sponge cloths, rubber gloves, 10 steel wool soap blocks, window cleaner, and/or dijon mustard. 

What’s the crowd like? If you haven’t reserved tables you’ll share bar-leaning space with salty locals – who’re continuously reprimanded for yelling out answers while not actually playing –and the resident bar dog, Fin.

What’s for dinner? You'll find some pub classics (including an excellent cheese burger), but the menu here leans more in the bistro direction: think mussels on toast and duck liver parfait.

If you’ve accidentally found yourself at this much loved Redfern pub on a Tuesday evening then you’re in for a treat, because their trivia game is strong. It's worth noting that the venue is pretty small and booking ahead is strongly encouraged. 

What can you win? At the time of writing, winners can walk away with a $50 bar voucher, but there’s a cash jackpot to be won as well – it was $200 on our visit. 

What’s the crowd like? Triviality has a dedicated following that has built up over the years and the crowd reflects the transitional stage Redfern is in, with gentrified newcomers mixing with the older locals. 

What’s for dinner? It's hard to look past the pizzas here, but the huge, golden parmi is also a thing of beauty.

Other Sydney institutions offering a good weekly brain teaser include (but are not limited to) Camperdown favourite the Courthouse Hotel and historic Paddington pub the Village Inn.