2013 Burger Cup: And Then There Were Eight

Paul Ryding | Aug 5, 2013 7:00 pm | 7 comments | 4246 reads

The results are in. Voting in the Beijinger Burger Cup 2013 is officially over. The great people of Beijing have spoken, and they have identified the eight burgers they like the most. We now know who will be the final eight for our live cook-off where Beijing's top eight burger joints will slug it out over hot cokes at our inaugural Burger Festival on Saturday August 17, from 4-9pm at BCIS (Beijing City International School). Who will crack under the August heat, and who will raise the cup? Your vote on the day will now decide.

Heavyweight Union Bar ousted Shuangjing's Plan B by one (one) single vote. The only Shuangjinger who'll be slinging patties come August 17 is Lily's American Diner who toppled Migas. Dark horses Great Leap Brewpub overcame Frost Nails/Back Alley Bistro in the most mouth-watering tie of the round. Blue Frog beat out Cafe Flatwhite. Defending champs Home Plate Bar-B-Que bashed Biteapitta to ensure they'll be in the mix come reckoning day, and Tim's Texas Bar-B-Q overcame Flamme. Strongly fancied The Local beat 1F. Let's Burger eliminated Chef Too, too.

Our bracket was based on last year's final voting, after which we included a list of worthy newcomers. We removed all international chains from competition. China competitors were fine, but those international interlopers were cast out.

Our web hamsters fought their own battle against persistent ballot stuffers. They're clever, those wily old cheats, but not clever enough. Over 150 votes were discounted for fraudulent activity.

Our survey identified The Big Smoke as the unluckiest losers, with respondents saying they were the most unfortunate to be eliminated before the last eight.

Make sure you get along to BCIS on August 17 to have your say on our 2013 champions.

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cdaviser's picture cdaviser Submitted by Guest on Sun, 08/11/2013 - 16:08

I don't know, even if Bobbylaw did just join to write that comment, it doesn't really change the substance of his point. I joined a while ago but don't comment much... hope you don't hold that against me.

Have you even had the burgers at Slow Boat, Steven? They're fucking awesome, high-quality, and not overpriced. They've got a good thing going over there and I've never gotten sick from them, which is more than I can say about a lot of those burgers on the list. And there's a pretty solid number of reviews on the internet, on this site and others, that point to the food as worth the visit.

I understand your professional opinion and I'm not presuming that there's shady dealings going on, but they were fucking snubbed! And there's a lot of people who go to that bar, me being one of them, who know it just as well. So don't blame one of their customers for thinking this whole thing is a load of shit when other places who just opened get such an advantage.

Bobbylaw's picture Bobbylaw Submitted by Guest on Thu, 08/08/2013 - 14:19

Yup, the fix is obviously in. Slow Boat wasn't even included in the voting, even though they have been making great burgers way longer than Great Leap. Great Leap is seeded second after being open for only two months and then is catering or sponsoring the event and of course is now in the finals. Thanks Steve but we are not idiots. Did you even ask anyone else to be a sponsor? Why not just give them the award already and be done with it.

Steven Schwankert's picture Steven Schwankert Submitted by Guest on Wed, 08/07/2013 - 15:26

Bigrainboy,

Thanks very much for your comment.

You raise a legitimate point, and one that we discussed at length here at the Beijinger. Seeding is a tricky process. We wanted to make sure that our top performers last year were seeded high. We also wanted to see some newcomers have a shot, and Great Leap Brewpub was the name that came up most often, both among our editorial staff, and among readers with whom we spoke.

When deciding the list of newcomers, the final selections were made by the editorial staff; our sales department was not part of that process.

As for their participation as a sponsor, that came about after the competition began, and our editorial staff had no fore-knowledge of it.

One of the reasons we wanted to have the 2013 Burger Cup decided by a face-to-face cook-off at a live event was to address the very concerns that you raise: that paths were pre-determined, or that certain venues that may or may not have a commercial relationship with the Beijinger or True Run media were favored. On August 17, from 4-9, our eight burger finalists will have to bring their best to raise the cup. That means the Beijinger's readers will cast their votes on the day, at the event, and that's how the winner will be determined -- no worries about electronic votes cast anonymously in dark rooms.

We appreciate your concerns and we as an editorial staff share them. We hope you'll come out on August 17 and cast your vote for your favorite burger place, whoever that happens to be.

Bigrainboy's picture Bigrainboy Submitted by Guest on Wed, 08/07/2013 - 14:12

When is someone going to address the elephant in the room - notably why is one of the contestants also a sponsor? While we're at it, why did the same brewery come in as a second seed, virtually guaranteeing it's rise to the final eight? Did it not JUST OPEN?

I've always enjoyed thebeijinger but this just smacks of advertising money and unethical journalism.

TX_Chick's picture TX_Chick Submitted by Guest on Mon, 08/05/2013 - 19:17

Quote:
Our web hamsters fought there own battle against persistent ballot stuffers. They're clever, those wily old cheats, but not clever enough.

Seriously, learn the differences of their, they're, and their! "There" should be "their." At least "they're" is used correctly.

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