Carnage in Bracket D! Newbies Send Stalwarts Packing as Sweet 16 is Announced

It looks like someone has shaken the pizza box: This was no ordinary Round of 32, but a stuffed-crust kind of round – stuffed with drama that is. And the Sweet 16 promises to be just as packed with cheese.

But before we get there, let’s clear the dust and figure out just what the heck happened here.

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Two major upsets in Bracket D have seen two newbies, Frasca and The Pizza Show, push aside more established competitors to take their place in the Sweet 16.

The Opposite House's Frasca (ranked 5th in Bracket D) handily nudged aside local fave Baozza, ranked 4th. But in even bigger newbie news, The Pizza Show knocked out heavyweight and former champ Kro's Nest by the narrowest of margins, less than the width of a standard pepperoni slice.

Now, both head into even tougher contests, with Frasca up against perennial contender Great Leap Brewing, which made mincemeat of Paddy O'Shea's in the Round of 32. The Pizza Show faces an equally daunting challenge matched up against hometown heroes Jing-A, who easily cast aside Domino's last round.

Speaking of international chains, it’s clear our readers prefer home-grown brands over the major pizza conglomerates. In addition to Domino's, Pizza Hut and Papa John's also lost out in this round (to Annie's and La Pizza, respectively). The only international chain to make it through to the Sweet 16 is Marzano, which narrowly outpolled Hulu to remain alive.

As we move on, it’s worth noting that three of the 16 top pies are brand new this year. What’s more, four of the five former champions are still alive – reigning champ Pizza Saporita (2019); Pie Squared (2017); Bottega (2016), and Gung Ho (2014, 2015, 2018).

Now, onto some voting stats: with the growth of the Beijinger’s Chinese edition, an increasingly large percentage of voters were Chinese; 72 percent to be precise. When analyzing the data by nationality, it's clear that both Chinese and laowai agreed on the results of all 16 matches, showing that people recognize a great pizza no matter where they're from.

The Sweet 16  is a lightning round and you only have four days to vote – The Elite Eight will be announced Monday, and then there's but three days until the Final Four is announced. In a break from tradition, the Final Four vote will be in person only – at our Final Four Taste-Off, for which there are still a few tables remaining (all individual seats are sold out!).  

Now, let’s take a look at the full brackets for the bound-to-be cut-throat Sweet 16:

Bracket A
Pizza Saporita意块披萨 vs Pizza Marzano比萨玛尚诺
Annie's安妮意大利餐厅 vs Tube Station站点比萨

Bracket B     
Q Mex Bar & Grill库迈 vs La Pizza那匹萨
Pie Squared方派 vs Forno意角

Bracket C     
BOTTEGA意库 vs The Local
GUNG HO!叫板！比萨 vs Pyro Pizza火鬼餐吧 

Bracket D
Great Leap Brewing大跃啤酒  vs Frasca, The Opposite House
Jing-A Brewing Co京A  vs The Pizza Show披萨秀

More pizza parle

And now on to some of the other bits and pieces from the Round of 32. Our Power Index of Italian F&B brands shows just how far these brands have to go to really penetrate the pizza-loving population of Beijing. Even the most recognized brand – S. Pellegrino – was only recognized by a little more than 1 in 3 pizza lovers. Here’s the full ranking followed by what percentage of our voters recognize the brand:

• S. Pellegrino: 38 percent
• Lavazza: 37 percent
• Illy: 29 percent
• Barilla: 28 percent
• Acqua Panna: 23 percent
• San Benedetto: 23 percent
• Birra Moretti: 22 percent
• Cinzano: 17 percent
• Parmalat: 15 percent

We also asked about crust preference. Thin crust spanked the butt of thick, topping our survey of most popular crusts with 28 percent of the vote.

In the interest of pizza memology, we also asked you to caption this picture:

Here were some of your responses:

What do you mean it’s not gluten free?

They forgot the dam wood chips!

Thank god they didn’t leave the pineapple one.

There's always that uncle at family banquets

Still more appealing than Pizza Hut

Brunch at Luga’s

Them city beavers make some of the best pizza

And finally, we asked you if you agreed with the statement, "Only Italians should be allowed to make pizza." The vast majority (90 percent) of readers disagreed. Here's a sampling of what they said:

False, it helps to have some non-Italian processes in place to make sure pizzas actually get made on time.

False. Pizza is a food made with love to be shared, therefore anyone with love in their heart should be allowed to make it.

Only an Italian nickname is required.

False..I’ve had many delicious pizzas from various pizza restaurants where the chefs were not Italians. Also I know a lot of good pizza chefs personally, one of them is my mom and she definitely isn’t Italian. lol

Pizza belongs to the universe so anyone, including aliens, should be able to make it.

When it comes to Pizza, everyone is Italian!

Meanwhile, the minority who agreed with the statement also had their say:

True, because only Italians  know the real taste of Italian pizza

Only Italians make pizza. The other inventions I don't call them pizza.

Sure, seems like a decent jobs program for those guys.

Fine arguments all around.

Now, to wrap things up, we asked you to rank the pizzas that did not make it through to the Round of 32. Here are the results, and thus their final standings in the 2020 Pizza Cup:

33. Saizeriya 萨莉亚意式餐厅 
34. The Cheesecake Factory 芝乐坊 
35. Lily's American Diner 
36. Mao Mao Chong 毛毛虫酒吧 
37. MIAM MIAM 咪吖咪吖·福楼 
38. Big Pizza 比格比萨 
39. Laker's 湖人餐吧 
40. Tavola Italian Dining 
41. Tribe Tribe有机餐厅 
42. Scott's Family Ristorante Italiano 意大利家庭料理 
43. Peiping Machine 北平机器 
44. Brotzeit Bier Bar & Restaurant 博璨德国啤酒餐厅 
45. MIO, Four Seasons Hotel 
46. LMPLUS 
47. BUONA BOCCA Italian Bistro 
48. Assaggi 尝试意大利餐厅 
49. Mr. Pizza 米斯特披萨 
50. Get Pizza 披萨工廠 
51. Eudora Station 亿多瑞站 
52. Via Roma, Kempinski Hotel 花样罗马意大利餐厅 
53. Ponte Ponte意大利餐厅 
54. 1st Floor 壹楼餐吧 
55. La Cucina 后厨意餐 
56. Legend Beer 老牌酒廠 
57. Jazz-Ya 爵士屋 
58. Grandma's Kitchen 祖母的厨房 
59. NBeer Pub 牛啤堂 
60. Pizza Fuoco 岩火比萨 
61. Groovy Schillers 大明餐厅 
62. Peter Pan Peter Pan意大利餐厅 
63. The Veggie Table 吃素的西餐 
64. Bacchus Bistro 酒神食馆 
65. Cafe Ruhe 如何餐厅 
66. Agrilandia 意大利农场餐厅 
67. Nine Road Pizzeria 速度披萨 
68. QS 
69. Alpha Omega Club 甲丁坊.新德餐吧 
70. Pizza Now 披萨到 
71. Pi Italian Wine & Restaurant 意派·酒肆 
72. Nasca Cafe 
73. Joe's Bar & Kitchen 后厨餐吧 
74. Passby Bar 过客 
75. La Mezzaluna 伴月意大利餐厅 
76. Flypizza & Hoodadak Chicken 
77. Lenbach 兰巴赫西餐·啤酒坊 
78. Pinvita 大品大爱 
79. Tomcado 花厨 
80. Bene 
81. Casalingo 
82. Pomona 波莫娜 
83. Byone 百万庄园 
84. Dongli Brewery Restaruant 东里手工啤酒･精酿餐厅 
85. CHAPTER，北京康莱德酒店 
86. FestinTable 佩斯汀西餐 
87. Ummm Classic 最意·经典 
88. Happy Bites I派.纽约手工披萨 
89. Casa Gusto 
90. Jushi Pizza 巨时比萨 
91. Olive Restaurant and Bar 橄榄餐吧 
92. Sesto Senso 食巳意大利菜 
93. Hisewel Brew-pub 海森威精酿啤酒餐吧 
94. Atta BJ 
95. CUP ONE 
96. Lonely Us 一人食·融合餐 
97. PBD Pizza Bar 
98. BLT BLT美式西餐厅 

READ: Brush up on your pizza poetry!

Images: The Beijinger, The New York Post