Upsets Abound as 2017 Pizza Cup Competitors Are Cut to 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.

Simply scan the QR code to vote in the Elite Eight round of this year's Pizza Cup

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)

Who will be crowned the pizza king?

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.

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

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