Top Seeds Move On as First is Blood Drawn in 2015 Burger Cup

First blood has been drawn in the 2015 Burger Cup as the first round of voting closed this afternoon, knocking 32 out of contention and leaving 32 to fight on another day. 

Keep your favorite burger place's winning streak alive by casting your ballot in the Round of 32 here now: http://www.thebeijinger.com/2015Burgercup

All four top seeds in each bracket made it through the first round, while upsets ruled the day in other matches.  

Several places making their debut this year rode the buzz created by their appearance at the Burger Cup Launch Party to upset higher-ranked competitors.

In Bracket C, 11th-seeded Loft Eatalicious, known more for its Italian fare, nevertheless floated by #6 The Irish Volunteer, after impressing at the launch party.

In the same bracket, Burger Cup newcomer Yuppie Yummy (#10) narrowly outpaced the seventh-ranked Windy City on buzz created by The Yupster's launch party appearance.

In Bracket D, 10th-ranked Paulaner Maximilian, whose variety at the launch party was sampled by many a party-goer, outlasted Paddy O’Shea’s (#7).

Two other newcomers managed to upset higher-ranked competitors by way of disqualification: Fly Pizza (#11) defeated Migas (#6) and Groovy Schiller's (#11) ousted Kro’s Nest (#6) as both Migas and Kro have stopped serving burgers.

It was a bad year for eighth seeds, all four of whom were knocked out by ninth seeds in their respective brackets.

The one other unexpected upset was from 12th seeded The Garage, which triumphed over Morton’s of Chicago (#5).

Competition in the Round of 32 gets more intense, and contains two newcomers in epic battles: Kenny’s Burgers and Jing-A both take on #1 seeds in this round of their respective brackets.

Can Kenny’s knock off Blue Frog? Can Jing-A overtake 2014 Final Four finalist Great Leap Brewing? You tell us in this round of voting, which is open till Thursday.

In the mean time, take a gander at how the full bracket is progressing below (click for a larger version):

Here's the matchups in text format ... click the links to read about each burger:

Bracket A
Home Plate BBQ (#1) vs Village Cafe, Opposite House (#9)
Let's Burger (#2) vs 1F (#7)
Lily's American Diner (#3) vs Groovy Schiller's (#11)
Lush (#4) vs Flamme (#5)

Bracket B
Blue Frog (#1) vs Kenny's Burgers (#9)
The Local (#2) vs Cafe Flatwhite (#7)
Q Mex (#3) vs Fly Pizza (#11)
Temple Bar (#4) vs Tim's Texas Bar-B-Q (#5)

Bracket C
Slow Boat Brewery (#1) vs Nola (#9)
Plan B (#2) vs Yuppie & Yummy (#10)
Union Bar and Grille (#3) vs Loft Eatalicious (#11)
Stuff'd (#4) vs 4corners (#5)

Bracket D
Great Leap Brewing (#1) vs Jing-A (#9)
The Big Smoke (#2) vs Paulaner Maximillian (#10)
Frost Coffee, Cocktails and Dining (#3) vs Katchup (#6)
Luga's Villa (#4) vs The Garage (#12)

- - -

Below you’ll find the full results from the First Round:

Bracket A
Home Plate (1) sliced up The Cut (16)
Village Café (9) sent Grandma’s Kitchen (8) into retirement
Flamme (5) broiled Grinders (12)
Lush (4) fought off a serious challenge from Bistrot B (13)
Groovy Schillers (11) flew by Kro’s Nest (6)*
Lily’s (3) left Eudora Station (14) on the platform
1F (7) slam-dunked Laker’s (10)
Let’s Burger (2) flipped Waspark (15)

Bracket B
Blue Frog (1) croaked Park Side (16)
Kenny’s Burgers (9) blew by Beer Mania (8)
Tim’s Texas Bar-B-Q (5) outlasted Burger Me (12)
Temple Bar (4) sent Peter’s Tex-Mex (13) south of the border
Q Mex (3) outdistanced Pinotage (14)
Fly Pizza (11) soared on by Migas (6)*
Café Flatwhite (7) eked by Ramo (10)
The Local (2) slammed The Bookworm (15) shut

Bracket C
Slow Boat (1) cruised past The Smokeyard (16)
Nola (9) sent The Den (8) into hibernation
4corners (5) bolted past Jamaica Blue (12)
Stuff’d (4) 404’d Domain (13)
Union (3) busted Rumi (14)
Loft Eatalicious (11) floated by The Irish Volunteer (6)
Yuppie & Yummy (10) blew by Windy City (7)
Plan B (2) skied Twilight (15)

Bracket D
Great Leap (1) corralled Hungry Horse (16)
Jing-A (9) chomped on Biteapitta (8)
The Garage (12) sneaked by Morton’s of Chicago (5)
Luga’s Villa (4) outdistanced Frank’s Place (13)
Frost (3) narrowly froze out The Filling Station (14)
Katchup (6) squeezed out Sunbake and Brew (11)
Paulaner Maximilian (10) whacked Paddy O’Shea’s (7)
The Big Smoke (2) pedaled past The Old Bike Café (15)

As is our habit, we also asked you to rank the competitors that did not make it into the bracket of 64 this year, to serve as initial seedings for next year. Due to the two disqualifications, our list begins at #63:

63. Burger Break
64. Helen's Café
65. Park Square
66. Burger Counter
67. XL Bar
68. Angry Burger
69. Craft, Crowne Plaza Lido
70. Pebbles Courtyard
71. Food Studio, Renaissance Beijing Wangfujing Hotel
72. The Corner
73. One East
74. The Kitchen Table, W Beijing Chang'an
75. The Golden Era 50's Diner
76. Nasca Café
77. Uncle Sam's
78. Must Guette
79. Little Britain
80. Steak Exchange, InterContinental Hotel
81. Fuel, Langham Place
82. MRL
83. Pentalounge, Penta Hotel

* these two matches were decided by disqualification as both Migas and Kro’s Nest have removed burgers from their menus.

Images: The Beijinger