Survival of the Tastiest: Voters Oust 32 Burgers From the Ultimate Beef Battle
In our winner-takes-all Burger Cup, only the most mouthwatering, succulent burgers survive to move onto the next round. And after three weeks of tastings and a barbecue for 4,500, first blood has now been drawn: the burger lovers of Beijing have made their first cuts in a furious opening round of voting.
UPDATE: Slow Boat Brewery Wins 2016 Burger Cup for Back-To-Back Titles
With the field cut from 64 to 32, many a burger fell valiantly. As would be expected, all four of our Number 1 seeds (Slow Boat, Great Leap Brewing, Home Plate, and Blue Frog) managed to coast into the Round of 32. In fact, the top 16 all passed their first test.
Many of the other matchups, however, proved more intriguing: three 10-seeds (Lush, Morton’s of Chicago and Jamaica Blue) managed to knock out their higher-seeded counterparts.
Also, remarkably, 11-seeded Drunk Craft Beer & Restaurant managed to knock out 6-seeded Ramo.
Expect more burger drama as we enter into the Round of 32, voting for which can be done by clicking here.
Below is Recap of the Round of 64:
Bracket A
Match 1: Slow Boat (1) cruised by Helen's Café (16)
Match 2: Loft Eatalicious (8) floored 1F (9)
Match 3: Stuff'd (5) eked by Nasca Café (12)
Match 4: Cafe Flatwhite (4) sliced The Cut, Fairmont Beijing (13)
Match 5: Ahava (6) shamrocked Paddy O'Shea's (11)
Match 6: Lily's American Diner (3) blindsided Park Side Bar & Grill (14)
Match 7: Lush (10) harpooned Blue Marlin (7)
Match 8: Union Bar & Grille (2) preyed on Temple Bar (15)
Bracket B
Match 1: Great Leap Brewing #12 Brewpub (1) sent Peter's Tex-Mex (16) south of the border
Match 2: Chat Room (9) bested Village Cafe, Opposite House (8)
Match 3: Frost Coffee, Cocktails and Dining (5) survived a scare from Grandma's Kitchen (12)
Match 4: Luga's Villa (4) smoked The Smokeyard (13)
Match 5: Plan B (3) beat Beer Mania (14)
Match 6: BurgerMe (6) uncorked Pinotage (11)
Match 7: Morton's of Chicago (10) crashed Dongli Brewery (7)’s party
Match 8: Let's Burger (2) wiped 8-Bit (15)’s hard drive
Bracket C
Match 1: Home Plate (1) rocked Paulaner Maximilian (16)
Match 2: Biteapitta (8) sent Bunny Drop (9) hopping
Match 3: Fatboy's The Burger Bar (5) bullied Nola (12)
Match 4: 4corners (4) parked The Garage (13)
Match 5: Katchup (3) squeezed out Laker's (14)
Match 6: Drunk Craft Beer & Restaurant (11) battered Ramo (6)
Match 7: Jamaica Blue (10) stopped VSports Bar and Restaurant (7)
Match 8: Q Mex (2) romped over Yuppie Yummy (15)
Bracket D
Match 1: Blue Frog (1) leaped over Burger Counter (16)
Match 2: Billy's Fish & Chips (8) ground up Grinders (9)
Match 3: Kenny's Burgers (5) sent Koli’s Camp (12) into the woods
Match 4: Jing-A (4) broke Burger Break (13)
Match 5: The Big Smoke (3) rung Eudora Station (14)’s bell
Match 6: Feast (Food by EAST) (6) bested Bistrot B, Rosewood Beijing (11)
Match 7: Tim's Texas Bar-B-Q (7) survived over He Kitchen (10)
Match 8: The Local (2) gassed The Filling Station (15)
Finally. as is our custom, we asked you to rate the venues that did not make it into the field of 64. These now serve as the official rankings of our burgers for 2016, numbers 65-97:
65. The Bookworm
66. Irish Volunteer
67. XL Bar
68. Veggie Table
69. Caravan
70. Angel Burger
71. Park Square
72. Serbia Burger
73. Hungry Horse
74. Cannon's Eatery
75. Dr. Cactus
76. Windy City
77. Uncle Sam's
78. Food Studio, Renaissance Beijing Wangfujing Hotel
79. Corner
80. Waspark
81. Pebbles Courtyard
82. Craft, Crowne Plaza Lido
83. One East
84. Rolling Rolling
85. North Capital
86. Kitchen Table, W Beijing Chang'an
87. Must Guette
88. Steak Exchange, InterContinental Hotel
89. MRL
90. Golden Era 50's Diner
91. Hub Kitchen
92. Little Britain
93. Landmark Café
94. Old Bike Café
95. Pentalounge, Penta Hotel
96. Fuel, Langham Place
97. Nanluo Big Burger
Photos: the Beijinger
