Coffee Shop Trivia to Fill the Hours After Four
Your morning is busy and your evening is empty. A quiet quiz gives students, remote workers and neighbours a reason to stay past the afternoon lull. You do not need to serve alcohol.
A chalkboard theme for the one TV. One phone for each table.
The room empties out by four.
A coffee shop earns most of its money before two in the afternoon. The lease, the staff and the machine are paid for all day, but the room empties out by four.
A weekly evening quiz sells filter coffee, pastries, toasties and soft drinks to people who were going to be at home. It is a low-risk experiment: pick a Thursday, tell your regulars, and see who turns up. If nobody comes, you have lost one evening of staffing.
It suits a small room because it makes almost no noise. Questions appear on a screen and on every guest phone, and answers go in by thumb. A cafe with twenty seats and one TV can run a proper quiz without turning into a bar for the evening.
Six things it does for your takings.
Fills a quiet night
A reason to stay past the afternoon lull.
Brings them back
A league that runs itself.
Keeps them for another round
A break slide for coffee and a slice.
Lets you write to your regulars
Players opt in. You send the next quiz night.
Gets you talked about
A post with your name on it, every night.
Keeps the margin
Whoever is not on the machine hosts. One flat monthly price.
How a night runs in a cafe.
Start early, keep it short, and finish well before closing.
On the chalkboard for good
Keep the same weekday every week and put it on the chalkboard permanently rather than as an event announcement. Regulars need to see the date four or five times before they bring a friend.
All weekStart at six
A pub quiz starts at eight and finishes near eleven. A coffee shop crowd will not do that, and your staff should not have to either. Start at six or half past six.
6:30 pmThree quiet rounds
Everyone Scores is the default: every team answers within the time limit and nothing is a race. Buzzer Race is loud, because people celebrate. Keep it for the last round, or skip it if you share a wall with flats.
6:35 pmDone by half past seven
Eight questions per round and three rounds is twenty-four questions, which is plenty for an hour once you allow for people ordering. A quiz that overruns is worse than one that ends slightly too early.
7:30 pmWhat does a night have to earn?
We will not promise you a sales figure. Nobody honestly can. Here is the number you have to beat, with your own prices.
Your venue
Business, the plan for venues, at €199 a month.
That is €49.75 a night. Every guest after that is margin.
Three games to start with.
Music Bingo is part of Pro and Business. You hold whatever music licence your venue needs. Quizado does not provide one.
Straight answers.
Will a game night bring more people in?
We cannot promise a number, and you should doubt anyone who does. What we can say: a weekly game gives people a reason to choose your venue on a quiet night, the league gives teams a reason to return, and the recap gives them something to post. The free plan lets you test it on a real night before you pay.
What does it cost against what it takes?
One flat price a month, however many nights you run. Use the calculator above with your own prices. At four nights a month, a few extra guests a night cover it.
Can I contact the players afterwards?
Yes, the ones who agree. A player can opt in on their phone to hear from your venue. On Business you write to those players from Quizado, by email and as a notification in the Quizado app, and you can download the list. League players also get the standings by email in your venue's name.
Do I need to serve alcohol to run a trivia night?
No. A quiz is people in your room answering questions on their phones. Serving alcohol is a separate decision with its own local rules. A dry quiz sells coffee, soft drinks and food instead.
Is it too noisy for a small cafe?
Not if you choose the right rounds. Everyone Scores needs no buzzing and no shouting. Skip Buzzer Race if you have neighbours above you, since that is the round where people cheer.
How long should a coffee shop quiz run?
About an hour. Three rounds of eight questions with short breaks fits a six or half past six start and finishes well before a cafe closing time. You choose the number of rounds and set the timers, so the length is yours to set.
Who hosts it if I only have two staff on?
Whoever is not on the machine. The host taps through questions on a laptop and scoring happens automatically, so it is a task you can pick up and put down between orders rather than a performance.
Can I keep the questions family friendly?
Yes. You choose which packs to play, and you can write your own questions on every plan; hosting a pack you wrote needs Pro or Business. If you run an early evening slot for families, review the round before the night the same way you would check a menu.
Do my guests need an app?
No. They scan the QR code on the screen or type the join code into a browser. No download, no account.
How many teams can play?
The free Home plan takes up to 4 player phones. Paid plans have no limit on players.
Does bar trivia work without internet?
Trivia needs a connection, because players answer on their phones. Family Face-Off, QuizoParty and Territory run with no internet from the desktop and mobile apps, on a paid plan.
Pick a Thursday and see who turns up.
Open a ready-made night and put the code on the TV. The free plan needs no card. Choose a plan after you have counted the tables.
