Two Surprise Upsets as Juicy Burger Cup Enters the Elite 8!

There have been plenty of surprise upsets in the Burger Cup over the years -- and as this year's contest heads into the Elite 8, it's proving to be no exception.

Vote now in the Elite 8

The biggest upset comes as 2020 Burger Cup champions Side Street are ousted by rival Great Leap in a shocking blow, mirroring last year’s cup which also saw Side Street edged out of the Elite 8 by newcomer Slider Nation. 

Another surprise victory came for dark horse Wild Kite, which managed to beat Burger Cup veteran 3 Little Pigs by Andy’s Craft Sausages, making it the only newcomer to move on to this illustrious round.

Local burger joints also triumphed over international chains this past round -- with Slider Nation trumping FATBURGER and Beersmith Gastropub taking out Shake Shack. Coincidentaly the two will now face each other for the battle of the sliders!

Former Burger Cup champions Slow Boat, Home Plate and Q Mex have also all made it through, keeping their dreams of winning another Burger Cup title alive. 

Here are the full results of the Sweet 16 ("New" indicates a new venue this year; and an asterisk (*) indicates a participant in Juicy Burger Month).

BRACKET A

*Slow Boat Brewery悠航鲜啤 over *COMMUNE RESERVECOMMUNE RESERVE北京华贸甄选店 
*Great Leap Brewing大跃啤酒 over *Side Street街旁 

BRACKET B

*Jing-A京A over *Malbec & Beef阿根廷牛排馆 (New)
*Q MEX Bar & Grill库迈墨西哥餐吧 over *blue frog蓝蛙 

BRACKET C

*Home Plate BBQ本垒美式烤肉 over Arrow Factory箭厂啤酒 
*Wild Kite Brewing野风筝 (New) over 3 Little Pigs by Andy’s Craft Sausages三小猪 

BRACKET D

*Slider Nation小堡邦 over FATBURGER特富客汉堡 
*Beersmith Gastropub鲜啤吧 over Shake Shack

And here are the matchups for the Elite 8:

BRACKET A

*Slow Boat Brewery悠航鲜啤 vs *Great Leap Brewing大跃啤酒 

BRACKET B

*Jing-A京A vs*Q MEX Bar & Grill库迈墨西哥餐吧 

BRACKET C

*Home Plate BBQ本垒美式烤肉 vs *Wild Kite Brewing野风筝 (New) 

BRACKET D

*Slider Nation小堡邦 vs *Beersmith Gastropub鲜啤吧

You have until noon Nov 25 to vote in the Elite 8 in the hopes of getting your favorite burger spot into the Final Four. Check out the remaining voting schedule below:

Elite 8: Nov 22-25
Final Four: Nov 25-28
Championship: Nov 28-Dec 1
Winner Announced: Dec 1

With all eight contenders taking part in the Juicy Burger Month, why not try them for yourself and also earn the chance to win some amazing prizes. Despite restaurant closures you can still take part by ordering take out or deliver, you can see full details on how here.

Meanwhile, we asked you to caption the following picture last round, and here were our favorites:

And as is our custom, last round we asked you to rank those that did not make the bracket of 32. Here's how you ranked the "best of the rest":

17. The Cheesecake Factory芝乐坊 
18. Lily’s American Diner莉莉斯美式西餐厅 
19. ANGEL BURGER天使汉堡 
20. COMMUNE·XCOMMUNE·X北京太古里设计师店 
21. Brotzeit German Bier Restaurant博璨德国啤酒餐厅 
22. The Great Outdoor
23. Burge's Bistro & Bar小伯格酒馆 
24. NBeer Pub牛啤堂 
25. Plan B 
26. The Local 
27. Take A BiteTAB汉堡 
28. Kitty & Daniel Hollywood Grill & Bar大牛好莱坞餐吧 
29. Paddy O’Shea’s爱尔兰酒吧 
30. Hulu by TRB琥禄 
31. Burp堡嗝儿 
32. PEACH by Hulu

They join the remaining members of the Top 100, ranked last round:

33. LARRY THE BIRD (New) 
34. Ye Brewing 野鹅微醺  (New)
35. THE ROOTS 欧伴 
36. TIGERS 老虎西餐 
37. Let's BURGER plus 非常创意汉堡 
38. Messy Burger 汉堡探索中心 
39. BURGERMOOD 堡格曼 
40. Wobbit 窝边草 
41. Grandma's Kitchen 祖母的厨房美式西餐厅 
42. Spacelab 失重餐厅 
43. The Rug Café 
44. Panorama 葩诺 
45. CAUTION 靠山啤酒餐吧  (New)
46. Xian Bar/Domain, East Beijing 仙酒吧/Domain 域,北京东隅酒店 
47. Shang Brew 香啤坊  (New)
48. Slow 精酿餐吧  (New)
49. SOLDOUT (New)
50. HeyBurger 堡嗝汉堡 
51. Fire Works 北焰•美式扒房 
52. WasPark 
53. Park Side 园景 
54. Cafe Ruhe 如何餐厅 
55. APOLLO 美味和音乐 (New) 
56. LUSH 
57. CHAR Bar & Grill恰牛扒房 
58. Shaking Crab 波士顿手抓海鲜 
59. Circle Urban 圆场  (New)
60. The Music Bar, Hyatt Regency Beijing Wangjing 音乐吧•北京望京凯悦酒店 
61. TRIPS Burger  (New)
62. VINN (New) 
63. Dongli Brewery 东里手工啤酒•精酿餐厅 
64. TOWNSQUARE CAFE • ARTYZEN HABITAT BEIJING 思方汇咖啡厅•雅辰悦居酒店 (New)
65. Peking Yard 北平花园 
66. Salt Lake Inn 盐湖酒廠 
67. Hamburger 汉饱嗝 (New)
68. Lenbach 兰巴赫 西餐啤酒坊 
69. Bistro 108 巴黎餐吧 
70. Bodensee Kitchen 德南餐厅 
71. Market Cafe, Hyatt Regency Beijing Wangjing 咖啡厅•北京望京凯悦酒店 
72. 4Corners 肆角餐吧 
73. Legend 老牌餐吧 
74. BLT American Restaurant Salad & Grill BLT美式餐厅 
75. Tough Tongue 硬舌酒肉 
76. Rich Burger 发财汉堡 (New)
77. Foam Lab 泡沫实验室精酿餐吧 
78. Bistrot B 怡庭 
79. World Of Beer Bar & Kitchen WOB精酿餐厅 
80. Migas Mercado 米思家 
81. Laker's 
82. Aurora 极光 
83. Meat by Ernest 吃肉 
84. QS 奎妮餐吧 
85. Eudora Station 亿多瑞站 
86. Bullshit Food 饱是福 (New)
87. Cafe Flatwhite 福来新西兰餐厅 
88. Manchester United Theater of Dreams Restaurant 曼联梦剧场 
89. MAX boom 炙烤牛肉汉堡研究所 (New)
90. The VEGGIE TABLE 吃素的西餐 
91. Steam Bear 蒸汽熊精酿鲜啤餐厅 (New)
92. Alpha Omega Club 甲丁坊新德餐吧 
93. RE 而意 
94. Uncle's Kitchen UK 大叔的厨房 
95. Wiggly Jiggly‘s 欧也 
96. Park Square Restaurant & Lounge 园庭 
97. Burger Treasure 堡藏汉堡 (New)
98. Carlins 珂林斯澳尚扒房 (New)
99. The Bell × Terrazza Martini 
100. Station Grill

READ: Here’s How to Take Part in Juicy Burger Month In Spite of Restaurant Closures

Images: The Beijingers, Tenor, Giphy