When standing on the strip, a big black door looms with a white, painted phrase- “Be Twenty-One or be Gone!” Another hovers above the doorframe, saying “Warning- Thick Smoke, Dim Lights, Loud Music–Welcome to Egan’s!” Inside and true to form, the lights are turned down low and music plays over the loudspeakers. During the day a few regular customers sit at the bar, enjoying drinks and chatting with the bartender and each other.
But each Wednesday night Egan’s shifts its “thick smoke, dim lights, loud music” persona into a more competitive spirit with Trivia Night.
“We’ve been doing Trivia Night for at least a year now. There’s no team requirements, and it’s free to play,” said Jeff Sides, manager and bartender at Egan’s. “The turnout’s usually a half-and-half ratio of students, some graduate students, and a few professors.”
The event is hosted by David Smith and begins at nine, usually running for around two hours. At Egan’s Trivia Night there’s no cover charge, drink specials run all night, and there is “Bar Cash” as prizes for the lucky winners—fifty dollars for first place, twenty dollars for second, and ten dollars for third, depending on the amount of participants.
Players can choose to participate as individuals or in a team; question categories include a wide variety of topics, including current events, geography, history, presidents, television, alcohol, and sports. Recent copies of old questions can be found at liveandgroove.com for those looking to prepare, posted by Smith himself.
“At the end, there’s always a drugs category,” Sides said, laughing. “It’s a lot of fun.”
A typical drugs question could involve anything from normal dosage amount, where it occurs in nature, and its effects on the human body.
Egan’s is one of the longest-standing bars on the strip. For those who favor other games, there’s always pool and dart boards; the bar even holds dart competitions on other nights. Televisions lining the walls and live music entertain more laid-back patrons.
“We have the best customers and some really great employees, all these past thirty-five years,” said Bob Weatherly, Egan’s Bar owner since 1981.
The dive bar prides itself on being extremely local, and was listed by Thrillist as one of the thirty-three best college bars in the nation in 2014—one out of only four SEC school areas to do so.
“There’s a great happy hour that morphs into bands. It’s pretty damn fun,” Weatherly said. “Everybody gets along really well, and it’s really the only place in town with a wide mix of customers. Everyone’s welcome as long as they behave, and they do. Just be twenty-one.”
