Slow Boat Cruises to Victory in the 2015 Burger Cup

The Results are in: after a month-long battle that began with an appearance slinging Anxiety Burgers at our Launch Party in August, last year’s runner-up Slow Boat Brewery outpolled The Local to earn the title of champion of the 2015 Burger Cup.

Slow Boat rose to the top on the heels of their signature Fryburger, a concoction featuring fries built right into the burger and served with their house-made dressing dubbed “Ayi-ioli.”

“Putting fries in the burger is just pure genius,” said one voter, a sentiment echoed by more than a few Slow Boat partisans.

“Their burgers are that perfect bite of beef and cheese," said another. "Salty, savory, creamy, a crispy bun ... and just enough grease and aroma to bring everything together.”

Slow Boat also won accolades for their Anxiety Burger, a blue cheese-laden version they served at the Launch Party in August.  “I literally have pangs for the Anxiety Burger – it’s that good,” said one voter. “The bun is fluffy but the burger isn’t so greasy that the bun gets soaked and falls apart. It’s juicy and has an ample portion of creamy blue cheese to give it a kick.”

This year’s runner-up, The Local, received abundant praise in the final round as well, particularly for the generous heaping of avocado served on their signature Dry Rub Avocado Burger.

“The avocado for a Californian really gives the burger the down home feel for me,” remarked one voter.

"I tried [the Dry Rub Avocado Burger] for the first time on Sunday! It was amazing, the meat was juicy, not dry, plus the slight pepper burn from the spices and the smooth and cooling avocado,” gushed another voter. “Even [if] they don't win, they have a winner on their hands. I will go back with friends."

In the other race of the match, three-time champion Home Plate BBQ outpolled Great Leap Brewing to claim a solid third place in the overall poll.

With that, the Burger Cup comes to a close for another year, and we have our final rankings of the city’s Best Burgers from 1 to 64, as determined by you.

It was a big year for change in the annual rankings, with 25 percent of the competitors making their Burger Cup debut this year. Top ranked among the first-timers was was Jing-A and their trio of sliders at No. 16. Three other first-timers also cracked the Top 25: Loft Eatalicious (#21) Kenny's Burgers (#22) and Groovy Schiller's (#24).

Other venues found their fortunes surging in this year’s contest. Shunyi’s The Garage, which placed No. 46 last year, rocketed 31 places to No. 15. The second largest jump was by Cafe Flatwhite, one of the many vendors to feed the hungry masses at the Launch Party, which leaped 23 positions from last year’s No. 49 to land at No. 26.

Others that saw their burger fortunes rise this year included the Opposite House’s Village Cafe, The Filling Station, Pinotage, and The Bookworm.

Others fell in the annual rankings. Among those that slipped the largest number of slots were Rumi, Paddy O'Shea's, Beer Mania, and Windy City. Two venues closed during the competition: Flamme and Twilight, and others either closed down over the past year or fell out of the top 64, including Burger Bar, Chef Too, Main Street, The Box, Burgers & Beer, Alibi, and the Iron Horse Saloon. Two other prominent spots stopped selling burgers: Migas and Kro's Nest.

So there it is – the 2015 Burger Cup in a nutshell. Scroll below to see the final rankings, including a look at the Top 12 and how they ranked compared to last year. Don’t forget to narrow the gaps in your own burger knowledge by trying the ones you have yet to sample – you can't go wrong with any of them!
 

Final Rankings in the Beijinger's 2015 Burger Cup

1. Slow Boat
2. The Local
3. Home Plate
4. Great Leap Brewing
5. Blue Frog
6. Union Bar & Grille
7. Let's Burger
8. The Big Smoke
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.  The Garage
16.  Jing-A
17.  Katchup
18.  Luga's Villa
19.  Stuff'd
20.  Village Cafe, Opposite House
21.  Loft Eatalicious
22.  Kenny's Burgers
23.  Lush
24.  Groovy Schiller's
25.  Temple Bar
26.  Cafe Flatwhite
27.  1F
28.  Yuppie & Yummy
29.  Fly Pizza
30.  Nola
31.  Paulaner Maximilian
32.  Biteapitta
33.  The Filling Station
34.  The Cut, Fairmont Beijing
35.  Morton's of Chicago
36.  Ramo
37.  Paddy O'Shea's
38.  The Den
39.  Pinotage
40.  The Bookworm
41.  The Irish Volunteer
42.  Beer Mania
43.  Grandma's Kitchen
44.  Domain, East Hotel
45.  Hungry Horse
46.  Windy City
47.  Grinders
48.  Bistrot B
49.  Jamaica Blue
50.  Frank's Place [Closed]
51.  Eudora Station
52.  Laker's
53.  Peter's Tex-Mex
54.  Rumi
55.  Waspark
56.  The Old Bike Café
57.  Sunbake & Brew, V-Continent Beijing Parkview Wuzhou
58.  Burger Me
59.  Park Side Bar & Grill
60.  The Smokeyard
61.  Burger Break
62.  Helen's Café
63.  Park Square
64.  Burger Counter

Images: Ken, Slow Boat, the Beijinger