Background: With the implementation of liquid culture methods, the yield of mycobacterial culture from pleural fluid has become much higher than previously reported. However, few studies have directly compared the performance of liquid and solid media from pleural fluid, and it is still uncertain whether liquid culture media could replace solid media in pleural effusion culture. Methods: We retrospectively compared the culture yield, time to positivity, and contamination rate of the BACTEC Mycobacteria Growth Indicator Tube 960 (MGIT) and Ogawa meida from pleural fluid in consecutive patients diagnosed with tuberculous pleurisy. Results: Of 104 patients, 43 (41.3%) were positive on either the MIGIT or the Ogawa media. The culture yield of MIGIT was higher (40.4%, 42/104) than of that of Ogawa media (18.3%, 19/104) (P ＜ 0.001). Only one patient was positive on the Ogawa medium only. The median time to positivity was faster in the MGIT (18 days, range 8-32) than in the Ogawa media (37, 20-59) (P＜ 0.001). There was no contamination on both culture media. Conclusions: The use of liquid culture media of the pleural fluid can provide higher yields and faster results than solid media. Supplemental solid media may have little effect in increasing the culture yield from pleural fluid.