The Votes Are In: Q MEX is Beijing's Best Burger of 2023!
The results are in: Q MEX Bar & Grill is your winner of the Juicy Burger Cup 2023!
This is their second victory, the first coming in 2017, which makes Q MEX only the third venue to win more than one Cup:
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
Make no mistake, this was a close contest: Q MEX pulled through with 48.4 percent of the vote over 47 percent for their opponent Jing-A (with 4.6 percent abstaining).
Meanwhile, in our runner-up contest between Home Plate BBQ and Wild Kite Brewing, Wild Kite came out on top. Thus, Wild Kite takes third and Home Plate takes fourth.
The Road to the Cup
This year, Juicy Burger Cup was back to business as usual, with Juicy Burger Fest being held in person for the first time since 2021. Q MEX was in attendance at the fest with their brand new Birria Burger, enticing hungry festival goers to their booth as well showcasing their creativity.
Q MEX's special Birria Burger was a hit at this year's Burger Fest
They entered the Cup strong, winding up as 2nd seed in their bracket and breezing through the rounds up until the Elite 8, where they faced off against six-time Burger Cup champion SLOWBOAT.
SLOWBOAT and Q MEX are no strangers, with a rivalry between the two starting back in 2017 when Q MEX stole a chance at a threepeat from SLOWBOAT. It’s been back and forth between the two until now, with Q MEX eliminating their rival in a close race this year.
In the Final Four Q MEX went up against and defeated three-time Burger Cup champs Home Plate BBQ. From there, it was on to the Championship to face Jing-A.
Their Classic Double Cheeseburger (RMB 78), with its slightly charred, juicy beef patties, melted cheese and special sauce must have a certain magic to it, because it helped Q MEX fight through to the end and come out on top.
As simple as it seems, their Classic Double Cheeseburger is a true heavyweight
Indeed, these burgers are something that’s able to win over even the biggest skeptics (who usually ask “why does a Mexican place do burgers?”). With concoctions like the Birria Burger, Q MEX has shown they don't like to keep things plain and simple all the time.
It's this creativity, and their fans' love for their burgers, that make this victory well deserved.
Final Burger Cup
Fun and Stats
We asked you some other questions in the final round of voting, namely what you consider a reasonable price to pay for a burger (without sides) -- the replies averaged RMB 58; and your favorite dining spot in the city (Sanlitun was the obvious winner).
Now, on to a bit of fun. To round off our caption contests, we asked you to complete this meme and here are our favorites:
Thus, the 2023 Burger Cup comes to close. In our humble opinion, you can't go wrong with any of the Top 16, and even the ones beyond that are worth a try. Let this list be your guide to who to try over the next year. Keep eating and we'll see you all in 2024!
Here are the final rankings of the Top 100 burgers in Beijing for 2023:
1. Q MEX 库迈
2. Jing-A 京A
3. Wild Kite Brewing 野风筝
4. Home Plate BBQ 本垒美式烤肉
5. SLOWBOAT 悠航
6. Side Street 街旁
7. Burge's Bistro & Bar 小伯格酒馆
8. DOSH GASTROPUB 到时精酿餐吧
9. Goose Island Taproom 鹅岛精酿啤酒餐厅
10. Great Leap Brewing 大跃啤酒
11. 3 Little Pigs by Andy’s Craft Sausages 三小猪
12. Beersmith Gastropub 鲜啤吧
13. Slider Nation 小堡邦
14. Benlo's Burger 本楼汉堡
15. Lily’s American Diner 莉莉斯美式西餐厅
16. Arrow Factory 箭厂啤酒
17. blue frog 蓝蛙
18. Malbec & Beef 阿根廷牛排馆
19. The Cheesecake Factory 芝乐坊
20. COMMUNE RESERVE 幻师臻选
21. LA PLATEA 兰蒂地中海餐吧
22. Messy Burger 汉堡探索中心
23. Take A Bite TAB汉堡
24. Paddy O'Shea's 爱尔兰酒吧
25. TIGERS 老虎西餐
26. NBeer Pub 牛啤堂
27. Plan B
28. The Great Outdoor 野友趣精酿餐吧
29. SOLDOUT
30. Circle Urban 圆场
31. Brotzeit German Bier Restaurant 博璨德国啤酒餐厅
32. LARRY THE BIRD
33. Shake Shack
34. FATBURGER 特富客汉堡
35. COMMUNE•X幻师主题店（北京太古里）
36. The Local
37. Ye Brewing 野鹅微醺
38. Tastiens Chinese Burger 塔斯汀中国汉堡
39. APOLLO 阿波罗餐厅
40. THE ROOTS 欧伴
41. Paulaner Bräuhaus - Kempinski Hotel Beijing Yansha Center 北京燕莎中心凯宾斯基饭店 - 普拉那啤酒坊
42. LUSH
43. SUSU 苏苏
44. Let's BURGER plus 非常创意汉堡
45. Peach
46. Tough Tongue 硬舌酒肉
47. Spacelab 失重餐厅
48. Park Side 园景
49. ye lounge 野路子
50. Nashville 乡谣音乐餐吧
51. Burp 堡嗝儿
52. Bullshit Food 饱是福
53. Market Cafe, Hyatt Regency Beijing Wangjing咖啡厅•北京望京凯悦酒店
54. MORROW 墨佬墨西哥餐厅
55. Panorama 葩诺
56. Kitty & Daniel Hollywood Grill & Bar 大牛好莱坞餐吧
57. The Rug Café
58. HUZI Lunch Bar 虎滋精酿餐吧
59. VINN 维恩餐吧
60. Fire Works 北焰•美式扒房
61. CAUTION Bistro 靠山餐吧
62. MEDI 地中海餐吧
63. Hi-Town Bistro 海塘无国界餐吧
64. Bay Area Bar & Restaurant 湾区酒吧
65. Peking Yard 北平花园
66. Lenbach 兰巴赫西餐啤酒坊
67. Cafe Ruhe 如何餐厅
68. Rich Burger 发财汉堡
69. Bodensee Kitchen 德南餐厅
70. Grandma's Kitchen 祖母的厨房美式西餐厅
71. 4Corners 肆角餐吧
72. Shang Brew 香啤坊
73. CHAR Bar & Grill 恰牛扒房
74. WasPark
75. Legend 老牌餐吧
76. Xian Bar/Domain, EAST Beijing 仙酒吧/Domain 域，北京东隅酒店
77. Gou Taproom 苟市精酿
78. Simon’s Bar 西门餐吧
79. Wiggly Jiggly‘s 欧也
80. The VEGGIE TABLE 吃素的西餐
81. Meat by Ernest 吃肉
82. Leben Burger 乐本汉堡
83. TRIPS Burger
84. Bistro 108 巴黎餐吧
85. Bistrot B 怡庭
86. QS 奎妮餐吧
87. Laker's
88. Pinotage
89. GOLDEN HILL ALE HOUSE 秋山艾尔酒馆
90. Dongli Brewery 东里手工啤酒•精酿餐厅
91. Eudora Station 亿多瑞站
92. Manchester United Theater of Dreams Restaurant 曼联梦剧场
93. TRIPLE B 3B
94. Great Cosmos 大宇宙
95. Walnut 23 胡桃
96. Wobbit
97. King Park
98. Vinup Brunch & Bistro 薇葡
99. T-FOUR
100. Ibarrel bistro and brunch 爱杯
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Images: Uni You, the Beijingers