Pie Squared Beats Great Leap, While Other Top Seeds Prevail as Pizza Cup Voting Narrows to Elite Eight

As Beijing's top pizzerias continue to vie for their slice of the proverbial pie in the latest round of voting, only the top seeds successfully fulfilled their appetites while the rest went home hungry. That's right, the batch of contenders for the 2017 Pizza Cup has narrowed yet again, with many top performers from years past prevailing as the competition continues to grow more fierce.

The biggest surprise no doubt comes courtesy of Pie Squared, a popular Detroit-style pizzeria in Shunyi that won out over beloved Liangmaqiao area restaurant and craft beer haunt Great Leap Brewing #45. GLB's showing in prior years of voting, along with it being cited as a favorite by many Pizza My Mind interviewees in the past, all made it a formidable opponent. Yet the distinctively textured slices at Pie Squared, along with its long lines at this year's Pizza Festival, no doubt helped it edge out a victory that will also surely boost its profile outside of Shunyi and among Beijing's broader restaurant scene. What's more: Pie Squared was a top seed, meaning its dark horse status has slowly but surely changed into a major contender in Beijing's pizza arena.

Other wins this go-round were less surprising, because all of those victories came courtesy of top seeds. Here's the breakdown:

Bottega chai'd Hutong Pizza
La Pizza whipped Yummy Box
Tube Station railroaded Ramo
Annie's extinguished Pyro
Gung Ho bungeed The Local
Pie Squared mathematically eliminated Great Leap Brewing
Kro's Nest flew over Luga's
Eatalia ousted Pizza Marzano

Going forward, here are your choices for the next round, by bracket:

Bracket A is an Italian deathmatch between current champ Bottega and La Pizza
Bracket B sees Tube Station go up against Annie's
Bracket C consists of juggernaut Gung Ho vs Pie Squared, the Shunyi upstart of this year's Pizza Cup
Bracket D sees Kro's Nest go up against Eatalia

To vote in the next round, scan the QR code below!
Voting closes at noon on Oct 12

Aside from who won what, this round of voting also helped us establish crucial pizza-related stats when it comes to toppings and the suds that Beijingers swill along with their slices of 'za. Unsurprisingly, pepperoni remains the king of pizza toppings, with 47 percent of the voting population enjoying this cured meat on their pizzas. The least popular toppings in our poll were fruit (with an 8 percent approval rating; Hawaiian must not be your thing Beijing!), corn (7 percent) and dead last, stinky old durian (with only 2 percent enjoying ... yuck).

In our latest craft beer rankings, Jing-A has inched ahead in the race between Beijing’s Big 3 – that being Jing-A, Great Leap, and Slow Boat – with 57 percent of respondents being familiar with that particular Courtyard 4 brand. The remaining craft brews include Arrow Factory, Panda Brew, and Boxing Cat, each with an awareness rating between 28 to 39 percent (yeah we know, beer snobs, Boxing Cat was bought out, yadda yadda yadda, just drink up already!). The rest of the craft beer circuit has a long way to grow – with none having more than 17 percent penetration. Here are the specifics when it comes to suds:

And finally, here are the restaurants that didn't make it into the Pizza Cup's Sweet 16:

17. Q Mex
18. The Tree
19. Pizza Saporita
20. Papa John's
21. Pizza Factory
22. Tiago
23. Mao Mao Chong
24. Paddy O'Shea's
25. Pizza View
26. Tavola
27. Xian at East, Beijing
28. Frost
29. Bene
30. Eudora Station
31. VSports
32. Agrilandia

And here's a recap of the already established remaining rankings:

33. Sureno 
34. Flypizza & Hoodakdak Chicken 
35. Mio, Four Seasons Hotel 
36. Bocca Della Verita 
37. Grandma's Kitchen 
38. Stuff'd 
39. Vineyard Café 
40. The Rug 
41. Yellow Cab 
42. Pizza Hut 
43. Tim's Texas BBQ 
44. Pizza by LMPlus 
45. Domino's 
46. New York Style Pizza 
47. Lily's American Diner 
48. Lakers 
49. Passby Bar 
50. Mr Pizza 
51. Pizza Buona 
52. The Irish Volunteer 
53. Nasca Cafe 
54. Jazz-Ya 
55. Scott's Family Ristorante Italiano 
56. Radici 
57. Fratelli Fresh 
58. Legend Beer 
59. La Rucola 
60. 789 (A-Life)
61. Buddy Bar 
62. Jushi Pizza Just in Time! 
63. Le Fromager de Pékin 
64. Leos Pizza 
65. Tribe 
66. iFresh Pizza 
67. Panda Brew 
68. Ahava Bistro + Café 
69. Alley Ale Taproom 
70. Botany 
71. Flying Kangaroo 
72. Max Pizza 
73. Miss Pizza 
74. Elisa's 
75. Four Ace 
76. Napa 
77. Park 17 
78. The Veggie Table 
79. 1st Floor 
80. Atta BJ 
81. Ebeiguo 
82. Via Roma, Kempinski Hotel 
83. Mrs Shanen's / Green Cow Cafe 
84. Loft Eatalicious 
85. BK's Tavern 
86. Doppio Sete Pizza 
87. Yun Brew 
88. Nine Road Pizzeria 
89. Assaggi 
90. PBD Pizza Bar 
91. Peter Pan 
92. Casalingo 
93. Isola 
94. Pizza Now 
95. Pizza Maru 
96. FA Cafe 
97. Michael’s Place 
98. Whale's Pizza 
99. Mix's Italian Grill 
100. Charlie's 
101. Pomona 
102. Prego, Westin Financial Street 
103. Ricci Café 
104. Kitchen Igosso 
105. Byone

Images: the Beijinger