Remember the Alamo! Tim's Texas, Q Mex Go Down Fighting as Burger Cup Field Cut to 8
And down go eight more: After a series of vicious face-offs in the closing hours of the Sweet 16, eight Beijing restaurants have survived to make it into the next round – send them through to the Final Four by voting here now:
In the two closest contests of the match, Blue Frog narrowly avoided defeat at the hands of Tim's Texas Bar-B-Q, and The Local squeezed by Courtyard 4 neighbor Q Mex by a mere handful of votes. Top seeds reigned in most other matches, with seven of eight of the top two seeds in each division making it to the next round.
The underdog The Garage, which made it farther than expected for a 12th-seeded venue, was knocked out by Great Leap Brewing.
Eight of Beijing's best burgers remain in competition from the original 64, and now the choices get really tough, given what remains is 80 percent of Beijing's Top 10 burgers.
Can Let's Burger knock off perennial champion Home Plate? Can The Local fend off the behemoth that is Blue Frog? Can Union shoot past Slow Boat? And will The Big Smoke hold out over Great Leap? No matter how you slice it, these matches are tough to call:
Bracket A
Home Plate BBQ (#1) vs Let's Burger (#2)
Bracket B
Blue Frog (#1) vs The Local (#2)
Bracket C
Slow Boat Brewery (#1) vs Union Bar and Grille (#3)
Bracket D
Great Leap Brewing (#1) vs The Big Smoke (#2)
Keep your favorite burger place's winning streak alive by casting your ballot in the Elite Eight here now: thebeijinger.com/2015burgercup – you have until Thursday (Sep 10) at noon to vote in this round.
A summary of all of last round's blow-by-blow action:
Bracket A
Home Plate BBQ (#1) overcame Flamme (#5)
Let's Burger (#2) eked by Lily's American Diner (#3)
Bracket B
Blue Frog (#1) beat Tim's Texas Bar-B-Q (#5)
The Local (#2) edged out Q Mex (#3)
Bracket C
Slow Boat Brewery (#1) dismissed 4corners (#5)
Plan B (#2) vs Union Bar and Grille (#3)
Bracket D
Great Leap Brewing (#1) ended The Garage (#12)'s run
The Big Smoke (#2) outdistanced Frost Coffee, Cocktails and Dining (#3)
And here's your updated wall poster (click for a larger version):
For those of you planning ahead, here is the rest of the competition schedule:
The Elite Eight closes at noon, Thu, Sep 10.
The Final Four opens at 4pm, Thu, Sep 10; closes at noon, Mon, Sep 14.
The Finals open at 4pm, Mon, Sep 14; closes at noon, Wed, Sep 16.
The grand champion and final seedings of the 2015 Burger Cup will be announced shortly afterward
Finally, we also asked you to rank the competitors that did not make it into the Round of 16 this year, to serve as initial seedings for next year's Cup. Here's the rankings, #17 to #32:
17. Jing-A
18. Katchup
19. Luga's Villa
20. Stuff'd
21. Village Cafe, Opposite House
22. Loft Eatalicious
23. Kenny's Burgers
24. Lush
25. Groovy Schiller's
26. Temple Bar
27. Cafe Flatwhite
28. 1F
29. Yuppie & Yummy
30. Fly Pizza
31. Nola
32. Paulaner Maximilian
Add this to our previously generated rankings, through #83:
33. Biteapitta
34. The Filling Station
35. The Cut, Fairmont Beijing
36. Morton's of Chicago
37. Ramo
38. Paddy O'Shea's
39. The Den
40. Pinotage
41. The Bookworm
42. The Irish Volunteer
43. Beer Mania
44. Grandma's Kitchen
45. Domain, East Hotel
46. Hungry Horse
47. Windy City
48. Grinders
49. Bistrot B
50. Jamaica Blue
51. Frank's Place
52. Eudora Station
53. Laker's
54. Peter's Tex-Mex
55. Rumi
56. Waspark
57. The Old Bike Café
58. Sunbake & Brew, V-Continent Beijing Parkview Wuzhou Hotel
59. Burger Me
60. Park Side Bar & Grill
61. The Smokeyard
62. Twilight
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
Images: the Beijinger
