The Final Four Have Flipped!: The Local Makes the Cut, Blue Frog Falls

After one huge party and over 20 days of cut-throat voting between 64 of the capital's top patty slingers, here we have it, the Final Four masters of meat in our 2015 Burger Cup competition. Based on the frequency at which we often find ourselves at these four establishments it may come as no surprise that they've worked their way to the top, testament to the consistently mouthwatering grub that they make and an atmosphere that we yearn for after a grueling day at the office, dreaming of nothing more than belly-shaped bun (and an ice-cold brew).

In the end it was Home Plate BBQ that flipped Let's Burger, whereas Slow Boat Brewery shunned Union Bar and Grille, and Great Leap Brewing took Big Smoke Bistro by storm, securing the place of three of the same competitors that entered last year's final. The big difference this year is that The Local squeezed by Blue Frog, compared to 2014 when they were eked out Big Smoke Bistro. We'll put that down to them putting extra creamy avocados on their dry rub burgers over the past 12 months.

Now the big question is, can Home Plate make it a whopping four years in a row? If you haven't voted yet, this would be the time to show your allegiance to one of these four Beijing heavyweights by voting at www.thebeijinger.com/2015burgercup – you have until noon on Monday (Sep 14) to cast your vote before we move into the the Finals on the same day at 4pm. The ultimate winner will be announced shortly after the Finals polls have closed at noon on Wednesday (Sep 16).

Click the updated bracket below to see exactly where each of the top 64 seeds fell:

We also asked you to rank the competitors that did not make it into the Elite Eight this year, to serve as initial seedings for next year's Cup. Here's the rankings, #9 to #16:

9. Q Mex
10. Frost Coffee, Cocktails and Dining
11. Plan B
12. Lily's American Diner
13. Tim's Texas Bar-B-Q
14. 4corners
15. Flamme
16. The Garage

Add this to our previously generated rankings, through #83:

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
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

To get you in the mood for voting, read up on all the action and develop a healthy appetite via our ongoing Burger Brief series or take a look a last year's final seedings.

Images: the Beijinger