Former Champs, Familiar Faces Move on to Pizza Cup's Live Taste-Offs

The online ballots have been counted, the results are in, and you can expect to see quite a few familiar faces in the Pizza Cup ’21 Sweet 16 -- which now moves on to a first-time-ever series of in-person Taste-Offs that will decide the champion for 2021!

Former champs Bottega, Pizza Saporita, Pie Squared, Gung Ho! and Kro’s Nest have all made it into our taste-off rounds, the first of which takes place this Saturday afternoon -- grab tickets while they are still available here:

These heavyweights are joined by other familiar faces -- Forno, Q Mex, La Pizza, Annie’s, The Local, Great Leap, Jing-A, Pizza Show, Tube Station and Pyro Pizza -- in pursuit of cheesy glory.

One international chain also snuck into the mix, rounding out the field of 16: Papa John's, who sent Yummy Box to the also-ran category.

So what happens next? The four top pizzas in each bracket go on to special in-person tastings judged by pizza fans like you.

Only those in attendance are eligible to choose this year's champions -- and they'll do it fair and square by sampling all four in each round and electing one to move on to the championship.

At each of our Saturday afternoon parties you will scarf down pizza and beer, be showered with gifts (this weekend's attendees will get a limited edition Pizza Cup scarf), and compete in our PIZZALYMPIC PENTATHLON -- a series of five tests of skill, with Gold, Silver and Bronze medals for the champions.

You'll be competing in games such as Tabletop Air Hockey, the Olympic Coin Spin, Pizza Trivia, Lace the Skate, the Bing Dwen Dwen Toss and Mini Curling.

Can't make it this Saturday afternoon? There's three more taste-offs to come, each featuring four of Beijing's 16 best pizzas.

Oh and another thing: Who wants a scarf? We still need your opinion to determine the final rankings of contestants 17-32. Let us know who didn't deserve to be relegated here and you could win one of our cool Pizza Cup scarves, just in time to fend off Beijing's brutal winter:

Here’s a look at the full results of the Round of 32:

Bracket A  
Bottega意库 over Plan B
Tube Station站点比萨
over Citywalk Red Oven Pizza Bakery城市大道红炉披萨烘焙坊
Pie Squared方派披萨
over Peter PanPeter Pan意大利餐厅
Kro's Nest乌巢
over Pizza Marzano比萨玛尚诺

Bracket B
Forno意角 over PontePonte 意大利餐厅
Pizza Saporita意块披萨
over Xian Bar, East Hotel北京东隅仙酒吧
Gung Ho!叫板!比萨
over Frasca
Papa John's棒约翰比萨
over Yummy Box美盒比萨

Bracket C  
Annie's安妮意大利餐厅 over Miam Miam咪吖咪吖
Q Mex Bar & Grill库迈墨西哥餐吧
over Georgia's Feast格鲁•秀色
La Pizza那匹萨
over Commune Reserve
The Local
over Turkish Feast西庭•秀色

Bracket D
Great Leap Brewing大跃啤酒 over The Cheesecake Factory芝乐坊
Jing-A Brewing Co.京A
over Scott's Family Ristorante Italiano意大利家庭料理
Pizza Show披萨秀
over Eatalia意塔利意式餐厅
Pyro Pizza火鬼餐吧
over Hulu琥禄

Thus, the Sweet 16 Taste-Off events are decided.

This weekend – Saturday, Nov 20 – the Bracket A Taste-Off will see Bottega, Tube Station, Pie Squared and Kro’s Nest all squaring off against one another.

Then it’ll be the following:

Bracket B Taste-Off – Saturday, Nov 27
Forno意角  
Pizza Saporita意块披萨  
Gung Ho!叫板!比萨  
Papa John's棒约翰比萨

Bracket C Taste-Off – Saturday, Dec 4
Annie's安妮意大利餐厅  
Q Mex Bar & Grill库迈墨西哥餐吧  
La Pizza那匹萨  
The Local  

Bracket D Taste-Off – Saturday, Dec 11
Great Leap Brewing大跃啤酒  
Jing-A Brewing Co.京A  
Pizza Show披萨秀  
Pyro Pizza火鬼餐吧

After these contests have been decided, the Final Four will move on to a Grand Final Taste-Off to take place on Dec 18!

And remember, voting will be offline and in-person from here on out, so don’t forget to grab tickets to the four taste-offs if you haven’t already!

Tickets for the grand final aren’t on sale just yet, but if you’d like to get to all four taste-offs, consider the VIP Total Taste-Off Pass (for tables of four only) at RMB 2,400 (or RMB 4,000 for the free flow option. You heard that right – free flow). 

There are VIP options for tables at each event which include this offer as well, which allows guests to enjoy three hours of the following free flow cocktails: Mojito, Aperol Spritz, Rose Margarita, Cuba Libre and Gin & Tonic.

Be sure to grab your tickets and be part of Pizza Cup history today!

And finally, as is our custom, we asked you to rank the restaurants who didn't make the Round of 32. Here's how you saw it, and thus here our their final rankings in the 2021 Pizza Cup:

34. Pizza Hut必胜客
35. Mr. Pizza米斯特披萨
36. Tiago
37. Lily’s American Diner莉莉斯美式西餐厅
38. La Platea兰蒂地中海餐厅
39. Laker's湖人餐吧
40. Kitty & Daniel大牛好莱坞餐吧
41. The Rug
42. Buona Bocca意大利小馆儿
43. Tomcado花厨
44. Green Cow City Cafe单太太绿牛咖啡
45. Tavola Italian Dining
46. Assaggi尝试意大利餐厅
47. Mao Mao Chong毛毛虫酒吧
48. Paddy O'Shea's爱尔兰酒吧
49. NBeer Pub牛啤堂
50. Via Roma·Kempinski Hotel花样罗马意大利餐厅
51. Nine Road Pizzeria速度披萨
52. LMPlus
53. Steam Pizza蒸汽披萨(颐堤港店)
54. Big Pizza比格比萨
55. Lets Seafood非常创意海鲜
56. QS奎妮妙选
57. Eudora Station亿多瑞站
58. La Cucina后厨意餐
59. Grandma's Kitchen祖母的厨房
60. Bacchus Bistro酒神食馆
61. Pizza Now披萨到
62. La Mezzaluna伴月意大利餐厅
63. Volare
64. Very Sport意大利餐吧

They join the rest of the list, which was determined last round:

65. MIO, Four Seasons Hotel 北京四季酒店·MIO
66. Saizeriya 萨莉亚意式餐厅
67. Brotzeit 博璨德国啤酒餐厅(国贸)
68. The Veggie Table 吃素的西餐
69. Jazz-Ya 爵士屋
70. Tribe 有机餐厅
71. Get Pizza 披萨工廠
72. Bene 班妮意大利餐厅
73. Groovy Schillers 大明餐厅
74. Pinvita Pinvita意大利美食集市
75. German Restaurant 甲丁坊.新德餐吧
76. Happy Bites 嗨派.纽约手工披萨
77. Byone 百万庄园
78. Legend 老牌餐吧
79. Passby Bar 过客
80. Flypizza & Hoodadak Chicken
81. Cup One
82. Nasca Cafe
83. Olive Restaurant and Bar 橄榄餐吧
84. Riva 意岸
85. Joe's by Yonovo
86. Hisewel-Brew-pub 海森威精酿啤酒餐吧
87. Atta BJ
88. Festin Table 佩斯汀西餐
89. Sesto Senso Se·食巳意大利餐厅
90. Chapter, Conrad Beijing Chapter
91. PBD Pizza Bar
92. Just in time 巨时比萨
93. POMONA 波莫娜咖啡厅
94. Casalingo 卡萨琳戈
95. Agrilandia

 

READ: Pizza Cup Bracket A Taste-Off Party Preview: Be There on Saturday!

Images: The Beijingers