Slowboat Reclaims the Throne in 2026 Juicy Burger Cup 

Katie Coy, Managing Editor | May 7, 2026 4:00 pm | Add a comment | 88 reads

After a four-year hiatus, Slowboat is back on top, reclaiming the throne as the 2026 Juicy Burger Cup Champion. They're not the only champions this year, however, as our panel of dedicated burger experts will also be crowning an Expert's Champion, which we will announce tomorrow.  

Now, back to our 2026 Juicy Burger Cup People's Champion. 

Slowboat put on a masterclass throughout the cup, blending a flawless 4-0 record with one of the most popular stands at this year's Juicy Burger Fest. Fans lined up all four days to taste why Slowboat has now won its seventh title in the past sixteen years.

The Undefeated Four

Four venues emerged from Round 4 with perfect 4-0 records. Each took a different path to glory.

Top seed Slowboat proved that consistency wins in the cup, navigating the bracket with the poise of a seasoned champion. The 2026 title marks their seventh in sixteen years.

Side Street, the 2020, 2024 and 2025 champion, fell just short of winning a fourth title but remains a perennial powerhouse, coming in at second place. Their 4-0 run was business as usual for one of Beijing's most reliable heavyweights.

Now, the next two venues in the top four made particularly remarkable climbs this year.

Beersmith Gastropub, seeded #6 after a tenth-place finish in 2025, stormed through the bracket with the toughest strength of schedule among all undefeated teams. Claiming third place in the cup, their wins proved they belong with the elite.

Wagyu Kaiju, seeded #10 after a fourteenth-place finish last year, and the winners of last year's Best New Burger, announced themselves as a legitimate contender, finishing out the top four. Their wins included a takedown of two-time former champion Q Mex, signaling that a new challenger has arrived.

The significant rise of these two venues shows that the upper echelons of Beijing's burger scene are by no means set in stone and that major shake-ups can still happen. We're excited to see how these fearsome opponents will fare in the 2027 Juicy Burger Cup.

Methodology

Now, you might be wondering how exactly the final rankings were determined, after all, the top four all got 4-0, right? Well, we used a weighted formula that balanced four key factors. Primary sorting was by overall record (4-0, 3-1, 2-2, 1-3, 0-4). Within each record group, venues were ranked by a composite score of pre-tournament seeding, Strength of Schedule (average seed of opponents faced), and Margin of Victory.

The Top 20

You can check out the full 1-64 rankings towards the end of this post, but for now, let's take a look at this year's top 20:

  • 1. Slowboat 悠航 
  • 2. Side Street 街旁 
  • 3. Beersmith Gastropub 鲜啤吧 
  • 4. Wagyu Kaiju 和牛怪物汉堡 
  • 5. Jing-A Brewing Co 京A精酿啤酒 
  • 6. Wild Kite Brewing 野风筝 
  • 7. Great Leap Brewing 大跃啤酒 
  • 8. Q Mex Bar And Grill 库迈墨西哥餐吧 
  • 9. Burge's Bistro And Bar 小伯格酒馆 
  • 10. Home Plate BBQ 本垒美式烤肉 
  • 11. Circle Burger 圆场 
  • 12. Goose Island Taproom 鹅岛精酿啤酒餐厅 
  • 13. Plan B 
  • 14. Slider Nation 小堡邦 
  • 15. WhyNot 外岛•精酿餐吧 
  • 16. Huddler Diner and Bar 
  • 17. Deli NYC 
  • 18. Wolfgang's Steakhouse 沃夫冈牛排馆 
  • 19. Take A Bite TAB汉堡 
  • 20. Rich Burger 发财汉堡

This year's Top 20 has seen several venues make significant jumps from their 2025 final rankings. The biggest jump was from Huddler Diner and Bar, which rose from 57 last year to 16 this year, while WhyNot climbed from 24 to 15 and Plan B jumped from 45 to 13. Rich Burger catapulted from 41 to 20, and Goose Island Taproom rose from 29 to 12. Wolfgang's Steakhouse moved from 34 to 18, and Take A Bite advanced from 33 to 19.

Best New Burgers 

Along with crowning the 2026 Juicy Burger Cup Champion, we also wanted to give a nod to some of Beijing's Best New Burgers:

  • Smoke and Road BBQ 烟熏公路美式慢烤工坊 
  • 3A•Burger 
  • MUA 摩造汉堡 
  • Pignut Barbecue 坚果猪美式烤肉 
  • Chili's

Round 4 Full Results

For those of you who want to see exactly how the final round battle played out, here's a look at the full results for each bracket. 

3-0 Bracket

  • Match 1: Slowboat 悠航 (1) def. WhyNot 外岛•精酿餐吧 (21)
  • Match 2: Side Street 街旁 (5) def. Plan B (19)
  • Match 3: Beersmith Gastropub 鲜啤吧 (6) def. Goose Island Taproom 鹅岛精酿啤酒餐厅 (17)
  • Match 4: Wagyu Kaiju 和牛怪物汉堡 (10) def. Q Mex Bar And Grill 库迈墨西哥餐吧 (9)

2-1 Bracket

  • Match 1: Wild Kite Brewing 野风筝 (2) def. Soldout (62)
  • Match 2: Rich Burger 发财汉堡 (60) def. Overtone Taproom 弦外之音 (3)
  • Match 3: Jing-A Brewing Co 京A精酿啤酒 (4) def. Trips Burger (40)
  • Match 4: Great Leap Brewing 大跃啤酒 (7) def. Lily's American Diner LAD (38)
  • Match 5: Burge's Bistro And Bar 小伯格酒馆 (8) def. Tigers 老虎西餐 (36)
  • Match 6: Take A Bite TAB汉堡 (33) def. Hunger Dog 饿狗 (11)
  • Match 7: Home Plate BBQ 本垒美式烤肉 (13) def. The Cheesecake Factory 芝乐坊 (32)
  • Match 8: Circle Burger 圆场 (15) def. Arrow Factory 箭厂啤酒 (29)
  • Match 9: Wolfgang's Steakhouse 沃夫冈牛排馆 (27) def. Blue Frog 蓝蛙 (16)
  • Match 10: Slider Nation 小堡邦 (18) def. Shake Shack (26)
  • Match 11: Deli NYC (25) def. V Burger 必胜汉堡 (20)
  • Match 12: Huddler Diner and Bar (23) def. Ye Brewing 野鹅微醺 (24)

1-2 Bracket

  • Match 1: Dosh Gastropub 到时精酿餐吧 (12) def. Nashville (63)
  • Match 2: Benlo's Burger 本楼汉堡 (14) def. The Local (64)
  • Match 3: Wawabeer 精酿&汉堡 (28) def. Burning Wood BBQ (61)
  • Match 4: Smoke and Road Bbq (59) def. Nbeer Pub (31)
  • Match 5: Tough Tongue (34) def. Eudora Station (58)
  • Match 6: 3 Little Pigs (35) def. Hammy Burger (55)
  • Match 7: Grandma's Kitchen (53) def. American Camp (37)
  • Match 8: Commune Reserve (39) def. Meat By Ernest (52)
  • Match 9: Lenbach Roof (51) def. Burp (41)
  • Match 10: Parkside (42) def. Mua (50)
  • Match 11: Caution Bistro (49) def. Breef And... (43)
  • Match 12: Bistro 108 (47) def. Triple B (45)

0-3 Bracket

  • Match 1: Pignut Barbecue (57) def. Wake and Bite (22)
  • Match 2: Jing Slow (30) def. Oasis Restaurant (56)
  • Match 3: Steak Factory (44) def. Lokal (54)
  • Match 4: 3A•Burger (46) def. Chili's (48)

Final Standings (1-64)

And now, let's look at the full rankings for the 2026 Juicy Burger Cup. 

  • 1. Slowboat 悠航 
  • 2. Side Street 街旁 
  • 3. Beersmith Gastropub 鲜啤吧 
  • 4. Wagyu Kaiju 和牛怪物汉堡 
  • 5. Jing-A Brewing Co 京A精酿啤酒 
  • 6. Wild Kite Brewing 野风筝 
  • 7. Great Leap Brewing 大跃啤酒 
  • 8. Q Mex Bar And Grill 库迈墨西哥餐吧 
  • 9. Burge's Bistro And Bar 小伯格酒馆 
  • 10. Home Plate BBQ 本垒美式烤肉 
  • 11. Circle Burger 圆场 
  • 12. Goose Island Taproom 鹅岛精酿啤酒餐厅 
  • 13. Plan B 
  • 14. Slider Nation 小堡邦 
  • 15. WhyNot 外岛•精酿餐吧 
  • 16. Huddler Diner and Bar 
  • 17. Deli NYC 
  • 18. Wolfgang's Steakhouse 沃夫冈牛排馆 
  • 19. Take A Bite TAB汉堡 
  • 20. Rich Burger 发财汉堡 
  • 21. Overtone Taproom 弦外之音 
  • 22. Hunger Dog 饿狗 
  • 23. Benlo's Burger 本楼汉堡 
  • 24. V Burger 必胜汉堡 
  • 25. Wawabeer 精酿&汉堡 
  • 26. Dosh Gastropub 到时精酿餐吧 
  • 27. Blue Frog 蓝蛙 
  • 28. Ye Brewing 野鹅微醺 
  • 29. Arrow Factory 箭厂啤酒 
  • 30. The Cheesecake Factory 芝乐坊 
  • 31. Shake Shack 
  • 32. 3 Little Pigs 三小猪 
  • 33. Commune Reserve 幻师 
  • 34. Tough Tongue 硬舌酒肉 
  • 35. Lily's American Diner LAD 
  • 36. Tigers 老虎西餐 
  • 37. Trips Burger 
  • 38. Parkside 园景 
  • 39. Bistro 108 巴黎餐吧 
  • 40. Caution Bistro 靠山餐吧 
  • 41. Grandma's Kitchen 祖母的厨房美式西餐厅 
  • 42. Lenbach Roof 兰巴赫旗舰店 
  • 43. Soldout 
  • 44. Smoke and Road BBQ 
  • 45. Nbeer Pub 牛啤堂 
  • 46. Jing Slow Handcrafted Burger 
  • 47. Breef And... 
  • 48. Burp 堡嗝儿•精酿啤酒汉堡 
  • 49. American Camp x Burning Wood BBQ 
  • 50. Steak Factory 
  • 51. Triple B 
  • 52. 3A•Burger 
  • 53. Meat By Ernest 
  • 54. Mua 摩造汉堡 
  • 55. Hammy Burger 
  • 56. Pignut Barbecue 
  • 57. Eudora Station 
  • 58. Nashville 
  • 59. Burning Wood BBQ 
  • 60. The Local 
  • 61. Wake and Bite 
  • 62. Chili's 
  • 63. Lokal 
  • 64. Oasis Restaurant

The Champions' History

And, finally, here's a refresher of all the Juicy Burger Cup winners by year:

  • 2011: Blue Frog 蓝蛙
  • 2012: Home Plate BBQ 本垒烤肉
  • 2013: Home Plate BBQ 本垒烤肉
  • 2014: Home Plate BBQ 本垒烤肉
  • 2015: Slowboat 悠航鲜啤
  • 2016: Slowboat 悠航鲜啤
  • 2017: Q Mex 库迈
  • 2018: Slowboat 悠航鲜啤
  • 2019: Slowboat 悠航鲜啤
  • 2020: Side Street 街旁
  • 2021: Slowboat 悠航鲜啤
  • 2022: Slowboat 悠航鲜啤
  • 2023: Q Mex 库迈
  • 2024: Side Street 街旁
  • 2025: Side Street 街旁
  • 2026: Slowboat 悠航鲜啤

Slowboat now has seven victories in sixteen years. After last winning in 2022, the champion has reclaimed its throne. See you in 2027.

READ: Juicy Burger Fest Looks & Final Day Recap

Images: the Beijingers, courtesy of the venues