Help Us Seed the Bracket for the 2020 Pizza Cup By Voting Today!

Original Michael Wester theBeijinger

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#Pizza 12

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As we reach the end of a tumultuous year of infections and elections, one major decision has yet to be made: the owner of the title of Best Pizza in Beijing for 2020.

Today that process starts with the launch of our annual seeding bracket – the list of Beijing’s 100 best pizzas which you, dear reader, will help us whittle to 32.

These erstwhile competitors will then enter our official 2020 Pizza Cup bracket, where they’ll go head to head until four remain for the live Taste-Off event on Dec 19 that will decide the ultimate winner.

Take your pick. Your choice is your voice.

2020: The Year in Pizza

Surprisingly, COVID-19 has not slowed our fair city’s passion for pizza. While there have been a handful of prominent closures (Oh Yeah! Brewing, Bocca Della Verita, and Fella's amongst them), these have been offset by the openings of no less than a dozen new restaurants with pies on their menus.

We’re particularly excited to see how two new heavyweights fare in this year’s Cup – Forno, the new Roman-style by-the-slice shop by the people who brought you Bottega, and the flashy new Parkview Green establishment The Pizza Show.

Before we get into the nitty-gritty of how you'll cast your vote, let's pour one out for the establishments that disappeared entirely, stopped serving pizza, or are temporarily closed (without a reopening date scheduled). Joining Oh Yeah, Bocca and Fella at the Great Pizza Parlor in the Sky are also Four Aces, Leo’s Pizza, Lievito Gourmet Pizza and Bar, Must Guette, PIZZAgram, RADICI, Red Rose, The Mozza, Unico and Whale's Pizza. Meanwhile, old favorite Luga's is currently closed, though they insist they will reopen some time in the future.

But all is not lost – many fresh faces dot this year’s bracket. In addition to Forno and The Pizza Show, other newbies include Bacchus Bistro, Lenbach, Happy Bites, Olive Restaurant and Bar, The Cavern Club, Lonely Us, Pi Italian Wine & Restaurant, and Sesto Senso. Meanwhile, Hulu has not only expanded with two new shops, but added pizza to their menu as well.

Now that we're all caught up, it's once again time for you to choose the best in our annual World Cup-style bracket.

How Voting Will Work

Luckily, conceding is not a part of this process

Our initial ballot features 100 contestants spread evenly into four brackets. The list of 100 is based on last year’s final rankings, with dead venues removed and newbies added in.

Your mission in the seeding round is simply to name your favorites. This data will be used to form the initial bracket of 32, where competitors will then go head-to-head.

Vote now by scanning this code in WeChat:

Notice a few names you don’t recognize? This would be the perfect time for you to try these places before you vote. You may think you know Beijing's best pizza, but how can you be sure if you haven't tried them all?

Relax – you’ve got plenty of time, the first round is open for a full week. A lot of pizza can be consumed in a week’s worth of meals, and since most of them deliver, neither Beijing’s traffic nor your innate laziness are decent excuses. Speaking of delivery, we recommend you try out JSS Food Delivery, the bilingual delivery app that not only delivers pizzas from a good chunk of the top competitors but is also offering RMB 30 discount coupons for all voters as well. JSS is this year’s sponsor for the 2020 Pizza Cup.

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When You'll Vote

On Dec 4, the top eight contestants from each bracket will go on to be seeded into a 32-contestant World Cup-style sudden death competition bracket. This bracket will be put up for another round of voting – and also gives you a chance to sample some of the ones you’ve not tried before making your next choices.

As dough is the base of any pizza, so too is democracy the base of this competition

In each successive round, the number of contestants is cut by half. We'll keep doing that until only four remain: and then it will be up to the participants in the Final Four Taste-Off to determine the ultimate champion.

Please note: This year there will be no online voting for the Final Four – you must be present (and sample all four) in order to cast a ballot. So hustle up and buy a private table for our Dec 19 Taste-Off by scanning the QR code in the poster below

Scan to snag your tix to the Final Four Taste-Off

Bought your tickets and aren't sure where to find them? Scan this QR code with wechat:

Scan with WeChat if you aren't notified after ticket purchase

Here are the dates to remember:

Today: The Preliminary seeding round is announced
Friday, Dec 4: Official Bracket (Top 32) announced
Thursday, Dec 10: Sweet 16 is announced
Monday, Dec 14: Elite 8 is announced
Thursday, Dec 17: Final Four is set
Saturday, Dec 19: Final Four Taste-Off Live at Boxing Cat

Here is the complete list of this year's Pizza Cup hopefuls, in their respective brackets (numbers in parentheses indicate their final ranking in the 2019 Cup; "New" indicates new venue or new to the list of 100):

Bracket A
Pizza Saporita 意块披萨 (#1)
Tube Station 站点比萨 (#5)
Annie's 安妮意大利餐厅 (#9)
Turkish Feast (#13)
Pizza Hut 必胜客 (#18)
Pizza Marzano 比萨马尚诺 (#23)
Laker's 湖人餐吧 (#27)
Green Cow City Cafe 单太太绿牛咖啡 (#31)
Tribe Tribe有机餐厅 (#37)
Get Pizza 披萨工廠 (#41)
Scott's Family Ristorante Italiano 意大利家庭料理 (#46)
Jazz-Ya (#51)
Pizza Now 披萨到 (#59)
Ponte Ponte意大利餐厅 (#63)
La Mezzaluna (#67)
Casa Gusto (#71)
Nasca Cafe (#77)
PBD Pizza Bar (#82)
Flypizza & Hoodadak Chicken (#86)
Casalingo (#91)
Atta BJ (#97)
Bacchus Bistro (New)
FestinTable (New)
Hulu 琥禄 (New)
Pi Italian Wine & Restaurant (New)

Bracket B
Q Mex Bar & Grill 库迈 (#2)
La Pizza 那匹萨 (#6)
EATALIA 意塔利意式餐厅 (#10)
Pie Squared (#14)
Papa John's 棒约翰比萨 (#19)
TIAGO Tiago (#24)
Saizeriya 萨莉亚意式餐厅 (#28)
Lily's American Diner (#32)
Big Pizza 比格比萨 (#38)
Grandma's Kitchen 祖母的厨房 (#42)
Legend Beer 老牌酒廠 (#47)
NBeer Pub 牛啤堂 (#52)
Cafe Ruhe 如何餐厅 (#60)
BUONA BOCCA Italian Bistro (#64)
QS (#68)
Nine Road Pizzeria (#72)
Jushi Pizza 巨时比萨 (#78)
Bene (#83)
Hisewel Brew-pub 海森威精酿啤酒餐吧 (#88)
BLT BLT美式西餐厅 (#93)
Happy Bites 嗨派.纽约手工披萨 (New)
Boxing Cat Brewery 拳击猫精酿啤酒馆 (New)
Forno 意角 (New)
Lenbach (New)

Bracket C
BOTTEGA 意库 (#3)
GUNG HO! 叫板！比萨 (#7)
The Local (#11)
MIAM MIAM (#16)
Pyro Pizza 火鬼餐吧 (#21)
The Rug The Rug (#25)
Yummy Box 美盒比萨 (#29)
Plan B (#33)
Mao Mao Chong 毛毛虫酒吧 (#39)
Xian Bar (EAST,Beijing) 北京东隅仙酒吧 (#43)
Eudora Station 亿多瑞站 (#48)
Assaggi 尝试意大利餐厅 (#53)
La Cucina 后厨意餐 (#61)
Ummm Kitchen - Ummm Classic (#65)
Peiping Machine 北平机器 (#69)
Via Roma, Kempinski Hotel 花样罗马意大利餐厅 (#73)
PIZZA FUOCO (#79)
Passby Bar (#84)
Pomona (#89)
Byone (#94)
Jiadingfang 甲丁坊.新德餐吧 (New)
Brotzeit Bier Bar & Restaurant 博璨德国啤酒餐厅 (New)
Groovy Schillers 大明餐厅 (New)
Lonely Us (New)
Sesto Senso (New)

Bracket D
Great Leap Brewing 大跃啤酒 (#4)
Jing-A Brewing Co 京A (#8)
Baozza 包萨 (#12)
Kro's Nest 乌巢 (#17)
Domino's Pizza 达美乐比萨 (#22)
Paddy O'Shea's (#26)
The Cheesecake Factory 芝乐坊 (#30)
1st Floor 壹楼餐吧 (#35)
The Veggie Table 吃素的西餐 (#40)
Mr Pizza 米斯特披萨 (#44)
Tavola Italian Dining (#49)
MIO, Four Seasons Hotel (#57)
LMPLUS (New)
Joe's Bar & Kitchen Joe's Bar & Kitchen (#66)
Peter Pan Peter Pan意大利餐厅 (#70)
Dongli Brewery Restaruant 东里手工啤酒･精酿餐厅 (#76)
CUP ONE (#80)
Pinvita 大品大爱 (#85)
Agrilandia (#90)
Tomcado (#96)
CHAPTER, CONRAD BEIJING (New)
Happy Bites (New)
Olive Restaurant and Bar (New)
The Cavern Club (New)
The Pizza Show (New)

So what are you waiting for? Go out and gorge and let the best slice win!

This is a contest we do not take lightly. We do everything in our power to ensure the ultimate outcome of this exercise – an authoritative list of Beijing's Best Pizza – is both fair and reflective of the wonderful selection we have on hand. So you too should cast your ballot with responsibility.