Burger Cup Witnesses 3 Fat Upsets; Top Seeds Slide Into Elite 8
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 Brewing hopping over Caravan into the latest voting round.
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 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 you prefer your burgers cooked. Seventy-four percent of you like 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 Elite Eight:
Jun 28-July 3
Burger Cup Final Four:
Jul 3-6
Championship Round:
Jul 6-9
Burger Cup Elite Eight Round Matchups
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: thebeijinger.com/2018-beijing-burger-festival.
Images: the Beijinger
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