Beef O’Brady’s Hosting Virtual Trivia Night Mondays At 6PM On Facebook Live
by James Coulter
Are you bored by the lockdown? Nothing to binge on streaming? Kids driving you crazy? Wish there was something fun to do? Luckily, Beef O’Brady’s is prescribing a weekly antidote from cabin fever with their virtual trivia night.
Every Monday at 6 p.m., a virtual trivia night is hosted courtesy of the three Polk locations for Beef O’Brady’s in Haines City, Lake Wales, and Auburndale. Participants can log onto Facebook Live and use their phones to text answers to fun trivia questions for chances to win first, second, or third place prizes.
Aaron Carricato, owner of the three Polk locations, has been hosting these trivia nights at Beef O’Brady’s for quite some time. These special nights had proven popular with customers, who had formed a sense of community and camraderie through them; however, the recent COVID-19 crisis has forced the main dining rooms to shut down, though they remain open for pick-ups and take-out.
While helping provide to-go orders, Carricato heard many customers pine about how much they miss trivia night. With how much their weekly event proves to be the busiest time for Beef O’Brady’s, he was inspired to think of a way to provide these nights even with the dining rooms closed.
“We have about 120 players who come in on a weekly basis for trivia night,” he said. “The trivia nights we have, it isn’t a business thing, it isn’t just about making money, it is the busiest workday that we have.”
So Carricato decided to offer a virtual trivia night through Facebook Live. Since starting it nearly two weeks ago, these virtual events have proven as popular as the actual game nights at the brick-and-mortar eateries. Last week, they drew in 15 teams, with many participants from as far as Tampa and Tallahassee; and this week, they are anticipating 30 teams, he said.
“The idea is to have not a money maker, we are not getting any money, we are giving money away in prizes, but the idea is to keep our customers connected to keep them sane,” he said. “Being at home for the majority of the day can be trying, so we decided by adding this for two hours out of their week, it can give them some excitement and a break from the ordinary.”
Hosting their trivia nights every weeks helped create a sense of community for their customers; and continuing that tradition through their virtual trivia nights has allowed their customers to continue maintaining that sense of camraderie even in the midst of trying times, Carricato said.
“We pride ourselves in being a community resturaunts as opposed to just being a place to grab something to eat,” he said. “Everything we do is based on community…so the key to the whole thing is to give people a break from the ordinary and give them a chance to play trivia and win prizes.”
Beef’s Virtual Trivia Nights are hosted every Monday at 6 p.m. on Facebook Live. To learn more, visit: https://www.facebook.com/groups/148037553202518/
