Purple Otter is a bar that celebrates both the University of
Wisconsin and otters, meaning we were predisposed to loving it, as we
are Big Ten alumni and huge fans of otters holding hands.
The Thursday specials are $3 Vodka Lemonades, $4 bombs, and $2.50
cheese quesadillas. We were all about taking advantage of food
specials, but if you are feeling daring you can try the Philly Drops
(the love child of crab rangoon and a philly cheesesteak) or the
suckling pig (a true steal at $5.75)!
The bartender, Dave, is super nice. He also appears to take care of
the entire bar single-handedly, so tip him well! He loves female
country music singers-be prepared to hear your favorite Carrie Underwood
and Shania Twain hits before trivia starts at 8.
Trivia is standard Team Trivia.
One twist is that if no group gets an answer right, the MC just nixes
the question and starts over again. The MC also alerted us to the Team
Trivia answer of the day, where a random answer from every night's trivia is posted on the website. Who knew?
Team Limbic System, the eventual second place winners, were pretty
cool except when unable to hide their disdain at some of our answers
(just because we can't name 5 Todd Rundgren
hits doesn't necessarily mean that he wasn't extremely prolific before
our time...although, turns out, it does). Limbic system won $15 off next
week's tab; the winners got $20 off next week.
Overall, trivia at Purple Otter is so-so. There's nothing really to
distinguish it from any other Team Trivia night. We probably won't be
back. But, if you live in the area, it could be a fun way to spend a
Thursday night and not a lot of money.
Are you brave enough to try the Philly Drops? Leave a comment and let us know!
Note: This review was from our visit on August 6, 2009. If you think Purple Otter Trivia has changed enough to warrant a re-review,
please let us know!
The Purple Otter
2706 N. Ashland Ave., Chicago
8 to 10:15pm
Free admission
2 paws (out of 4)
Filed under: Trivia Night Reviews
Tags: 2 paws, Lincoln Park, Purple Otter, Team Trivia, trivia nights
Todd Rundgren sang something besides Bang on a Drum?