Not Just a Side of Fries: Side Street Crowned Burger Cup Champ

In the wide world of Beijing Burgers, there’s a new superhero in town as Jiaodaokou bar Side Street proves that it’s no-one’s sidekick, but a caped crusader worthy of being crowned Burger Cup champion. Their path to victory saw them score victories against Migas Mercado, Plan B, Great Leap, Beersmith, and in a nail-biter for the history books, reigning champions Slow Boat.

The road to the crown

Side Street’s quest for the 2020 Cup began at last month's Burger Fest, where a line quickly formed in front of their booth that didn’t let up for three days straight.

Bar manager Daulet and associate Nikhil Kuthe celebrate on the bar patio

In part, their recipe for success was down to the fact that, unlike many of the vendors, they came packing their full menu of juicy burgs. Likewise, this was the bar’s third year participating in the Cup, having premiered the first Cholo burger, created by bar regular Mario M at the 2018 Burger Fest, which was met with roaring praise from patrons and earned them the number 3 spot that year.

The new Cholo burger that took Side Street all the way

The next year, they returned with not one but two exciting new burgers, the cheesy K.O. and the crunchy Frito-filled Mountain (created by Henry of Henry’s Sliders), which managed to keep them at third place. But that wasn’t good enough! Mario returned to reinvent his Cholo, and thus the now award-winning Cholo 2.0 was born, featuring Mexican-style chorizo and Australian beef, stuffed with goat cheese and topped with guacamole and tortilla chips.

Now that's a celebration!

Those are far from the bar’s only beefy options, however – there’s the classic Jiandan, the shroom-and-swiss Shuaige, the BBQ-and-bacon Squatter, the guac-and-tortilla Good Old Ron’s (an homage to the bar’s predecessor, Ron Mexico), and the Curry on a Cow (creation of bar owner Uday Phalgun).

For the beefless, their Southern Tikka marinated in Jalapeno butter is a spicy take on a chicken burger, while the Flying Buffalo is doused with Buffalo sauce, plus the classic Headless Chicken burger. Then there’s vegetarian trio: a spicy spinach potato burger aptly dubbed the Hutong Hipster and the Country Roads’ spicy cottage cheese patty, plus the new meatless version of BBQ drenched and jalapeno stacked Squatter, sans bacon of course.

That's right, Beijing's Best Burger 2020

All in all, that’s a heck of a lot of burgers! And if you want to try any of them, just hop on the app of our lovely sponsor, JSS Delivery (where you can currently get 10 percent off grocery orders!) But just how did this hutong bar become such a haven for beef lovers, ultimately dethroning a four-time victor?

The bar that is now Side Street was once neighborhood bar Ron Mexico, which was partly owned by current proprietors, Uday Phalgun and Purnima Sharma. When co-owners Adam Gottschalk and Amir Avram departed from Beijing, Phalgun decided to rebrand, and the tacos of Ron Mexico were replaced with Indian-inspired dishes.

A cheers to victory

Since then, however, the bar has embraced its community, allowing regular patrons to experiment in the kitchen, and the result has been a menu of international proportions, from Venezuelan arepas to Turkish pide, but burgers have always remained front and center. 

Many have fought, none have died, but only one remains victorious

Slow Boat of course is no slouch, with their burgers still satiating fans across the city. Their supporters came out in droves for the finals, but the rising tide of Side Street aficionados – who put them near the top of our survey for the last two years – finally pushed them over the top. The transition of power was all in good faith, as the Side Street staff celebrated their victory with a drink – champagne and Slow Boat beers!

One of the original Side Street Burgers, just as juicy then as they are now

Despite COVID-19, it’s been a banner year for burgers, with our biggest fest ever (three days and thousands of people), and our annual ballot attracting more than 9,000 votes. Our ever-improving screening methods have given the vote a level of confidence and integrity that we’re proud of, effectively thwarting any nefarious attempts to influence the outcome of the vote.

A refresher course on past Burger Cup winners:

2011: Blue Frog
2012: Home Plate BBQ
2013: Home Plate BBQ
2014: Home Plate BBQ
2015: Slow Boat Brewery
2016: Slow Boat Brewery
2017: Q Mex
2018: Slow Boat Brewery
2019: Slow Boat Brewery

The final results, as voted for by you:

1. Side Street 街旁
2. Slow Boat 悠航
3. Q Mex 库迈
4. Beersmith Gastropub 鲜啤吧
5. Great Leap Brewing 大跃啤酒
6. Jing-A 京A
7. 3 Little Pigs by Andy's Craft Sausages
8. Home Plate BBQ本垒美式烤肉
9. Blue Frog蓝蛙
10. Boxing Cat Brewery拳击猫精酿啤酒馆
11. Arrow Factory Brewing箭厂啤酒
12. The Great Outdoors野友趣
13. Plan B
14. That One Place那个地方
15. Prodigy Brewpub醴吉精酿
16. HULU琥禄
17. The Local
18. Fatburger
19. Shake Shack
20. De Refter
21. Lily’s American Diner
22. Turkish Feast
23. The Cheesecake Factory
24. Katchup
25. 4corners
26. Domain, EAST Beijing
27. Let's Burger Plus
28. Sliders by Henry
29. Miam Miam
30. QS
31. Migas Mercado
32. The Rug Café
33. Paddy O’Shea’s 爱尔兰酒吧
34. Lush
35. NBeer Pub 牛啤堂精酿啤酒餐吧
36. Bistrot B 怡庭
37. Aurora Aurora墨西哥餐吧
38. XL Bar and Restaurant
39. Grandma's Kitchen 祖母的厨房
40. Laker's 湖人餐厅
41. Legend Beer 老牌酒廠
42. Veggie Table 吃素的西餐
43. Peiping Machine 北平机器
44. Cafe Ruhe 如何餐厅
45. Panda Brew 熊猫精酿
46. Market Café, Hyatt Regency Beijing 北京望京凯悦酒店 - 咖啡厅
47. Angel Burger 天使汉堡
48. Tiger's 老虎西餐
49. La Rosee 枫丹露原 福楼新概念
50. Steamrhino Brewery Restaurant 蒸汽犀牛精酿啤酒餐吧
51. Lucky Las Vegas Restaurant&Bar Lucky餐吧
52. 1F 壹楼餐吧
53. BLT American Restaurant Salad & Grill BLT美式西餐厅
54. Eudora Station 亿多瑞站
55. Rodeo 山顶
56. Meat by Ernest 吃肉西餐厅
57. Wiggly Jiggly 欧也
58. Bodensee Kitchen 德南餐厅
59. Park Side 园景
60. Irish Volunteer
61. The Music Bar, Hyatt Regency Beijing 北京望京凯悦酒店 - 音乐吧
62. Rolling Rolling Craft Brewing 滚滚精酿
63. Café Flatwhite
64. Spacelab 失重餐厅
65. The Roots 香海西厨}
66. The Bell x TERRAZZA MARTINI
67. Dongli Brewery 东里手工啤酒
68. Peking Garden 北平花园
69. CHAR Bar & Grill 恰牛扒房
70. World of Beer WOB 北京精酿餐厅
71. TagYOU
72. Fire Works Fire Works 美式扒房·手工啤酒
73. RE 而意
74. Ricci 睿奇餐厅
75. Kimo Premium Kids Café 星漠亲子餐厅
76. Merci
77. Xuan House 翾House精酿啤酒餐吧
78. Hey Burger 堡嗝汉堡
79. The Virtue 五德酒场
80. 40+ Club 40+精酿啤酒俱乐部
81. Living Room, CHAO
82. Vinn
83. He Kitchen Co
84. Blinding Elephant 盲区
85. Funky Temple Bar
86. Molly Malone’s 美食吧&烤坊
87. Miss Deer's Bar 鹿舍
88. Fiesta Burger 翻翻家
89. Burgermood 堡格曼
90. Signature's, Kempinski Hotel 新典餐厅
91. Park Square Restaurant & Lounge 园庭
92. Alpha Omega Club 甲丁坊新德餐吧
93. Windy City 风渡嘉荷西餐厅
94. Su Zui 素醉精酿
95. Tough Tongue 硬舌酒肉
96. O’Learys
97. Ravens
98. Arpanda 阿潘答
99. Gold Rush 淘金餐吧

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