Mekelburg’s – Clinton Hill – Tuesdays @ 8pm

The Trivia: Four rounds of five questions each. Each round consists of four questions of various categories on which teams can wager 1, 2, 3, or 4 points, but each value only once per round. You have to turn in each question as you answer it, so wager more if you are more confident and less if you are less confident. In between each question, the hosts play a song as a clue/hint/dead-giveaway to the answer. The song is played in its entirety, so that means there can be upwards of four to five minutes between questions, and with four rounds, that means the night lasts close to three hours. Luckily, there’s so much walking back and forth from your table to the host that at least you’ll get your steps in. The rounds move very slowly, so if you’re gonna bring friends, make sure they’re friends that you don’t mind talking to, because there’s plenty of time for that. Maybe you can do some grocery shopping in between questions (literally; the venue is a grocery store).

The questions ranged in difficulty from oh-come-on-that’s-too-easy to oh-come-on-that’s-too-hard, but most were squarely in the middle, in the sweet spot of “I think I know it, but I’m not sure” or “let’s discuss this and figure out the answer”. The hosts (normally a duo, but just Shasha this evening) split question writing duties, so it’s clear that some care and effort went into making it a balanced night of trivia. The categories were of a refreshingly wide variety, ranging from typical pop culture fare (singers, Broadway, celebrity relationships) to space, city name etymology, history, and Greek mythology, among others. The question delivery was smooth, easy to hear, and free of long-winded exposition. Sometimes the answers took longer to read than the questions (quit teasing us, we’ve already waited through an entire song). The host sounded relaxed and approachable, although she apologized for the difficulty of the questions too many times. Trebek never apologized for a triple stumper, he just glared at the contestants disappointedly. No Mercy.

First place gets a $50 gift card to Mekelburg’s. Second place team gets a Babka (nice). Third place team gets some swag.

The Venue: Mekelburg’s is a hipster grocery store with a beer cave. The vibe is very much underground, because it is. It can be a little confusing when you walk in the first time, descending a staircase into what seems like a labyrinth of pasta boxes and craft chocolate bars, but, no, you’re in the right place. The bar is through the grocery store, but it is a little small, so if you want a seat in there, you’ll probably have to show up early. We didn’t show up early, so we sat in the grocery store. It was perfectly comfortable, nestled among the potato rolls and biscotti. From our position, we got plenty of good whiffs of what they were cooking up in the kitchen. Smoky porchetta, wings, chicken sandwiches, meat loaf, tofu banh mi, the aforementioned babka… an eclectic mix of fun gastropub fare. The tap list was extensive with a wide variety of types and a massive selection of canned beers in the grocery store that you can drink at the bar for a $5 corkage fee. Wine, cocktails, and ciders also graced the menu.

Overall: If you don’t mind a late night and want to socialize between questions, Mekelburg’s is a great choice for a Tuesday evening. Come hungry, eat some porchetta, and hopefully leave with a babka.