Gung Ho! Wins Best Pizza at Cheesy Pizza Fest
Gung Ho! didn’t just toss dough at the Cheesy Pizza Fest last weekend, they tossed out the competition! Out of 20 pizza slingers present at last week’s fest, they stole the hearts of the visitors, securing the coveted title of Beijing’s Best Pizza.
We tested out a new methodology this year for determining the crowd’s favorite: only the people on site who had tried at least pizzas from five different vendors were eligible to vote.
This way we knew that ballot stuffing would be next to impossible, and also only those people who really did go out and try more than one or two pizzas would be able to vote.
In the end, only a small subsection of the nearly 10,000 people who visited Pizza Fest voted, but we know that these were the true pizza lovers!
Best Pizza champion Gung Ho! is no stranger to the top slot, having won the Cheesy Pizza Cup in 2018, 2015 and 2014, and placing third in the 2023 Cup.
While Gung Ho! was crowned the Best, hot on their heels was Q MEX, who impressed with a new Detroit-style pizza, as well as classics like their Mexican Supreme.
Nor were these the only two to garner passion from pizza lovers. Let’s count down the “Magnificent Seven” from the festival here:
7. Pitmaster Pizza 本垒美式披萨
Newly launched Pitmaster Pizza, brought to the fest by Home Plate BBQ, served up thick crust pizzas with a cheesy crispy crust topped with smoky barbecue meats. Inspired by Detroit's iconic pizza parlors and Texas's smokehouses, they proved to be a hit, earning themselves the number seven spot. They’ll soon be launching on Meituan and JSS, with their pie to watch out for being The Pitmaster, which comes topped with Smoked USDA beef brisket, hand-pulled pork, jalapeno cheddar sausage, smoked chicken, Italian mozzarella, white cheddar, red sauce, and a drizzle of Texas heat BBQ sauce.
6. LA PLATEA 兰蒂地中海餐吧
Mediterranean restaurant LA PLATEA impressed the crowd with their six different kinds of Focaccia Pizzas, including three that were exclusively made for the fest. You can enjoy these in the bigger Pizzetta (RMB 68-98) form, which sees a rectangular pizza cut into thin slices that are perfect for sharing, at both their Sanlitun and CBD branches. Plus they also have Trapizzino (RMB 48) which is like a cross between a sandwich and pizza, with a variety of fillings stuffed inside a triangular bread pocket.
5. Joe’s Pizza 就是披萨
This year’s Cheesy Pizza Cup winner Joe’s missed out on getting the number one spot at Cheesy Pizza Fest, coming in at number five instead. Serving up New York-style pies by the slice, you can’t go wrong with their Classic Pepperoni (RMB 27/slice) or for pineapple on pizza fans the Hawaiian (RMB 35/slice). If you want more than a slice you can also get whole 18 inch pies in store or 18 and 10 inch pies on waimai apps.
4. Pizza Saporita 意块披萨
Traditional Italian pizza place and 2019 Cheesy Pizza Cup champion Pizza Saporita managed to bag the number four spot. Specializing in Roman-style by-the-slice pizza – aka Pizza al Taglio – their famous Forest Pizza (RMB 24/slice, RMB 108/whole) which is topped with mozzarella cheese, mushrooms, sausage, walnuts, and truffle cream proved very popular at the fest. We’d also recommend trying the Smoked Salmone (RMB 25/slice, RMB 108/whole), topped with smoked salmon, crème fraiche, pickled onion, capers and mozzarella.
3. Tube Station 站点披萨
Veterans in Beijing’s pizza scene, Tube Station’s big New York style pizzas secured them third place at the fest. A favorite of ours has to be the Bacon Cheeseburger (RMB 65 for 10-inch; RMB 155 for 19-inch; RMB 215 for 24-inch), because it combines two of our favorite things: pizza and burgers! It’s loaded with burger sauce, ground beef, bacon, dill pickles, mozzarella cheese, honey mustard, and cherry tomatoes.
Another must try is The Tube Station Special (RMB 60 for 10-inch; RMB 160 for 19-inch; RMB 195 for 24-inch), which combines pepperoni, salami, Spanish black olives, pork, mushrooms, green, red and yellow peppers, onions, mozzarella cheese, and pizza sauce.
2. Q MEX Mexican Bar & Grill 库迈墨西哥餐吧
Coming fresh off their Juicy Burger Cup win, Q MEX have proven that it’s not just their burgers that people love but their pizzas too, nabbing the illustrious number two spot for Best Pizza at the fest. Whether you think a Mexican restaurant should do pizzas or not, the idea of taking classic Mexican flavors and putting them on a pizza is definitely a win in our books.
Two pizzas to definitely try are the Chipotle Chicken Pizza (RMB 75 for tortilla crust, RMB 80 for regular) – chipotle tomato salsa, diced chicken, mozzarella cheese, roasted corn and beans and Mexican Supreme Pizza (RMB 85 for tortilla crust, RMB 88 for regular) – tomato sauce, salami, spicy beef chorizo, white mushroom, diced bell pepper, red onion slices and mozzarella cheese.
1. Gung Ho! 叫板！比萨
People could not get enough of Gung Ho!’s pizza at the fest, as you could tell from the length of the queue to get a slice. The pizza to try has to be their Lord of the Lambs Pizza (RMB 49 for 7-inch; RMB 119 for 11-inch), featuring Roasted New Zealand lamb with tzatziki, grilled zucchini and fresh rocket. Or for vegetarians or vegans (you can swap normal cheese for their homemade vegan cheese) the Black Truffle (RMB 49 for 7-inch; RMB 119 for 11-inch), is mouth-wateringly good with eight kinds of mixed mushrooms drizzled with black truffle sauce and truffle oil.
READ: A Look at All the Festive Fun From Cheesy Pizza Fest
Images: courtesy of the venues
