In short
Exeter has a pub quiz most nights of the week: The Hour Glass and The Old Firehouse on Mondays, Artigiano on Tuesdays, The Black Horse on Thursdays, and The Bowling Green and Mount Radford on Sundays. Entry is typically £1 per person with teams of up to six.
The Great British Pub Quiz: Still the Best Social Invention Going
Few things are more perfectly British than the pub quiz. No other country has taken the simple idea of asking people questions in a bar and turned it into a national institution. Every week, in pubs across the country, groups of friends gather around tables, argue about whether it was 1966 or 1968, debate the capital of Burkina Faso, and experience the uniquely satisfying agony of knowing the answer is on the tip of your tongue but refusing to come.
The genius of the pub quiz is that it gives a group of people something to do together that isn't just drinking. It creates a shared challenge — something to rally around, to celebrate, to groan about. It provides natural conversation starters and fills the silences that can make social situations uncomfortable. You don't need to be brilliant at making small talk when there's a question about which planet has the most moons waiting to be answered.
For anyone who's struggled with making friends as an adult, a pub quiz is one of the lowest-pressure social activities you can do. You don't need to be funny, or interesting, or good at conversation. You just need to know one thing that nobody else on your team knows — and suddenly, you're valuable. You belong.
Exeter has a thriving pub quiz scene, with options most nights of the week — Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday are where the confirmed quizzes sit. Here's where to find the best ones.
Monday Night Quizzes
The Hour Glass
The Hour Glass on Melbourne Street — a small, beautiful, wood-panelled pub owned by Exeter Brewery — hosts one of Exeter's most popular quiz nights every Monday at 7.30pm.
Entry: One pound per person Team size: Maximum six people Prizes: Cash and beer prizes for the winners Food: Bar snacks available
The atmosphere is exactly what you'd want from a Monday quiz — convivial, competitive without being cutthroat, and set in a pub that's worth visiting even without the quiz. The Hour Glass is known for its cask ales from Exeter Brewery just up the road, and for its intimate, unhurried atmosphere. Bar snacks are served alongside the quiz.
The quiz itself draws a mix of regulars and newcomers, which keeps the questions varied and the competition honest. A pound entry and the chance to win cash and beer? That's about as good a Monday evening as you can get.
The Hour Glass is small, so arrive early to grab a table — especially if your team is on the larger side. Getting there by 7pm gives you time to settle in, order a first round, and warm up those brain cells before the quiz starts at 7.30pm.
The Old Firehouse
The Old Firehouse on New North Road hosts "Terry and Jude's Crazy Quiz" — traditionally a Monday, though the pub's own What's On calendar does not currently carry dates, so check before you set out — and the name tells you everything you need to know about the tone. This isn't a straight-faced general knowledge affair. Expect craziness, laughs, and maybe a few tears, alongside boozy prizes and the pub's famously enormous 14-inch square pizzas.
The Old Firehouse is one of Exeter's best-loved ale and cider pubs, hugely popular with students and locals alike. The range of drinks is impressive, the prices are reasonable, and the atmosphere is buzzy and inclusive. The quiz has a loyal following, which means tables fill up quickly — get there early if you want a good spot.
The student-friendly vibe makes this a particularly good option if your team skews younger or if you want an evening that's as much about the laughs as the competition. The format is deliberately unpredictable, which levels the playing field between seasoned quizzers and casual drop-ins.
Tuesday Night Quizzes
Artigiano
Artigiano on the High Street runs its quiz night every Tuesday at 7.30pm — a time confirmed on the venue's own listings, alongside Monday jazz and Thursday acoustic sessions.
Time: Tuesdays, 7.30pm Booking: Recommended Food: Pizza and small plates available
Artigiano itself is an interesting venue — part espresso bar, part wine bar, part events space. It's stylish without being pretentious, and the quiz atmosphere is lively and well-organised. Ask about entry, team size and prizes when you book, as these change.
This one always fills up, so booking your table through the venue is strongly recommended. Phone 01392 499169 or check their social channels.
If you're into craft beer and looking for social activities, combining a quiz with a few interesting pints is a particularly good Tuesday evening.
Exeter has quiz nights almost every night of the week, so there's no excuse not to find one that fits your schedule. Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Sunday are the most common quiz nights — check this guide and pick the one that works for your group.
Wednesday: The Gap in Exeter's Quiz Week
Wednesday is the one night we cannot point you at a confirmed quiz. Two city-centre venues are worth an enquiry rather than a promise.
The City Gate Hotel on Iron Bridge, a Young's pub beside Exeter's historic city wall, is a solid midweek option in its own right — proper pub food, live music, and one of the larger beer gardens in the city — but its current What's On listings carry no quiz. Arcadia on Northernhay Place, Utopian Brewing's taproom and bar, opened in 2025 and has quickly become a genuine community space; its published pages likewise list no regular quiz.
If either restarts one, they are both good rooms for it. Ring ahead rather than turning up on spec.
Thursday Night Quizzes
The Black Horse
The Black Horse, a Greene King pub near the Princesshay Shopping Centre, runs a SpeedQuizzing quiz every Thursday. SpeedQuizzing is an electronic format where teams use a remote control to answer questions displayed on TV screens — it's faster-paced than a traditional pen-and-paper quiz, which some people love and others find a bit less personal.
Time: Thursdays, 7.30pm Entry: £1 per player Team size: Up to six Prizes: Cash prizes Format: Electronic SpeedQuizzing via TV screens and remotes
Note that Greene King's booking page advertises tables from 5pm — that is when you can sit down, not when the quiz starts. The questions begin at 7.30pm. The advantage of the electronic format is speed and variety: questions come thick and fast, the scoring is instant, and the energy stays high. The Black Horse itself is a solid city centre pub with a reasonable food menu. Booking is recommended, as it's a popular event.
Henry's Bar
Henry's Bar on Mount Pleasant Road runs a traditional Thursday-evening pub quiz. The format is pleasingly old-school — paper and pen, a quizmaster with a microphone, and rounds that cover enough ground to give everyone on the team a moment to shine.
Henry's has no website and does not publish its listings, so ring ahead to confirm the start time and entry before you go. It's the kind of quiz where you'll see the same faces each week, which makes it a good option if you're looking to become a regular somewhere and build a genuine social routine.
Sunday Quizzes
The Bowling Green
The Bowling Green on Blackboy Road hosts a quiz every Sunday at 7pm, and it's one of the most community-minded in the city.
Time: Sundays, 7pm Format: "All-singing, all-dancing" — includes music rounds with a singing component
The music rounds with actual singing add a dimension you won't find at most quizzes, and the atmosphere is more communal than competitive. Ask at the bar about entry and prizes.
The Bowling Green also hosts regular live music and board game nights, making it a genuinely social pub rather than one that happens to run a quiz. The home-cooked food is worth trying, and the selection of local and national ales is solid.
Mount Radford
The Mount Radford on Magdalen Road, another Greene King pub, runs a Sunday evening quiz with a similar electronic format to the Black Horse's Thursday quiz.
Time: Sunday evenings — tables can be booked from 5pm, but confirm the quiz start with the pub Format: SpeedQuizzing
Magdalen Road is one of Exeter's most characterful streets — independent shops, good cafes, a genuine neighbourhood feel. The Mount Radford fits right into that vibe. It's a good option if you want to combine a Sunday afternoon walk around the Magdalen Road area with an evening quiz.
Tips for Pub Quiz First-Timers
Putting a Team Together
The hardest part of doing a pub quiz isn't answering questions — it's getting a team together. Here's how to make it easier.
Start small. You don't need a full team of six. Two or three people is perfectly fine for most quizzes. A smaller team means fewer diaries to coordinate, and you can always recruit at the pub.
Ask widely. Post in a group chat, mention it at work, ask your neighbours. People are often keen to do a pub quiz but are waiting for someone else to organise it. Be that person.
Don't worry about expertise. The best quiz teams aren't made up of six people who know everything about the same subject. They're made up of people with different interests — someone who follows sport, someone who watches too much telly, someone who remembers random facts about geography. Diversity of knowledge is your greatest asset.
Go alone. Seriously. Most quizzes welcome individuals who want to join a team that's short on numbers. It feels bold, but it's one of the fastest ways to meet new people. Turn up, tell the quizmaster you're on your own, and you'll almost certainly be absorbed into a team within minutes.
During the Quiz
Discuss quietly. Nobody likes the table that shouts out answers. Keep your deliberations between your team — it's more fun that way, and you won't give away your knowledge to competitors.
Trust your gut. If you think you know the answer but aren't sure, write it down. You'll be right more often than you think, and the regret of not putting down the answer you knew is worse than getting it wrong.
Enjoy being wrong. Half the fun of a pub quiz is the moment when the answer is revealed and you can't believe you didn't know it. Groaning collectively is part of the experience.
Don't look at your phone. Most quizzes have a strict no-phones policy, and rightly so. Cheating ruins it for everyone and takes away the whole point — which is testing what you actually know, not what Google knows.
If you're nervous about going to a pub quiz for the first time, start with a venue you already know. Familiarity with the pub takes away one layer of anxiety, and you can focus on enjoying the quiz itself. The Hour Glass and The Bowling Green are both particularly welcoming to newcomers.
Why Pub Quizzes Are Social Gold
There's a reason pub quizzes have endured while so many other social formats have come and gone. They work because they give people a shared experience that's structured enough to avoid awkwardness but loose enough to allow genuine connection.
Think about what a pub quiz actually involves. You arrive, you sit with people, you work together on a challenge, you celebrate or commiserate, you talk between rounds about things that have nothing to do with the quiz. It's the kind of regular social ritual that builds friendships over time — not through one dramatic evening, but through the steady accumulation of shared Tuesdays or Thursdays or Sunday evenings.
The competition helps, too. A shared challenge — even a low-stakes one — creates bonds faster than just sitting and talking. Psychologists call this "cooperative interdependence," and it's the same reason team sports build friendships so effectively. When you need someone else to know the answer to question seven, and they need you to know question twelve, you're depending on each other in a small but real way. That builds trust, and trust builds connection.
For a few pounds and a couple of hours, a pub quiz gives you more social value than most activities ten times the price. It's regular, it's affordable, it's structured, and it works. If you're looking for a way to see the same people every week without the pressure of organising something elaborate, a standing quiz night is one of the best things you can do.
Your Weekly Quiz Planner
| Night | Venue | Time | Entry | Format | |-------|-------|------|-------|--------| | Monday | The Hour Glass | 7.30pm | One pound | Traditional | | Monday | The Old Firehouse | Evening — check ahead | Ask at the bar | "Crazy Quiz" | | Tuesday | Artigiano | 7.30pm | Ask when booking | Traditional | | Thursday | The Black Horse | 7.30pm | One pound | SpeedQuizzing | | Thursday | Henry's Bar | Evening — ring ahead | Ask at the bar | Traditional | | Sunday | The Bowling Green | 7pm | Ask at the bar | Traditional with singing | | Sunday | Mount Radford | Evening — check ahead | Ask at the bar | SpeedQuizzing |
Exeter has a quiz for most nights your brain needs exercising and every evening your social life needs a boost. Pick one, round up your mates — or go alone and make new ones — and make it a regular thing. The questions change every week, but the feeling of belonging doesn't.
Frequently asked questions
- Which Exeter pubs have a quiz on Monday night?
- The Hour Glass and The Old Firehouse both run popular Monday quizzes — arrive early for a table, especially at The Old Firehouse.
- How much does a pub quiz cost in Exeter?
- Entry is typically £1 per person at the pubs that publish a price — The Hour Glass and The Black Horse both charge a pound. Others take a small charge on the door, so ask at the bar.
- Can I join a pub quiz alone in Exeter?
- Yes — quiz nights are one of the easiest ways to meet people. Ask the quizmaster to place you with a short-handed team, or come along to a Dinners With Friends event first and bring your new mates.
- What size are quiz teams in Exeter pubs?
- Most venues cap teams at six people. Smaller teams of two to four are common and perfectly competitive.
Beyond the Quiz: Making a Night of It
A pub quiz does not have to be the whole evening. Many of these venues are within walking distance of other great spots, so it is easy to build a proper night around the quiz. Grab dinner at one of the best restaurants in Exeter before the Hour Glass quiz on Monday. Head to one of the cocktail bars on Gandy Street after a Tuesday quiz at Artigiano. Or make a Sunday of it — a walk along the Exeter Quay, a roast at one of the best Sunday roast spots, then the Bowling Green quiz to round things off.
The beauty of a quiz night is that it gives your week a shape. As we have written before, regular social rituals are one of the best things you can do for your wellbeing, and a standing quiz night costs almost nothing, requires minimal organisation, and gives you something to look forward to every single week. If you are looking for ways to socialise on a budget, this is one of the best options going.