How You Will Choose Beijing's Best Burger of 2019

The Beijingers | Jun 21, 2019 10:19 am | Add a comment | 795 reads

It's been a year of big change since we last brought you the Burger Cup: a dozen have fallen since we last polled you in the summer of '18, and 29 newbies have risen to take their place. And now, once again, it's time for you, dear reader, to choose the best in our annual knock-down, drag-out Burger Cup.

Twelve of the Top 100 have ceased to be since last year's Burger Cup, including Common Burger @ ARCADE by Hatchery (last year's #12), Stuff’d (#22), Ramo (#28), Tim's Texas Bar-B-Q (#43), and most recently Frost (#81).

But while the dead shall be fondly remembered, we have 31 new burgers on this year's ballot for us to drown our sorrows with. And the amazing thing is: you can try 12 of these at this weekend's Burger Fest (click here for a more in-depth look at the newbies):

  • A Lil' Somethin'
  • Boxing Cat
  • Crafters Brewing Co.
  • Hey Burger
  • Localoca
  • Miam Miam
  • Mr Eel's Love
  • No Diet Bistro & Bar
  • Pinvita
  • Red Rose
  • Rodeo Connection
  • Turkish Feast

Another 19 could not make the fest but are worthy of your consideration:

  • 40+ Club
  • 42Play
  • Beer Boom
  • Berglin
  • Bistro 108
  • Cairns
  • Chao Living Room Art Center
  • Halo Burger
  • Hotties
  • Signature's, Kempinski Hotel
  • La Rosee
  • Little Creatures
  • Rhythm Craft Beer
  • Royal Stacks
  • Spacelab
  • Su Zui Craft Beer
  • W Restaurant
  • West Gastropub
  • Xuan House

All in all that leaves our opening round ballot with a whopping 120 burger places for you to weigh up.

And now, on to how you'll actually do it:
 

Eat Before You Vote

We’re first asking you to train your palate. The fun begins this weekend at our annual Burger Festival at Galaxy Soho where you will have more choices than you can possibly fit in that stomach of yours. Come both days to try as many as you can.

On Saturday morning, we’ll release the preliminary round of voting – you’ll have 120 to choose from, each in four brackets. Your task? Select up to eight of your favorites in each four.

After six days of balloting, the eight venues with the highest number of votes will then be seeded in our 32-contestant bracket, where each will go head-to-head until but a single champion remains.

We urge you to eat before you vote – so that when it comes time for you to select the best, you are an informed voter.

This is a contest we do not take lightly. We do everything in our power to ensure the ultimate outcome of this exercise – an authoritative list of Beijing's Best Burgers – is both fair and reflective of the wonderful selection we have on hand. So you too should cast your ballot with responsibility.

What we hope to do is inspire you to visit as many new places as possible – you may think you know Beijing's best burger, but how can you be sure if you haven't tried them all?


How Voting Will Work

The 2019 Beijing Burger Fest (Jun 22-23):

Put your sampling into overdrive. Come out on Saturday or Sunday (or both) to experience one of (if not the biggest) cook-out in Beijing's modern history: the 2019 Beijing Burger Fest. We'll be there from 11am to 8pm; tickets are RMB 25 at the door – sorry, all early bird tix are sold out.

This will be your chance to check off the spots you have yet to try – we'll have more than three dozen to choose from.

You can also expect a fantastic lineup of entertainment to fill the moments when you aren’t stuffing your face, including bands, DJs, children's play areas, and audience participation events including our Best Buns Contest and our Air Guitar Contest, where contestants will battle it out to claim over RMB 2,000 in prizes.

The 2019 Burger Cup (Jun 22-Jul 16):

After you have had plenty of time to sample burgers, it's time to put them to a vote. We'll give you an initial ballot with the Top 120 contestants spread into four brackets, and you will choose which ones deserve a spot in the next round.

There is a week's worth of meals between now and closing of the first round of voting, so it would not be a stretch to think a reasonable foodie could expand their burger horizons by sampling at least 12 new choices without growing too weary (or unable to fit into one's normal trousers).

2018 Burger Cup Recap: The 12 Best Burgers in Beijing, According to You

On Jun 28, the top eight contestants from each bracket will go on to be seeded into a 32-contestant World Cup-style sudden death competition bracket. This bracket will be put up for another round of voting – and also gives you a chance to “fill out your dance card” so to speak and try the remaining 32 before casting a ballot.

In each successive round, the number of contestants is cut by half. We'll keep doing that until only one remains: Your burger champion for 2019. The schedule for voting will be as follows:

  • Opening round ballot: Saturday, Jun 22, 11am
  • Round of 32: Friday, Jun 28, 3pm
  • Sweet 16: Tuesday, Jul 2, 3pm
  • Elite Eight: Friday, Jul 5, 3pm
  • Final Four: Tuesday, Jul 9, 3pm
  • Championship Round: Friday, Jul 12, 3pm
  • Beijing's Best Burger crowned: Tuesday, Jul 16, 4pm

So what are you waiting for? Go out and gorge!

Early bird tickets are already sold out for our Jun 22-23 Burger Fest at Galaxy Soho – but you can buy regular tickets here or at the door. See you between 11am and 8pm on Saturday or Sunday!

Images: the Beijinger, Uni You, Hatchery