Competition Heats Up as Top Seeds Enter the Burger Cup Elite Eight

Patties Sizzling as Top Seeds Enter the Burger Cup Elite Eight

Robynne Tindall, Contributing Editor | Jun 5, 2017 4:05 pm | Add a comment | 2350 reads

Beijing's battle of the burgers continues to intensify as the field is cut in half once again.

After intense third round voting, we are down to just eight burgers from an initial list of 102, and choices are getting increasingly difficult to call.

Beijing brewpubs Slow Boat and Great Leap made a strong showing, as usual, while Courtyard 4 brewers Jing-A were unexpectedly ousted by relative newcomer Cannon's Burgers. Cannon's will now face their biggest fight yet, as they go up against past winners Home Plate BBQ.

Speaking of Courtyard 4 stalwarts, one of the biggest upsets this year came as The Local knocked out Blue Frog, who have usually always made it through to the top eight.

Let's get one thing straight: all eight of these survivors are worth you tasting before you vote, and you've got plenty of time to fill out your burger dance card before this round closes at noon this Thursday (Jun 8) – so get eating and come back to vote Thursday morning when you can honestly say your taste buds know the difference.

Here's a full breakdown of how the action went down in the Sweet 16 round:

BRACKET A

Slow Boat sailed past Lily's
The Local squished Blue Frog

BRACKET B

Q Mex grilled Katchup
Fatboy's belly-bounced North Capital

BRACKET C

Great Leap leapt over Biteapitta
Plan B thwarted Let's Burger

BRACKET D

Home Plate swung past The Big Smoke
Cannon's blasted Jing-A

If you haven't tried any one of these burgers yet now is the time to get out there and do it, as no matter what, you'll be getting your jaws around one of Beijing's top 10.

Voting for the Elite Eight will close at noon on June 8, after which the field will be cut to just four.

Vote for your favorite Beijing burger now!

These are the match-ups going into the next round:

Slow Boat vs The Local
Q Mex vs Fatboy's
Great Leap vs Plan B
Home Plate vs Cannon's

Meanwhile, nothing goes better with a burger than an ice-cold beer and we're certainly spoiled for choice in Beijing, especially when it comes to quality craft beer. Last round we asked you beer lovers which of Beijing's craft brews you have tried, and this was your response:

It seems some of Beijing's homegrown brands still have a way to go when it comes to getting their brew down gullies.

According to the results of our survey, only three craft brews – let's call them the Holy Trinity – have been sampled by about half of the population.

A second tier of brewers – Arrow Factory, Panda Brew, and North Capital – have reached 20 to 30 percent of the population.

But then comes the long tail: no other craft brewer has reached more than 10 percent of Beijing burger-scoffers.

What can you do to help? Get out there and drink! Make it your mission to tick off all of the brewers on this list, starting from the bottom up.

Here is our Burger Bracket so far:

Finally, as is our custom we also asked you to rank the field that did not make it into the Sweet 16. Here they are along their final rankings in the 2017 Burger Cup: 

17. Stuff'd  
18. 4corners  
19. Tim's Texas Bar-B-Q  
20. Burger Break 
21. Paddy O'Shea's
 22. Caravan
 23. Feast  
24. Grandma's Kitchen
 25. Lush  
26. XL Bar
 27. High Town  
28. Ramo  
29. Morton's of Chicago  
30. Kenny's Burgers
 31. 1F  
32. VSports Bar and Restaurant  

They join the previously ranked burgers from last round, to complete the "best of" list right through to 102 (asterisks indicate venue is currently remodeling, in the process of opening, or in the process of adding burgers served at the 2017 Burger Fest to their menus):

33. *Common Burger  
34. Luga's Villa
 35. 8-Bit  
36. Andy's Craft Sausages  
37. *Panda Brew  
38. Nola
 39. Dirty Duck  
40. Bistrot B  
41. Laker's  
42. *Punjabi  
43. Regain Element
 44. Molly Malone's  
45. Beer Mania  
46. Grinders  
47. Peter's Tex-Mex
 48. Waspark
 49. Blue Marlin  
50. Veggie Table  
51. *Frost Coffee, Cocktails and Dining  
52. Village Cafe, Opposite House
 53. Irish Volunteer
 54. Drunk Craft Beer & Restaurant  
55. Burger Counter  
56. Café Flatwhite  
57. He Kitchen  
58. Eudora Station  
59. The Bookworm
 60. Tiger Pancake House  
61. Uburgers  
62. NBeer Pub
 63. Dongli Brewery
 64. Chat Room
 65. Steamrhino Brewery Restaurant  
66. The Granary Bar & Bistro  
67. Hungry Horse  
68. Park Side Bar & Grill  
69. Old Bike Café  
70. Four Ace  
71. Beersmith Gastropub  
72. The Cut, Fairmont Beijing  
73. Ahava Bistro and Cafe  
74. Buddy Bar  
75. The Kitchen Table, W Beijing Chang'an  
76. *Root Pop  
77. Balmain Gourmet Meat & Grill  
78. Fella's  
79. Bunny Drop  
80. *Mr. Charcoal  
81. Nasca Café  
82. City Wall Bistro, Marriott  
83. The Garage
 84. Nanluo Big Burger  
85. O'Leary's  
86. Landmark Café
 87. Renaissance Beijing Wangfujing Hotel Food Studio  
88. MustGuette  
89. Paulaner Maximilian  
90. Bobo  
91. Rolling Rolling Craft Brewing  
92. Park Square
 93. Yuppie Yummy
 94. Galleria  
95. Fuel, Langham Place  
96. Windy City  
97. Hub Kitchen  
98. Angel Burger  
99. Craft, Crowne Plaza Lido  
100. Steak Exchange, InterContinental Hotel  
101. Loft Eatalicious
 102. Pentalounge, Penta Hotel