David Goehring, 2009.

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The Bar: The Old Pequliar is the near-timeless dive located conveniently (although hopefully not TOO conveniently) across the street from Ballard's Swedish Medical Center. With its plain yet robust food menu, a relatively austere interior, its long years of remaining mostly unchanged, and its iconic nature on Ballard's Market Street, it's really hard to say anything about the Irish pub that hasn't been said a hundred times before. The Old Pequliar's distinctive red frontispiece has beckoned salty locals and obnoxious quiz fiends alike for so many years that the line between the two has slowly started to fade . . .

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The Bar: Georgetown Liquor Company is the vegan-friendly hangout that has already gained a pro-gamer reputation with its three classic video-game consoles up for free play, a classic Bally Game Show pinball table, and a plethora of board games available for check-out. I spotted a couple of warm-up games of Trivial Pursuit, accenting the impact trivia had on tonight's crowd early on. To complete the trivia-geek-welcoming aura, GLC's servers were so ridiculously attentive that for most of the night I could barely put empty glass to tabletop without being asked if I'd like another drink.

The GLC manages to put no small amount of emphasis on its host by dimming all the lights besides those on Quiz Mistress Jenna's elevated platform, then actually bringing out a large PA for the festivities. While these preparations might seem like overkill in the primarily placid atmosphere of GLC on a Tuesday night, one will quickly realize the benefits that come with putting such a strong focus on a competent trivia host.

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The Bar: Kate's Pub was still positively soaked through with St. Patrick's Day regalia, but the atmosphere at the Wallingford favorite was so warm and homey that you could hardly fault the bar for seasonal spirit. For its relatively small size, Kate's Pub has sectioned its dining area and main bar from its pool tables fairly dramatically. The partition between gaming and dining dropped around 9 p.m. from the humble public house's surprisingly powerful PA system.

I knew the community aspect of Kate's was even stronger than first impressions when Quizmaster Billy Clinton began the quiz by wishing a fond farewell to one of the quiz's regular contestants as she was moving to Paris after tonight's festivities. However, it wasn't until the host actually stalled the quiz for about 10 minutes in order for one of the regular teams to arrive late--even though the pub had already accumulated a more-than-healthy number of teams--that I realized I was dealing with a trivia night that really treasured its return crowd.

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Margaret Anne Clarke, 2008.

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The Bar: Montlake Ale House may be known to some as the family-friendly beer joint that features a "kiddie pit" that you can throw your spawn into while you're getting shithammered. There's probably a more marketable way to put that, but being that trivia starts at 8:30 and all minors have to vamoose after 9, I must sadly announce that Neptune Coffee is still the sole pub quiz reported by Trivia Tuesdays that is friendly to under-21s. (But hey! You can always do your homework drunk.)

The humble, wide-open nature of Montlake's interior and a built-in geek draw as a weekly home for the progressive social group Drinking Liberally combine into a great place for a solid, community-based trivia night. In addition to the bar putting $25 into every pot, there was definitely a smart, loyal crowd here. The hostess even idly referred to the group sitting next to me as "trivia ringers" as they played a warm-up card game I couldn't quite comprehend.

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Joe Mabel, 2007.

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The Bar: Ballard staple Hattie's Hat may physically relegate their quiz to the back of the restaurant, but right around an hour before the official starting time, Hattie's Highway to Rock 'n' Roll Trivia makes damn sure it won't be tucked into a corner. Blaring rock 'n' roll classics from the likes of the Rolling Stones and Tom Petty, Quizmasters Tracey and Megan (or DJ Shug and DJ Cookies, if you prefer) make themselves known, beckoning bar customers with "Crazy Mama" like a gloriously geeky siren song.

The Quiz: (Tuesdays, 8 p.m., $2 per person) Four rounds of 11 questions were separated into two themes by a short half-time, all wrapped up in an awesomely over-the-top answer sheets (in full color!). While themes rotate every week, all Hattie's quizzes feature a double-point challenge question at the end of each round to satisfy even the most discriminating trivia snobs in your group.

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Siiri Sampson, 2011.

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The Bar: If you consider your level of familiarity with Capitol Hill watering holes somewhere between expert and clinically worrisome, but have yet to hear of Havana Social Club, you aren't alone. Havana's entrance is hidden in a parking lot that most Pike Street idlers unwittingly pass by for the bright lights of Comet Tavern or Wild Rose. If that weren't bad enough, many of my friends thought Havana was a strictly exclusive affair, thanks to its obscure location, its website's insistence on reservations, and generally chic appearance.

It might be because of this perceived elitism that Havana was so receptive to starting a pub quiz just last week. With the bar's roomy and well-partitioned booths and a clearly defined stage, the club seemed all but built for a trivia night. As for Havana Social Club's drink menu, you'll find a little bit of everything--even though all the Social Club's cocktails are distinctly summer-oriented. Sipping Royal Palms in the March rain may turn some people off, but personally I've never taken much stock in the seasonality of perfectly good liquor.

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The Bar: Central Cinema started as a theater that offered not only an impressive selection of second-run movies and film classics, but also a variety of beer, wine, and hot food served by quick yet unobtrusive staff. However, not ready to rest on their laurels as merely a one-stop shop for dinner and a movie, Central Cinema has been putting a lot of emphasis on film as a dynamic social event rather than merely something to silently exhibit in the dark.

Raucous viewings of The Room, live presentations by groups like Found Footage Festival or Everything is Terrible, and more casual celebrations like Sunday's Oscar party are all just examples of Central Cinema's diverse and rewarding schedule. When I heard that Central Cinema had finally added a trivia night to their repertoire, I knew that the theater couldn't just hire a list of questions attached to any old disaffected bore. Central Cinema's quiz would need to match both the theater's obvious passion for film as well as its unique, electrifying ways of presenting them. I'm happy to say that MovieCat Trivia did not disappoint in either regard.

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The Bar: Mulleady's Pub comes hot on the heels of Trivia Tuesday's review of Atlantic Crossing, serving yet another round of continental-inspired trivia. This classy Magnolia Pub respects its Irish ties not with a wall of televisions constantly set to Setanta Soccer and a UK-dominated pool of drafts, but instead with a distinctly Hibernian warmth to its atmosphere and a menu full of pub entrees more baffling to most uncoached Americans than some of the night's trivia. Sick of the same old unevenly cooked Shepherd's Pie every time you want to try dining Irish? Try Mulleady's Irish Coddle, a hefty serving of shoulder bacon and knockers (sausages, by the way, not chest bacon) semi-boiled with vegetables and served with brown bread.

While Irish Coddle is said to have been introduced to the nation's greasy repertoire primarily as a way for Catholics to get rid of all the meat before Friday, it's a great heap of comfort that suits Mulleady's laid-back demeanor just so. For the less adventurous, Mulleady's also has a delicious and acclaimed burger--with its game undoubtedly raised by the nearly neighboring Red Mill, particularly for those a fan of caramelized onions.

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The Bar: Roosevelt Way's Atlantic Crossing, 2009 winner of Evening Magazine's best neighborhood bar, might scare a few trivia geeks away with its Sounders gear, flaunted allegiances to soccer clubs, and proud touting of itself as an official MLS bar--but Crossing doesn't serve the same kind of sports-intensive trivia night that you'd expect from a similarly football-friendly sports bar like Kangaroo and Kiwi. Atlantic Crossing actually offers a well-balanced batch of questions that probably leaned more toward film than any other category.

The friendly neighborhood sports bar was primarily built for masses of screaming humanity to throw their arms up at any given moment without having to worry about knocking too much crap over, so trying to seat teams in a way that doesn't put them in direct earshot with each other is pretty futile. However, Quizmaster Carlos recognizes the issue and provides all teams with extra scratch paper for teams not so good with pantomime. It might not seem like the most inventive solution, but I've yet to have see another packed-tight quiz offer the same courtesy.

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The Italian Voice, 2008.

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The Bar: DeLuxe Bar and Grill is more than likely known by Capitol Hill vets as the spacious bar at the end of Broadway that's been both open and family-run since 1962. This distinction brought no small part of confusion when I showed up early to find that trivia had been basically isolated to a quarter of the bar's available space--and that the quarter trivia had managed to dominate was largely dominated by DeLuxe's two pool tables. The choice to quarantine Trivia Night as if it were some kind of virulent Monday-night momentum-killer didn't leave me with the highest hopes for the night's entertainment, but I'm happy to say that the quiz's location was accommodated by a near-luxurious covering of the two large gaming tables with a food & drink-friendly sheet, with the quadrant's focus being dominated by a flat-screen television that would clearly announce every one of the night's questions.

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