Upset: The Local Ousts Q Mex; Other Top Seeds Prevail in Latest Round of the Pizza Cup

The Beijinger | Oct 30, 2018 3:00 pm | Add a comment | 2468 reads

This is it, folks, the finish line is in sight and there's still everything to win – or lose – for our Final Four in this year's Pizza Cup.

The biggest result of this round comes once again from The Local (finishing #12 last year). Following their surprise win against pizza mammoths Tube Station last week, the Courtyard 4 favorite has now also knocked out their nearby Mexican neighbor Q Mex (who also put in a strong show, rising from #17 last year).

That now brings The Local up against eco-friendlies Gung Ho! (last year's #5) who, also in a surprise result, have knocked out last year's pizza champs Pie Squared (commiserations to all you Shunyiites, and we continue to hope for a downtown location before next year's battle!).

Meanwhile, top seed and also former champ Bottega has ousted delivery favorites Annie’s (last year's #6) whereas La Pizza, last year's seventh place, has put Eatalia down, last year's third place, in a Neapolitan-Roman grudge match.

That means that every contender but Bottega in this year's Final Four has made it further than they did last year when it was Bottega, Eatalia, Pie Squared, and Tube Station.

It also means that we could have an all-Italian final this year, or that Italy could be completely blocked out of the final. Each has a possibility of occurring, and we’re asking you to make the call. Vote here – you have until Friday!
 

Scan the QR Code below with WeChat to Vote the best pizza through to this year's Championship Round!

Final Four battle recap

  • Gung Ho! jousts with Bottega, who landed in second place in 2017, in a battle of the former champs.
  • Underdog The Local – up from last year’s final showing at #12 – goes to battle against the mighty La Pizza, who ended as #7 in last year's cup.
     

The doughy stats

In the interest of polling public opinion on our favorite foodstuff, we asked you a couple of questions as to your pizza eating habits.

In our annual pizza pricing question, we’ve found the average price our consumers believe fair for a standard 12-inch pizza in Beijing is RMB 78 (that’s USD 11.20), with 42 percent willing to pay RMB 80 or more.

We also asked you what side dish goes best with pizza (the correct answer being of course “nothing”) and really the survey states that less than 1 in 10 want anything aside from a salad (37 percent) or fries (11 percent).

Here are the top nine sides you cited as the most appropriate:

1. Salad (37 percent)
2. Fries (11 percent)
3. Nothing (10 percent)
4. Beer (8 percent)
5. Wings (8 percent)
6. Cheese balls/sticks/puffs (4 percent)
7. Garlic bread (2 percent)
8. Sweet potato fries (2 percent)
9. Breadsticks (1 percent)

The most unintentionally hilarious response was perhaps “a big bowel [sic] of rice.” Hey, to each his own…
 

Knockout round schedule

Which leads us to the remainder of the competition, a quick six days away.

  • The Final Four is announced Tue, Oct 30 and closes Fri, Nov 2
  • The Championship round is announced Fri, Nov 2 and closes Mon, Nov 5

Yes, that's right, this year's winner of Beijing's Best Pizza 2018 will be crowned next Monday, Nov 5!
 

Final rankings from #9 on as voted by you, with the Delicious Dozen coming into view:

9. Great Leap Brewing #45
10. Pizza Saporita
11. Kro's Nest
12. Tube Station
13. Pyro Pizza
14. Papa John's
15. Ramo
16. Yummy Box
17. Paddy O'Shea's 
18. Pizza Marzano 
19. Tavola
20. Xian at East, Beijing 
21. Mao Mao Chong 
22. Domino's 
23. La Villa 
24. Lievito
25. Tiago 
26. The Veggie Table 
27. Lily's American Diner 
28. Lakers 
29. Tribe 
30. Pizza Hut 
31. Legend Beer 
32. NBeer Pub 
33. Pizza Factory 
34. Stuff'd 
35. VSports 
36. Luga's Villa 
37. Eudora Station 
38. The Rug 
39. Fellas 
40. Grandma's Kitchen 
41. Le Fromager de Pékin 
42. Tim's Texas BBQ 
43. Bocca Della Verita 
44. Nasca Cafe 
45. Mrs Shanen's / Green Cow Cafe 
46. Pizza by LMPlus 
47. Mio, Four Seasons Hotel 
48. 1st Floor 
49. Scott's Family Ristorante Italiano 
50. Andy’s 
51. Joe’s Bar & Kitchen 
52. QS 
53. Mr Pizza 
54. Assaggi 
55. Pizza Buona 
56. Flypizza & Hoodakdak Chicken 
57. Peter Pan 
58. Panda Brew 
59. Nine Road Pizzeria 
60. Buddy Bar 
61. PBD Pizza Bar 
62. Fratelli Fresh 
63. Via Roma, Kempinski Hotel 
64. 789 (A-Life) 
65. Radici 
66. Peiping Machine 
67. Pizza Now 
68. Bene 
69. Uno Bar & Grill 
70. Passby Bar 
71. Red Rose 
72. Charlie's 
73. Max Pizza 
74. Mix's Italian Grill 
75. Four Ace 
76. Botany 
77. Leos Pizza 
78. Elisa's 
79. Jazz-Ya 
80. Prego, Westin Financial Street 
81. Casalingo 
82. Kitchen Igosso 
83. Agrilandia 
84. Hisewel Brew-pub 
85. Pizzagram 
86. Loft Eatalicious 
87. Yun Brew 
88. Blufish 
89. Pinvita 
90. Whale's Pizza 
91. Miss Pizza 
92. Byone 
93. Jushi Pizza Just in Time! 
94. Atta BJ 
95. Ebeiguo 
96. BK's Tavern 
97. Pomona 

Images: the Beijinger