4 Left as Great Leap & Others Have Their Burger Cup Hopes Dashed
As the smoke clears and the grease cools, we're left with only four grills fired up in our annual battle of the city's burgers. After nearly 20 days of high-octane voting, we've watched 118 of Beijing's burger hopefuls drop one by one as venues wrangle every last vote from their friends, family, and most importantly, fans.
Moving into the Final Four, it's likely that tempers are starting to fray and only those with enough grit and sheer might will stand the chance of lifting Beijing's Best Burger crown come next Tuesday. For now, expect many a heated exchange and lots of corralling via WeChat (and hopefully some delicious deals in the process - more on this via QR code below).
Scan/Extract below QR code to push your favorite burger through to the Championship Round (and get a Didi voucher for the effort)!
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Having batted away Biteapitta and Beersmith, Great Leap Brewing's chances of securing the top spot in this year's competition after coming second last year have been scuppered by a most improbable of underdogs. The perpetrator? Crafters Brewing Co, who until a couple of months back didn't even have a venue to call their own. Having since settled out east near the Communication University, the brewers and newly-minted burger makers have already gone an incredible distance in their first-ever fight, demonstrating social media smarts and what a strong showing at the Burger Fest can really do in terms of winning over hearts and minds.
Crafters will now go up against the other comparative newbies in 2019's contest, Jiaodaokou bar, burger haven, and veritable party spot Side Street. That encounter in itself will be tough given Side Street's huge legion of followers who they've accrued through an extremely creative, and not to mention vegetarian-friendly, range of burgers since they opened in early 2018. As well as help them oust Xingfucun brewery Jing-A (last year's #7) in the Elite Eight, that combination was enough to earn them a big third-place ranking in last year's competition.
In a huge upset, newbies Crafters Brewing Co have taken out Great Leap Brewing's entry (pictured above)
Elsewhere, three-time winners and reigning champions Slow Boat Brewery have shut out Home Plate BBQ (last year's #9 seed), and in doing so have ruined the southern American-style barbecue joint's chance of adding a fourth victory under their belt. That means Slow Boat, who are still breaking in their new Dengshikou taproom, now go up against Mexican powerhouses Q Mex, who are riding high on their latest Shuangjing venue and renovated Sanlitun Courtyard 4 offering.
It's really all anyone's game at this point so make sure you get out there, try as many burgers as you can, and place your all-important vote before Friday, Jul 12 at midday!
Once you've voted for who you want to see make it through to the Championship Round, don't forget to vote on the final rankings on those who fell in the Elite Eight:
The Great Outdoors
Home Plate BBQ
Great Leap Brewing
Jing-A
9. Blue Frog
10. Arrow Factory
11. 3 Little Pigs by Andy's Craft Sausages
12. Boxing Cat
13. Beersmith Gastropub
14. 4corners
15. The Local
16. Let's Burger
17. De Refter
18. Hulu
19. Cannon's Burgers
20. Fatburger
21. Caravan
22. Miam Miam
23. The Cheesecake Factory
24. Lily's American Diner
25. Paddy O'Shea's
26. Plan B
27. Katchup
28. Biteapitta
29. Loca Loca
30. A Lil' Somethin'
31. No Diet Bistro & Bar
32. Royal Stacks
33. Fatboy's
34. XL Bar
35. Lush
36. Migas Mercado
37. The Butchers Club
38. East Hotel
39. QS
40. Root Pop
41. Laker's
42. Little Creatures
43. Bistro 108
44. Veggie Table
45. Grandma's Kitchen
46. The Rug Café
47. Cafe Flo
48. Bistrot B, Rosewood Hotel
49. VSports Bar and Restaurant
50. Joe's Bar and Kitchen
51. Hey Burger
52. Legend Beer
53. Wolfgang's Steakhouse
54. Luga's Villa
55. The Bookworm
56. Morton's of Chicago
57. La Rosee
58. The Roots
59. Eudora Station
60. Panda Brew
61. Living Room, CHAO Hotel
62. Waspark
63. Red Rose
64. Café Flatwhite
65. 1F
66. Rodeo Connection
67. Angel Burger
68. Signature's, Kempinski Hotel
69. Bodensee Kitchen
70. NBeer Pub
71. Grinders
72. Beer Mania
73. BLT American Restaurant Salad & Grill
74. 40+ Club
75. Irish Volunteer
76. Mr. Eel's Love
77. Hotties
78. Aurora
79. Tiger's
80. Blue Marlin
81. Burger Break
82. The Bell
83. CHAR Bar & Grill, InterContinental Hotel
84. Burger Counter
85. Halo Burger
86. Steamrhino Brewery Restaurant
87. Four Ace
88. Meat by Ernest
89. Fella's
90. C'est la Vie
91. Village Cafe, The Opposite House
92. Three Guys Burger House
93. Shamrock
94. The Cut, Fairmont Beijing
95. O'Leary's
96. Beer Boom
97. Molly Malone's
98. Rolling Rolling Craft Brewing
99. Spacelab
100. Peiping Machine
101. Park Side Bar & Grill
102. Su Zui
103. Steak Exchange, InterContinental Hotel
104. Xuan House
105. Windy City
106. Cairns
107. Peking Garden
108. He Kitchen
109. Park Square
110. W Restaurant
111. MustGuette
112. Picture My Cup at Kimo Kids Cafe
113. Bergling
114. Dongli Brewery
115. West Gastropub
116. Flora Steak and Bar
117. 42Play
118. Rhythm Craft Beer
Voting schedule as it remains (Jun 22-Jul 16):
Championship Round: Friday, Jul 12, 3pm
Beijing's Best Burger crowned: Tuesday, Jul 16, 4pm
Want to know how we ensure voter veracity? Click here.
Images: the Beijinger
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