Kro’s Nest, Stuff’d Among High Seeds Seeing Early Exits in First Round Pizza Cup Voting
Upstart iFresh Pizza, riding a wave from their controversial appearance at the Beijinger 2015 Pizza Cup Launch Party, scored a major upset in first-round voting, sending 5-seed and 2011 Pizza Cup champion Kro’s Nest to an early exit in the 64-venue tourney.
With locations in Zhongguancun and the Kerry Centre, iFresh garnered a lot of new fans (and the ire of some of their pizza-slinging brethren) by selling entire 12-inch pizzas for RMB 1 each at the launch party. Some visitors had no qualms waiting in two-hour lines to get a taste of iFresh, and voting patterns indicate that strategy is paying off.
Competing in the tough Pizza Specialists division, iFresh now faces a much taller task, with all top four seeds – Gung Ho!,
La Pizza, Pizza Plus, and Tube Station – still alive in the division.
There's 32 venues left in the tourney and voting is now underway in Round 2; click here (or on the graphic above) to send your favorite on to the Sweet 16.
Meanwhile, the top four seeds in the other three divisions also moved on.
In the Bars/Clubs division, 12th-seeded Haven, riding the buzz created by a successful appearance at the launch party, also scored a first round upset over fifth seed The Irish Volunteer.
Wudaokou student hangout Sugar Shack, which started with an unusually low 13th seed given their stellar performance in the 2014 Cup, roared back to life by summoning enough voting fans to topple 5th seed Stuff’d.
It was business as usual in the Mid-Range restaurants division, with almost all top seeds moving on, with the only surprise being a resurgent Grandma's Kitchen (#10) toppling higher-ranked Lily's (#7).
In the volatile Upscale Restaurants category, last year’s division champ and top seed The Rug narrowly avoided defeat at the hands of Bene, but otherwise most top seeds did as expected. The exceptions to the rule were Park 17 (which bested Isola) and the reborn Assaggi, which knocked out 5-seed Kitchen Igosso.
With the contestants now cut to 32, the competition gets more intense. Many of our new matchups are incredibly hard to call; let your tastebuds be the judge in these round 2 matchups:
Pizza Specialists
Gung Ho! Pizza (1) vs Bottega (8)
La Pizza (2) vs Hutong Pizza (7)
Pizza Plus (3) vs Pizza Express (6)
Tube Station (4) vs iFresh Pizza (12)
Bars/Clubs
The Tree (1) vs Ramo (9)
Great Leap #45 (2) vs Luga's Villa (10)
Mao Mao Chong (3) vs Q Mex (6)
Haven (12) vs Sugar Shack (13)
Mid-Range Restaurants
Eatalia (1) vs Scott's Family Ristorante Italiano (9)
Annie's (2) vs Grandma's Kitchen (10)
Vineyard Café (3) vs Bocca Della Verita (6)
Alio Olio (4) vs Loft Eatalicious (5)
Upscale Restaurants
The Rug (1) vs Prego, Westin Financial Street (8)
Tavola (2) vs Via Roma, Kempinski Hotel (10)
Mio, Four Seasons Hotel (3) vs Park 17 (11)
Sureño, The Opposite House (4) vs Assaggi (12)
For those of you keeping score at home, here are the full results of the Round of 64:
Pizza Specialists: First Round Results
Gung Ho! Pizza (1) defeated Pizza Buona (16)
La Pizza (2) outdistanced Yummy Box (15)
Pizza Plus (3) beached Whale's Pizza (14)
Tube Station (4) kimcheed Flypizza & Hoodadak Chicken (13)
Pizza Express (6) subtracted Pizza by LMPlus (11)
Hutong Pizza (7) chai’d Pizza View by Opera Bombana (10)
Bottega (8) narrowly outpolled Pie Squared (9)
iFresh Pizza (12) flogged Kro's Nest (5)
Bar/Cafe Pizza: First Round Results
The Tree (1) uprooted Nasca Cafe (16)
Great Leap #45 (2) passed Passby Bar (15)
Mao Mao Chong (3) inched by Jazz-Ya (14)
Q Mex (6) preyed on The Den (11)
Ramo (9) squeaked by Xian Bar (8)
Luga's Villa (10) overcame The Local Bar and Grill (7)
Haven (12) reigned over The Irish Volunteer (5)
Sugar Shack (13) shellacked Stuff'd (4)
Mid-Range Restaurants: First Round Results
Eatalia (1) beat Elisa's (16)
Annie's (2) trounced Tiago Home Kitchen (15)
Vineyard Café (3) beat Michael’s Place (14)
Alio Olio (4) greased The Veggie Table (13)
Loft Eatalicious (5) floated by Charlie's (12)
Bocca Della Verita (6) bested Mrs Shanen's / Green Cow Cafe (11)
Scott's Family Ristorante Italiano (9) beat Peter Pan (8)
Grandma's Kitchen (10) eliminated Lily's American Diner (7)
Upscale Restaurants: First Round Results
The Rug (1) narrowly outpolled Bene (16)
Tavola (2) beat Mixs Italian Grill (15)
Mio, Four Seasons Hotel (3) beat Agrilandia (14)
Sureño, The Opposite House (4) beat Casalingo (13)
Prego, Westin Financial Street (8) beat FA Cafe (9)
Via Roma, Kempinski Hotel (10) beat Fratelli Fresh (7)
Park 17 (11) beat Isola (6)
Assaggi (12) beat Kitchen Igosso (5)
Here's your full graphic of the proceedings below – click for a massive version:
Meanwhile, we asked you to rank the contestants that didn't make it into this year's cup; we'll use this data as a starting point next year when seeding the 2016 Pizza Cup:
65. Papa John's Pizza
66. Pizza Hut
67. Mr. Pizza
68. New York Style Pizza
69. 1st Floor
70. Red House
71. Domino's
72. Ricci Café
73. Lakers
74. Eudora Station Bar and Restaurant
75. Pizza Now
76. Windy City
77. Peter's Tex-Mex
78. Hercules
79. Frost
80. Time Cafe
81. PBD Pizza Bar
82. Miss Pizza
83. Mr. Fabbro
84. Alba
85. Pizza Maru
86. Nanjie
87. Parkside Bar & Grill
88. Abella
89. Cafe del Mar
90. Yonmeike
91. The West Pizza Pub
92. Monkey Mountain Club
93. Skyline Café
94. Fuel
95. Old Town Roses
96. Bella Vista
97. Yi Lai Er Qu
