Grand Slam: Home Plate Wins the Beijinger Burger Cup 2012

The votes are in, the ballots have been verified and we have a winner: Home Plate Bar-B-Que has walked off with the 2012 Beijinger Burger Cup, edging their competitor Brussels with 57% of the popular vote.

It's been no cakewalk for Home Plate, which fought its way to the championship by overtaking Village Cafe (#31), Frost (#7), Chef Too (#11), Fatburger (#4) and finally Brussels (#21). Voters choosing Home Plate repeatedly praised the juiciness of the meat and the authenticity of the bun, as well as the value (with burgers starting at RMB 30, it's hard to argue with that).

To celebrate their victory, the Beijinger will hold a small awards ceremony at Home Plate this Friday night (Dec 28) beginning at 5pm. Home Plate will offer their award-winning cheeseburgers all night long for RMB 20, and we'll toss in a free draft beer from Slow Boat for the first 50 customers after 5pm to sweeten the deal. Come one, come all – though Home Plate is small, so don't expect miracles!

Brussels' Cinderella story stopped just short of the championship – no mean feat as they're a newcomer to the burger scene. The boys at Brussels have won converts for their well-prepared offerings. Partisans say their flexibility in catering to customers' tastes is unparalleled and their dry-rub avocado burger is a godsend.

Being a gracious runner-up, Brussels would like to extend an invitation to the readers of the Beijinger to try their burgers on Saturday (Dec 29), when they’ll be offering a selection of mini-burgers starting from 7pm until supplies run out. Do stop by and give them a try!

Kudos to Home Plate, Brussels and the myriad other burger-barons of the 'Jing – and may they forever endeavor to satisfy the voracious appetites of our readers, who dine out, on average, an astounding 29 times each month.

In the race for third place, Union Bar & Grille outdistanced US import Fatburger by a significant margin. With the voting concluded for another year, we now have our seedings complete for Beijing's best burgers, from #1 to #64. Agree? Disagree? Let us know in the comments below.

1. Home Plate Bar-B-Que
2. Brussels
3. Union Bar & Grille
4. Fatburger
5. Blue Frog
6. Flamme
7. Chef Too
8. Tim's Texas Bar-B-Q
9. Let's Burger
10. Frost Coffee, Nails and Cocktails
11. Lily's American Diner
12. Burger King
13. Vineyard Cafe
14. 1F
15. Grandma's Kitchen
16. The Filling Station
17. Maison Boulud
18. Biteapitta
19. The Stumble Inn
20. Plan B
21. Luga's Villa
22. TGI Friday's
23. 4corners
24. The Den
25. Hooters
26. Scarlett, Hotel G
27. Paddy O'Shea's
28. Peter's Tex-Mex
29. Burgers & Beer
30. Rumi
31. American Steak and Eggs
32. Village Café
33. Kiosk
34. The Big Smoke
35. Lush
36. Nola
37. McDonald's
38. The Box
39. Grinders
40. Switch! Cafe/ Switch! Grill
41. The Bookworm
42. Eudora Station
43. The James Joyce
44. Twilight
45. Burger Counter
46. Cru Steakhouse
47. The Old Bike Café
48. The Veggie Table
49. Feast (Food by East)
50. Hollywood
51. Little Britain
52. Must Guette
53. Garden Court, St. Regis
54. One East
55. The Corner
56. Hilton Doubletree
57. Angry Burger
58. The Mexican Kitchen
59. The Golden Era 50's Diner (WDK)
60. Cafe Flatwhite
61. MRL
62. Waspark
63. Steak Exchange
64. Penta Hotel

Finally, we asked you to choose your favorite of a selection of reader-offered combos for a burger called "The Beijinger." Your favorite entry, suggested by reader Glen Loveland, was the following:

"A ground beef patty sautéed with onion and garlic in a spicy hoisin sauce, topped with tomatoes, bacon, herbed mayonnaise, chili ketchup, a splash of rice vinegar and a touch of diced ginger on top served on a traditional hamburger bun slightly fried to give it a texture similar to a youtiao and dusted with cumin."

It would be served with a side of fried lotus root chips and would retail for RMB 45. So how about it, burgermeisters of Beijing: Will we see this on your menu sometime soon?

In the meantime, check out the final bracket below: