We counted 23,935 votes in the first round of the 254Eats Bracket Challenge (well, actually Polldaddy counted for us) and narrowed the field from 32 to 16 restaurants.
Voting for the second round, the Sweet 16 in tourney vernacular, begins at 9 a.m. Tuesday. Here's a look at some of the intriguing matchups.
BRIDGE BRACKET: Baris and Shorty's Pizza Shack go to the mattresses. Two of our favorite places in town to get pizza by the slice and they showed it by easily winning their first-round games.
STADIUM BRACKET: This bracket features four long-time favorites. It should be an entertaining second round as Poppa Rollo's takes on Captain Billy Whizzbang's and Schmaltz's faces Lolita's.
ALICO BRACKET: We might have planned the Captain Billy's vs. Dubl-R burger war in the first round, but we definitely didn't look ahead enough to foresee the monumental barbecue battle between Vitek's and Tony DeMaria's in the second round.
ZOO BRACKET: We also didn't foresee having a second-round matchup between restaurants within an arm's reach of each other, but that's what we have in the World Cup Cafe vs. D's Mediterranean game. Also, in this bracket, we think Lula Jane's is way out of its depth taking on George's, but that's why they play the game.
