Slider Nation Slips Past Reigning Champ Side Street in Sweet 16 Action

Vincent R. Vinci, Contributing Editor | Oct 8, 2021 3:10 pm | Add a comment | 864 reads

We're guaranteed to have a new Burger Cup champion this year as upstart Slider Nation has narrowly slid past last year’s champ Side Street to earn a spot in the Elite 8!

Scan the QR with WeChat to Vote Today!

After a week of holiday noshing and heavy voting, Slider Nation mananged to garner enough votes to unseat current champion Side Street. It was the only upset in the eight matchups of the Sweet 16, with all other matches going to the higher seed.

Though not technically a newbie, Slider Nation has been at past Burger Fests as Sliders by Henry, but this year was their first festival foray with the new name and branding.

They serve up some mean mini burgers (aka sliders) – tiny wagyu beef patties topped with melted cheese, pickle slices and an addictive sauce, sandwiched between fluffy Hawaiian rolls – and seasoned fries cooked in duck fat.

The joint was originally a delivery only operation, but Henry has since opened up a 60 seat brick and mortar shop in Maizidian for dine-in.

Speaking of newbies,our last two remaining freshmen -- Burge’s Bistro & Bar and Niu Burger -- fell to more established competition (Home Plate BBQ and Beersmith Gastropub, respectively).

Here’s a look at the damage done in the Sweet 16…

Bracket A
Slider Nation 小堡邦 (4) dethroned Side Street 街旁 (1)
Great Leap Brewing 大跃啤酒 (2) leaped past Blue Frog 蓝蛙 (3)

Bracket B
Slow Boat Brewery 悠航鲜啤 (1) sailed past The Local (4)
Jing-A 京A (2) got their license plate in order before Arrow Factory Brewing 箭厂啤酒 (3)

Bracket C
Q Mex Bar & Grill 库迈墨西哥餐吧 (1) chewed the fat off Fatburger 特福客汉堡 (5)
3 Little Pigs by Andy’s Craft Sausages 三小猪 (2) oinked past The Great Outdoors 野友趣 (6)

Bracket D
Home Plate BBQ本垒美式烤肉 (1) knocked Burge’s Bistro & Bar小伯格酒馆 (5) out of the park
Beersmith Gastropub鲜啤吧 (3) roped up Niu Burger橘气牛蘑王手工汉堡 (7)

Going into this week, we asked you to get out and try some of the ‘Jing’s best burgers. But based on a recent poll we conducted, 53 percent of respondents said they’ve tried fewer than half of the Sweet 16 burgers. Can you really call yourself a foodie – or a true Beijing burger lover, for that matter – if you haven’t tried at least all of the city's top burgers?

Now with that number reduced to eight, you’ve got no excuses to not to sample them all. But hurry, because this round ends on Monday, Oct 11 ... so get eating!

Matchups for the Elite 8 are as follows:

Bracket A
Great Leap Brewing 大跃啤酒 (2) vs Slider Nation 小堡邦 (4)

Bracket B
Slow Boat Brewery 悠航鲜啤 (1) vs. Jing-A京A (2)

Bracket C
Q Mex Bar & Grill 库迈墨西哥餐吧 (1) vs. 3 Little Pigs by Andy’s Craft Sausages 三小猪 (2)

Bracket D
Home Plate BBQ本垒美式烤肉 (1) vs. Beersmith Gastropub鲜啤吧 (3)

For this past round of voting, we also asked you to caption a comic strip for us. These are the best two out of the bunch...

To our creative captioners Rene and Jessica (you know who you are) write us an email using the address you entered in the ballot to info@truerun.com to claim your swag (sorry, delivery to Beijing adresses only).

And as per our custom, we asked you to rank the burger eateries who didn’t make the cut. Their final rankings in the 2021 Burger Cup can be found here:

17. Shake Shack
18. Miam Miam咪吖咪吖
19. DE REFTER比利时啤酒·餐吧
20. NBeer Pub牛啤堂精酿啤酒餐吧
21. Paddy O'Shea's爱尔兰酒吧
22. Lily's American Diner
23. KATCHUP
24. Kitty & Daniel Hollywood Grill & Bar大牛好莱坞餐吧
25. Peach by Hulu
26. Plan B
27. Hulu by TRB琥禄
28. The Roots香海西厨
29. Fat Tiger Burger胖虎汉堡
30. Messy Burger汉堡探索中心
31. Bistro 108巴黎餐吧
32. Fire Works北焰扒房

They fit into the final rankings as follows:

33. The Cheesecake Factory芝乐坊
34. Peiping Machine北平机器
35. Turkish Feast西庭·秀色
36. Tiger's老虎西餐
37. L'Fête de Bistro 105法式小餐馆
38. Bistrot B怡庭
39. Market Café, Hyatt Regency Beijing, Wangjing北京望京凯悦酒店·咖啡厅
40. Panda Brew熊猫精酿
41. The Music Bar, Hyatt Regency Beijing, Wangjing北京望京凯悦酒店·音乐吧
42. Lenbach兰巴赫西餐啤酒坊
43. Angel Burger天使汉堡
44. Grandma's Kitchen祖母的厨房
45. EAST Beijing北京东隅酒店
46. Let's Burger Plus非常创意汉堡
47. 4 Corners肆角餐吧
48. Station Grill
49. La Rosee枫丹露原·福楼新概念
50. Commune Reserve
51. Migas Mercado米思家
52. Cafe Ruhe 如何餐厅
53. BLT American RestaurantBLT美式西餐厅
54. Manchester United Theater of Dreams Restaurant曼联梦剧场餐厅
55. Lush
56. The Rug Café
57. Leo's Butcher小李肉铺
58. Panorama葩诺
59. LAKER'S湖人俱乐部
60. Salt Lake Inn盐湖酒廠
61. XL Bar and Restaurant
62. WasPark
63. GLOU Bar & Kitchen
64. QS奎妮精选
65. Aurora
66. Spacelab 失重餐厅
67. Park Side 园景
68. CHAR Bar & Grill 恰牛扒房
69. Veggie Table 吃素的西餐
70. Legend Beer 老牌酒廠
71. Bodensee Kitchen 德南餐厅
72. Meat by Ernest 吃肉西餐厅
73. Eudora Station 亿多瑞站
74. Peking Garden 北平花园
75. Wubei at City Walk 五杯美食精酿餐厅-城市大道店
76. Wiggly Jiggly 欧也
77. Shaking Crab 波士顿手抓海鲜
78. Tough Tongue 硬舌酒肉
79. FAMOUS 墨西哥餐吧
80. Park Square Restaurant & Lounge 园庭
81. RE 而意
82. Café Flatwhite
83. Panino Teca 品味
84. Su Zui 素醉精酿
85. Dongli Brewery 东里手工啤酒
86. Alpha Omega Club 甲丁坊新德餐吧
87. World of Beer WOB 北京精酿餐厅
88. Wobbit 窝边草
89. Living Room·CHAO
90. Space & Bar 盲区
91. Houlai Burger Restaurant & Bar 逅来后来美式手工自助汉堡餐吧
92. Windy City 风渡嘉荷西餐厅
93. He Kitchen
94. Hey Burger 堡嗝汉堡
95. Bunny Drop 白兔糖精致烹牛·精酿啤酒
96. The Virtue 五德酒场
97. Uncle's Kitchen UK大叔的厨房
98. Burgermood 堡格曼
99. Foam Lab 泡沫实验室
100. The Bell x TERRAZZA MARTINI