Proving that there's often more bite than bark to underdogs, the two remaining Burger Cup newbies have secured their respective spots to battle it out for beef bragging rights in our Elite Eight round. And the griddle couldn’t be hotter as we brace for what promises to be a fraught newcomer showdown between hutong dwellers Side Street and The Great Outdoors. 

The latter pulled off this week’s biggest upset, destroying Fatburger's 2018 Best Burger hopes, to join a trio of third-seeded Burger Cup hopefuls that also unseated their challengers to move up the rankings.

In other dark-horse victory news, The Local hopped Blue Frog while Cannon’s Burgers struck out Home Plate BBQ. It’s also game over for new contender Arcade by Hatchery, whose Common Burger fell victim to veteran burger-brewery tastemaker Jing-A.

Alas, those weren't the only hearts that were broken, with Slow Boat Brewery drowning newcomer Hulu, Side Street spearing Arrow Factory, and Great Leap hopping over Caravan into the latest voting round.

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into the Final Four!

Meanwhile, all four Top Seeds proved their staying power and now advance to the Elite Eight, with current Burger Cup champ Q Mex defending its title against Sanlitun neighbor The Local. Former champ Slow Boat Brewery will set sail against upstart Cannon’s Burgers, as a Battle of the Brewmeisters unfolds between Great Leap and Jing-A.

These remaining contenders now have until midday on Tuesday, Jul 3 to rally up their voting troops and prove that they do in fact have the best buns in the city before the field is cut to the Final Four.

As well as simply counting your votes, we totted up your opinions on various divisive topics like just how do you like your burgers cooked? Seventy-four percent of you prefer your burgers rare or pink on the inside, offering up words of wisdom such as: “A good burger always has a little pink, not overdone, so it's still moist and juicy”; “It is and always will be the standard”; and “I want it to BLEED.” 

READ: Your Meat Doneness Guide for the Perfect Burger in Beijing

On the flip side, 23 percent of you insist on having your burgers well-done, arguing that anything but cooked thoroughly is: “Food poisoning waiting to happen”; “I am not eating raw meat, hell no!”; and “I prefer my cow to be completely dead.”

Another 4 percent of you are apparently inflicted with what can only be described as a dirty mind, replying: “I thought of sex”; “That’s one kinky pinky!”; and “You really want an opinion on a sexist remark like that?" Get your minds out of the gutter and back to the dining table, people!

In an apparently less perverse line of questioning, we also posited to you which side dishes you prefer to pair with your burgers, and – drum roll, please – most of you voted french fries. Other favorite fried bar snacks took a backseat to salad (your #2 choice), with pickles, onion rings, and coleslaw filling out the list (those count as one of your five a day, right?). 

Have you swallowed at least eight different burgers in Beijing? That’s what the average voter told us, with one in five voters (we’ll call you freaks “super-tasters”) admitting to having gobbled at least 11 burger brands.

Got room for more? Now that we’re down to the Elite Eight, you might as well have the guts to order one of each if you haven’t already feasted on our short-list. So do democracy (and your stomach) a favor, and vote for which burgers roll on to the Final Four before voting closes midday on Tuesday, Jul 3!
 

The voting schedule as it remains

• Burger Cup Final Four: Jul 3-6
• Championship Round: Jul 6-9
   

Here are our Burger Cup Elite Eight Round matchups

Slow Boat (1) vs. Cannon’s Burgers (3)

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Q Mex (1) vs. The Local (3)

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Great Leap (1) vs. Jing-A (2)

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Side Street (1) vs. The Great Outdoors (3)

Here’s how voting played out this week

Slow Boat Brewery (1) over Hulu (4)
Cannon’s Burgers (3) over Home Plate BBQ (2)
Q Mex (1) over (4) 3 Little Pigs by Andy’s Craft Sausages
The Local (3) over Blue Frog (2)
Great Leap (1) over Caravan (5)
Jing-A (2) over Common Burger @ Arcade by Hatchery (3) 
Side Street (1) over Arrow Factory (4)
The Great Outdoors (3) over Fatburger (2) 

Those that didn’t advance to the Elite Eight join the venues shut out of the Burger Cup Top 32, which we asked you to rank last week:

17. Let’s Burger 
18. Plan B 
19. Katchup 
20. 4corners 
21. The Butchers Club 
22. Stuff’d 
23. Paddy O’Shea’s 
24. Biteapitta 
25. The Cheesecake Factory 
26. Lily’s American Diner 
27. Fatboy’s 
28. Ramo 
29. QS 
30. Bodensee Kitchen 
31. Joe's Bar and Kitchen 
32. The Bell

They join the rest of the field, whose rankings were determined by voting last round:

33. XL Bar 
34. Laker's 
35. East Hotel 
36. Migas Mercado 
37. Beersmith Gastropub 
38. Punjabi 
39. Waspark 
40. de Refter 
41. Lush 
42. Grandma's Kitchen 
43. Tim's Texas Bar-B-Q 
44. Bistrot B 
45. Veggie Table 
46. Legend Beer 
47. 1F 
48. VSports Bar and Restaurant 
49. Panda Brew 
50. Root Pop 
51. Irish Volunteer 
52. NBeer Pub 
53. Morton's of Chicago 
54. Eudora Station 
55. Café Flatwhite 
56. Fella's 
57. The Rug Café 
58. Beer Mania 
59. Picture My Cup at Kimo Kids Cafe 
60. Steamrhino Brewery Restaurant 
61. Grinders 
62. Burger Counter 
63. Tiger Pancake House 
64. Peiping Machine 
65. The Roots 
66. Windy City 
67. iB Craft Beer 
68. Yummy Box Pizza 
69. Village Cafe, Opposite House 
70. Luga's Villa 
71. The Bookworm 
72. Blue Marlin 
73. Park Side Bar & Grill 
74. Three Guys Burger House 
75. Wolfgang’s Steakhouse 
76. Cafe Flo 
77. Pop Up Kitchen 
78. Angel Burger 
79. The Cut, Fairmont Beijing 
80. Peking Garden 
81. Frost Coffee, Cocktails and Dining 
82. CHAR Bar & Grill 
83. C'est la Vie 
84. Aurora 
85. Park Square 
86. Four Ace 
87. Burger Break 
88. Molly Malone's 
89. He Kitchen 
90. O’Leary’s 
91. The Kitchen Table, W Beijing Chang'an 
92. Balmain Gourmet 
93. Meat by Ernest 
94. Steak Exchange, InterContinental Hotel 
95. Flora Steak and Bar 
96. Dongli Brewery 
97. Rolling Rolling Craft Brewing 
98. BLT American Restaurant Salad & Grill 
99. Wiggly Jiggly’s 
100. MustGuette

Chew on our burger-related content by following our 2018 Burger Cup tab, here.

Images: the Beijinger