Hail Yellow Cab Pizza for New York-Style Slices

Now that the voting has commenced for the 2016 Pizza Cup (which you can vote by clicking here), we at the Beijinger are continuing to profile various participating restaurants with our Pizza Mania! series. Today's segment focuses on the fresh new Wangjing pizzeria Yellow Cab, which had a breakthrough performance by making it our Round of 32, where it faced off against Pizza+ (see all the rankings here).

You're sauntering through Wangjing, and a car nearly cuts you off as you step off the curb, prompting you to shout: "Hey! I'm walkin' here!" All that big city hustle and bustle is bound to rouse your appetite, but thankfully Wangjing can satisfy your cravings in a New York Minute. That's because the northern Beijing neighborhood plays host to a burgeoning restaurant called Yellow Cab (yellowcabpizza.com) that serves up slices inspired by The Big Apple's pizzerias.

The restaurant's signature pie is the New York’s finest pizza (10-inch, RMB 109). Topped with salami, ham, pepperoni, bacon, ground beef, black olives, mushrooms, onions, red bell peppers, capsicum, mozzarella, and parmesan cheese, this pie's overflow of toppings evokes the eclectic, exciting, busting atmosphere of the Empire State.

Yellow Cab's New York Finest Pizza (left) and "mysize" folded pizza sandwich

Yellow Cab's other notable pizzas include the Corona chicken salsa (10-inch, RMB 59), Tribeca mushroom (10-inch, RMB 59), along with a craft pizza menu that includes prosciutto ham and boursin cheese (coming in one size at RMB 76), jalapeño and pepperoni (also in one size only at RMB 66), and Hawaiian (10-inch, RMB 69). They also serve folded "my size" pizza sandwiches like bacon mango and egg, Hungarian sausage and egg, and grilled lime chicken (all RMB 29).

The menu can be rounded off by creamy squash and mushroom soups (both RMB 12 for a bowl), a vegetable salad (RMB 28), chicken alfredo pasta (also RMB 28), and more.

The two-story restaurant's walls are also coated with graffiti, Hollywood movie posters, and photos of yellow NYC cabs navigating bumper to bumper jams. According to Yellow Cab's website, the chain opened its first Big Apple-esque shop on the bustling Makati Avenue in Manila, Philippines back in 2001. It now has 130 branches around the world, and Beijing pizza lovers are sure to be pleased that this chain is also bringing a taste of New York to Wangjing.

Voting is now open for the Sweet 16 round in this year's Pizza Cup. Read the voting process here or head straight to the voting page by scanning/extracting the QR code below. Voting for this round closes on October 27 (Thursday) at 2pm.