5 Great San Francisco (SF) Bars to Play Trivia Night in

So you’ve wrapped up your degree in the arcane history of an unknown country and you’re working at a non-profit in the city, wondering if you should head back to college where you can show off your smarts.  Skip the studies for now and find a San Francisco bar that hosts trivia.  You can drink beer and wow your friends with the random musical knowledge and obscure facts that you know.  It’ll be just like college at a fraction of the cost and with trivia happening in the city every night, you shouldn’t have to travel far to find a trivia bar near you. 

1. The Bitter End, 441 Clement St. (@ 4^th Ave.), Richmond neighborhood, 415.221.9538

If you really want to feel like you’re back in college, the trivia night crowd at this Richmond bar will do it for you. The place gets jam packed so that it’s standing room only so you have to get there early on Tuesdays to get one of the tables. The crowd heckles the host and the teams get added points for clever names so it’s a fun night even if you don’t know any of the answers.

2. Elixir, 3200 16^th St. (@ Guerrero), Mission neighborhood, 415.552.1633

For those people who have a really obscure set of knowledge, Tuesday night is also trivia night at Elixir.  This bar hosts one of the hardest trivia nights in town so you’re really showing off your skills if you win here.  And if you lose, the cheap Mission tacos nearby can cheer you up.

3. Durty Nellie’s, 2328 Irving St. (@ 24^th St.), Sunset neighborhood, 415.664.2555

If you want to go the opposite route and find the San Francisco trivia that you might actually stand a chance of winning with just a general knowledge of odd facts, Wednesday nights at Durty Nellie’s is when and where to do it.  The drinks are cheap and you can order Irish foods like bangers ‘n mash.  Plus, the winnings accumulate each week so sometimes your team has a chance of walking away with $300 cash.

4. Rogue Ales Public House, 673 Union St. (@ Columbus St.), North Beach neighborhood, 415.362.7880

If Durty Nellie’s is down and dirty, Rogue is the exact opposite.  This chain-location brewery in North Beach is as clean cut as it gets but its trivia on Thursday nights draws in an eclectic crowd.  This one wins the award for trivia that lasts the longest since the breaks between each round are designed to get you drinking.  The trivia is run by Brainstormer Pub Quizzes, an organized group of trivia hosts.

5. The Chieftain, 198 5^th St. (@ Howard St.), SoMA neighborhood, 415.615.0916

Brainstormer also runs the trivia event that takes place on Tuesdays at The Chieftain but this bar is nothing like most of the bars that host the Brainstormer events.  Maybe it’s the location of the bar which draws in the unique crowd but if there’s a trivia night in San Francisco for high school dropouts, this one is it.  Fans of dives should make this one the stop for showing off those smarts.