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 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. Click here 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!

This post first appeared in thebeijinger.com on September 16, 2015 and has been slightly modified.

After one huge party and over 20 days of cut-throat voting between 64 of the capital’s top patty slingers, here we have it, the Final Four masters of meat in our 2015 Burger Cup competition. Based on the frequency at which we often find ourselves at these four establishments it may come as no surprise that they’ve worked their way to the top, testament to the consistently mouthwatering grub that they make and an atmosphere that we yearn for after a grueling day at the office, dreaming of nothing more than belly-shaped bun (and an ice-cold brew).

In the end it was Home Plate BBQ that flipped Let’s Burger, whereas Slow Boat Brewery shunned Union Bar and Grille, and Great Leap Brewing took Big Smoke Bistro by storm, securing the place of three of the same competitors that entered last year’s final. The big difference this year is that The Local squeezed by Blue Frog, compared to 2014 when they were eked out Big Smoke Bistro. We’ll put that down to them putting extra creamy avocados on their dry rub burgers over the past 12 months.

Now the big question is, can Home Plate make it a whopping four years in a row? If you haven’t voted yet, this would be the time to show your allegiance to one of these four Beijing heavyweights by voting at www.thebeijinger.com/2015burgercup – you have until noon on Monday (Sep 14) to cast your vote before we move into the The Finals on the same day at 4pm. The ultimate winner will be announced shortly after The Finals polls have closed at noon on Wednesday (Sep 16).

Check here for the updated brackets to see exactly where each of the top 64 seeds fell.

This post first appeared on thebeijinger.com on September 10, 2015

Who doesn’t love a good Aussie BBQ and a couple of brewskis? This Saturday August 29 from 5-7pm, EAST, Beijing will host a free flow Aussie BBQ and Great Leap Brewing craft beer event in collaboration with Great Leap Brewing, and Plastered 8, at Xian Bar, EAST, Beijing. Every RMB raised through the event will go toward the New Life Center (NLC).

NLC, founded in 2001, is a is a Shunyi-based foster home and learning center for orphaned and underprivileged children from broken homes or migrant families. The goal for Saturday’s BBQ is to raise more than RMB 42,000 and pay the center’s housing and heating bills for this coming winter.

This is bound to be an evening of amazing food and beers from EAST’s Chef Rob Cunningham and Great Leap Brewing. Tickets are RMB 200 (for adults and kids – there are no discounts on kids’ tickets, as this is a fundraiser). There are plenty of tickets available, so contact Great Leap Brewing or EAST, Beijing to reserve your spot!

There’ll also be the chance to bid on amazing prizes including meals at Opera Bombana, Mosto, Agua, Migas, Sureno, Jing Yaa Tang, and more. 

Photos: Courtesy of EAST, Beijing and New Life Center

Craft beer and pizza. This is what Beijinger readers told us they most enjoyed together during the 2014 the Beijinger Pizza Cup. Great Leap has heeded the call and called in Daniel Gutter, a pizza consultant from one of Philadelphia’s top pizza kitchens, and Kin Hong, the man who created the heart-stopping burgers at Great Leap’s #12 location, to put together a menu of six classic pizzas.

How’s the pizza? It’s really good, it may even be great. It’s New York-style, served in 16-inch pies. Slices will be available in three varieties from 18-inch pizzas. Great Leap hits all the points: the crust is crispy, there’s plenty of cheese without inducing a heart attack, and the toppings are fresh. Each pizza gets a finish when it comes out of the oven, such as the sprinkling of fiery pickled chilies on the spicy sausage Little Nunzio.

Classics like the spicy sausage are deeply satisfying but the biggest surprise is the Green Machine, a veggie pizza with kale as its primary topping. Unlike most vegetable pizzas, which become soggy due to the moisture in the veggies, this was crisp and fresh throughout. It’s absolutely guilt-free and vegetarians will be very, very happy.

The #45 site was still being welded when we visited, but its Beijing-on-the-East-River feel and visible brewing tanks will be familiar from their other locations. The space seems smaller compared to #12, but expands to an outdoor deck with considerably more seating for warmer weather. The amazing touch at this location is the laser-cut steel map of Beijing, to the right of the entrance. It’s art. Find your house on it. Seeing that alone is worth the trip. However, we’re certain the pizza will make what is otherwise a neighborhood spot into a destination.

Great Leap Brewing #45
Sun-Thu 11am-1am, Fri-Sat 11am-2am. 45-1 Xinyuan Jie, Chaoyang District.
朝阳区新源街45-1
800m west of Liangmaqiao (Line 10)

This post first appeared on thebeijinger.com on March 12, 2015

Photos: Uni

Reigning champ Home Plate Bar-B-Que narrowly defeated a strong showing by Great Leap Brewing to enter the Championship of the Beijinger’s 2014 Burger Cup, where it will face off against Slow Boat Brewery, which moved past The Big Smoke on its way to the final match.

It’s been a grueling battle for both of the final match’s contestants. On their way through the field of 64 venues, Home Plate defeated Domain, Burgers & Beer, Temple Bar, Union Bar and Grille and finally Great Leap to make it to the penultimate match. Meanwhile, the previously unranked Slow Boat sailed past Lakers, The Irish Volunteer, Lily’s American Diner, Plan B, and The Big Smoke to reach the final.

Home Plate’s signature burger is the Double Cheese Burger. It’s chock full of Australian beef goodness and comes at the bargain price of RMB 55 (sides are extra). Served on a buttered, toasted sesame seed bun, Home Plate’s beast is topped with lettuce, tomatoes, pickles and red onion and slathered with one of their home-made sauces: house-made mustard or one of the BBQ sauces that made them famous: Kansas, Memphis or Texas style.

Meanwhile, Slow Boat’s claim-to-fame is their Fryburger, which takes the perfect burger side dish – French Fries – and shoves them right in there between the two halves of the toasted bun. Served with a pickle for RMB 50, Slow Boat’s Australian ground beef patty is topped with American cheese and their signature aioli sauce, adding up to a mouth-watering combination.

The third-place match is another mouth-waterer, given the quality and appeal of the two contestants, Great Leap and The Big Smoke.

Great Leap defeated Main Street, Windy City, 4corners and The Local before being bumped off by Home Plate to earn their place in the consolation round. The Big Smoke defeated Eudora Station, The Kro’s Nest, Lush and blue frog before stalling in front of Slow Boat to enter the battle for #3.

Great Leap’s top selling burger, the Cheeseburger, is simple yet sophisticated, featuring fresh (never frozen) single-source Inner Mongolian beef which is butchered, prepared and ground in-house. It’s then topped with American cheese and house-made pickles and served with Mayo and GLB Fancy Sauce on a toasted Sesame Seed Bun.

On the other side stands The Big Smoke with their signature burger, the Portabella Blue Cheese Burger. This 100% beef burger is served on a sesame seed bun and is toppped with a deep fried portabella mushroom stuffed with blue cheese, lettuce and red onion and dressed with their spicy chipotle lime mayo. At RMB 68, it is served withthe Big Smoke’s signature truffle-oiled,hand-cut French Fries.

So there you have it: We’re down to the finals and you have until Saturday night to vote … that’s plenty of time for even you burger virgins to try each one of the top four before making up your mind.

Here’s our lineup card:

Championship: Home Plate vs Slow Boat
3rd Place Match: Great Leap vs The Big Smoke

Meanwhile, In the last round of voting we also asked you your favorite of several contenders for a dream burger combination. The overwhelming favorite was the Joybringer No. 1 created by voter Tijs Bulk of the Netherlands (who in fact hails from not too far from the birthplace of Gouda cheese). The Joybringer features a beef patty on a lightly toasted bun topped with Gouda cheese, lettuce, tomato, caramalized onions, bacon, mustard, mayonnaise and BBQ sauce. Voters reported they’d be willing to pay RMB 47 for such a combo … it remains to be seen if any of Beijing’s burgermeisters would like to put this combo on their menu.

Finally, we asked you to rank the four establishments that were knocked out in the previous round. Adding to our previously-ranked #9 and #10, the 2014 list of Top 10 Beijing Burgers is beginning to take shape.

5. The Local
6. Blue Frog
7. Plan B
8. Union Bar and Grille
9. Frost Coffee, Cocktails and Dining
10. Let’s Burger

This post first appeared thebeijinger.com on September 23, 2014

Photos: courtesy of Home Plate, Big Smoke, The Great Leap, Slow Boat & graphics by Susu Luo