Upsets Abound as 2017 Pizza Cup Competitors Are Cut to the Sweet 16

Here it is: Beijing's 100 pizza joints rapidly fell to 32 last week and are now diced once again to leave us with the remaining bite-sized 16 contenders battling it out in this year's 2017 Pizza Cup.

The cut wasn't without its upsets, with underdogs (and the lowest seeds still in competition) Yummy Box ousting last year's #13 seed Q Mex in the closest match of the round. That performance was likely buoyed by their magnificent home turf appearance at this year's Pizza Fest (their store is a stone's throw from Wangjing Soho), their line never dropping to fewer than dozens of hungry patrons throughout the event.

Similarly, the old-timer Hutong Pizza impressed with a fierce fight against last year's #9 seed, and fellow champions of the square pizza, Pizza Saporita, who were perhaps stifled by their rebranding from Pizza+ earlier this year.

Finally, another low-seeder, Pizza Marzano, who once existed as Pizza Express, is taking names and working their way up the charts, taking out Pizza Factory, who also made a great showing compared to their 64th-place finish in 2016.

That leaves us with these wins and defeats:

Bracket A
Bottega chilled Frost
Hutong Pizza toppled Pizza Saporita 
Yummy Box upset Q Mex
La Pizza handily dispensed with Agrilandia

Bracket B
Tube Station trampled Bene
Ramo snuck by East Hotel
Pyro burned down The Tree
Annie's sauced Tavola

Bracket C
Gung Ho! all-blacked VSports
The Local dispatched Tiago
Great Leap #45 trumped Mao Mao Chong
Pie Squared squeezed past Eudora

Bracket D
Kro's Nest unsettled Pizza View
Luga's pummeled Papa John's
Pizza Marzano snubbed Pizza Factory
Eatalia struck out Paddy O'Shea's

Which makes for a Sweet 16 that looks a little something like this:

Delving into the additional statistics provided by you pizza lovers, it appears that Sanlitun is far and away the most popular destination for dining in Beijing, with 44 percent reporting that they dine there at least twice a month. The next most popular destination, CBD, was a distant second, with only 16 percent dining out there more than twice a month.

The most popular dining destinations in Beijing, ranked by our survey respondents are as follows:

Sanlitun (44 percent)
CBD (16 percent)
Gulou (15 percent)
Wudaokou (14 percent)
Lido/798 (11 percent)
Wangjing (11 percent)
Zhongguancun (10 percent)
Shuangjing (9 percent)
Shunyi (8 percent)
Wukesong (7 percent)
Wangfujing/Dongdan (5 percent)

To ensure your favorite makes it to the next round, cast your ballot via WeChat in this year's Elite Eight by scanning the QR below!

As a little bonus to mark this stage of the voting, and as a way for you to explore the remaining contenders over the upcoming October holiday, keep an eye out for blogs detailing each bracket of the remaining 16 in the coming days.

READ: Everything You Need to Know About This Year's Pizza Cup!

Check back on Monday, October 9, 2pm, to see which pizza places made it past the Sweet 16 and into the Elite Eight. Thank you for casting your vote in the Sweet 16 for the Beijinger's 2017 Pizza Cup!

Below are the rankings so far in the 2017 Pizza Cup:

33. Sureno 
34. Flypizza & Hoodakdak Chicken 
35. Mio, Four Seasons Hotel 
36. Bocca Della Verita 
37. Grandma's Kitchen 
38. Stuff'd 
39. Vineyard Café 
40. The Rug 
41. Yellow Cab 
42. Pizza Hut 
43. Tim's Texas BBQ 
44. Pizza by LMPlus 
45. Domino's 
46. New York Style Pizza 
47. Lily's American Diner 
48. Lakers 
49. Passby Bar 
50. Mr Pizza 
51. Pizza Buona 
52. The Irish Volunteer 
53. Nasca Cafe 
54. Jazz-Ya 
55. Scott's Family Ristorante Italiano 
56. Radici 
57. Fratelli Fresh 
58. Legend Beer 
59. La Rucola 
60. 789 (A-Life)
61. Buddy Bar 
62. Jushi Pizza Just in Time! 
63. Le Fromager de Pékin 
64. Leos Pizza 
65. Tribe 
66. iFresh Pizza 
67. Panda Brew 
68. Ahava Bistro + Café 
69. Alley Ale Taproom 
70. Botany 
71. Flying Kangaroo 
72. Max Pizza 
73. Miss Pizza 
74. Elisa's 
75. Four Ace 
76. Napa 
77. Park 17 
78. The Veggie Table 
79. 1st Floor 
80. Atta BJ 
81. Ebeiguo 
82. Via Roma, Kempinski Hotel 
83. Mrs Shanen's / Green Cow Cafe 
84. Loft Eatalicious 
85. BK's Tavern 
86. Doppio Sete Pizza 
87. Yun Brew 
88. Nine Road Pizzeria 
89. Assaggi 
90. PBD Pizza Bar 
91. Peter Pan 
92. Casalingo 
93. Isola 
94. Pizza Now 
95. Pizza Maru 
96. FA Cafe 
97. Michael’s Place 
98. Whale's Pizza 
99. Mix's Italian Grill 
100. Charlie's 
101. Pomona 
102. Prego, Westin Financial Street 
103. Ricci Café 
104. Kitchen Igosso 
105. Byone

Images: the Beijinger, Uni You