Trivia From Hell

The Dixie Grill
116 Market Street
Wilmington, NC 28401
(910) 762-7280

Hell's Kitchen
118 Princess Street
Wilmington, NC 28401
(910) 763-4133
hellskitchenbar.com

IF YOU'RE WONDERING what to do in Wilmington on a Monday evening around, say, 7:30, I have a suggestion: trivia!

Now, trivia is by no means a new entry on the ever-growing List of Ways to Waste Time and Money In a Bar, but Hell's Kitchen throws a few loops at you. The four-round, category-style trivia session at Hell's has the expected questions with answers of a single theme, and it has its off-the-wall questions of entirely unrelated nature and suspect relevance. Then, there's the "Before and After" category (of Wheel Of Fortune fame) where you're given, say, "Sloppy _____ Montana" and expected to guess, "Joe." Harder than you might think. And debuting this evening was a "multimedia" category--audio tracks, on this night, of television show theme songs; you try and guess the show.

If these challenges aren't enough to draw you out, there are a couple other reasons to choose Hell's: first, its menu of bar fare is delicious; second, my brother is the host.

Adam, a.k.a. The Nooche (riffing off a shortened version of Iannucci, our middle name, our mother's last), has, I've been told, on Monday nights turned a handful of Hell's devotees into a packed bar of dedicated teams of trivia-goers vying for the obligatory bar tab and occasional other prizes.

Highlights from this particular Monday evening were topped by the array of nostalgia-inducing theme songs, that of Inspector Gadget and the opening monologue from A-Team being the most creative inclusions. Of the questions, three favorites (I'll save answers for the comments page):

- Name the third member of the Apollo 11 trio that did not moonwalk alongside Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin.

- Identify the Byzantine city that fell to the Ottomans in 1453 by its name in 1454.

- Which American president was the first to formally change his name to its informal version.

Even more delicious than relishing a challenge of intellect with my brother was the massive crab cake sandwich paired with Hell's much-loved sweet potato fries. Remembering that beer costs $3-per-pint outside of New York: priceless.

How did our team fare? Well, Mint, Mom, Elisa and I, along with a friend of my brother, ended in a six-way second-place tie. The tie-breaker: what was the year, on this date, that the first execution by electric chair took place? Our official guess: 1921 (Mint insisted 1890 would be closer.) The answer: 1890. So, Mint was right--but 1921 was closest! Unfortunately, another team also guessed 1921. Did we correctly identify the tie-breaker's tie-breaker, the year Andy Warhol was born? Nope. But from third place there's still room to move up. Maybe next Monday.

Spring Break, Part VIII: Begin the Grand Finale

Hell's Kitchen
118 Princess Street
Wilmington, NC 28401
(910) 763-4133
www.hellskitchenbar.com

Circa 1922
8 N. Front Street
Wilmington, NC 28401
(910) 762-1922
www.circa1922.com

THE PROBLEM WITH being "on vacation" is the part where you start eating every meal like you can afford to eat every meal like you're on vacation. Arrived with my mother in Wilmington to stay at my brother's place for a few days, we immediately began this with lunch at Hell's Kitchen. Of course, Adam, my brother, works at Hell's Kitchen, which makes it a easy choice.

I've eaten at Hell's now a handful of times, and not once have I been disappointed. Not only is the food excellent as bar fare, it would be excellent by any standard at any other restaurant. It's that good. And the kitchen is vegetarian friendly (which is not always the case at bars) in that they can actually tell you what's in the food (which is not always the case at a bars).

My ma and I had the grilled tuna sandwich and black bean burger, respectively, both with the sweet potato fries that are a signature item at Hell's (NOTE: ask them to go light on the brown sugar if you don't want yours to be too sweet.) And while the menu is solid, the kitchen is good enough that you would do as well just to try the daily specials, whatever they happen to be.

For dinner, we dropped in on Circa for tapas and wine--a "happy hour" special of sorts that offers any item on the tapas menu for $3.

Now, I'm perpetually annoyed by restaurants that have taken to calling appetizers "tapas" simply because they are small portions of food. The "tapas spirit" is a poor excuse to use a singular Spanish culture as a way to sell more appetizers, and there are only three things on the "tapas tradicional" menu at Circa that you would ever find at a bar Spain: Serrano ham, olives, and cheese.

That said, Circa is one of the more enjoyable restaurants I've ever been in. The places looks incredible, the food is great, and while the "tapas" menu is laughable, the bruchettas and grilled shrimp are excellent deals for $3 each.

MIKE EATS NEXT TIME: Yes on both counts.