American

* Ground and Pound (Boynton Beach)

Posted on June 20th, 2013 · American Boynton Beach

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* Ground and Pound, 1701 North Congress Avenue, Boynton Beach, Florida 33426, (561) 336-2028.

Got an interesting story for you…

About 6 months ago, Jeff Eats met a guy named Bruce Thomas Bellocchi…at that time Bellocchi was seeking investors for a chain of restaurants–“Ground and Pound” that he was planning to build—these sports bar restaurants were going to be themed on mix martial arts/UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship). At that time Bellocchi’s “first” restaurant was under construction in a former Wings Plus location in Boynton Beach. If you do some Googling or Binging or whatever search you use—you will find a load of stuff on this guy Bellocchi…former heavyweight boxer who fought heavyweight contender David Tua, former professional martial arts fighter, former martial arts fighters’ manager, former martial arts fight promoter, former martial arts fight tv commentator.

The Ground and Pound was Bellocchi’s first venture in the restaurant business.

Anyway…

A few weeks ago the Boynton Beach– Ground and Pound opened for business.

Jeff Eats plans to give it a shot sometime in the next few weeks.

Just so you know-way back when, Jeff Eats “saw” the Boynton Beach site-under construction…loads of flat screen tvs, booth and table seating, separate bar area, all kinds of martial arts fighters’ photos/murals/memorabilia. The business plan called for sports bar type food, wait staff in referee/ring card girl outfits, videos of mixed arts fights, live tv broadcasts of sporting events, personal appearances by celebrity martial arts fighters.

You can check www.eatgroundandpound.com for menu/prices/other stuff.

Let me wrap this up…

Jeff Eats doesn’t follow- this mixed martial arts sport…but, I do know, that it has a HUGE following all over the United States. I am not sure as to whether or not there is a “market” for a restaurant (in Boynton Beach) themed solely around this sport…Another unanswered question: Can “this” former fighter/promoter/tv personality “create” a restaurant that has really good sports bar food?

Only time will tell…

For what it’s worth…you guys now know about a new sports bar that literally just opened in sunny South Florida.

One final thought…now, I know you guys are smart guys—that said, if you just happen to eat at Ground and Pound and don’t like the food or “whatever”–maybe you shouldn’t mention your concerns to Mr.Bellocchi, after-all he did get in- the ring twice with David Tua. Capice!

If you try it, let me know what you think.

21 Comments to “* Ground and Pound (Boynton Beach)”

  1. CXS says...

    jeff, sun sentinel had an article about the restaurant this morning. just a description no recommendation etc. the article indicated that a second location is set for a july opening in wpb.

  2. ZELMAN says...

    http://www.eatgroundandpound.com
    looks like a nice looking joint.

  3. Gene C. says...

    Tua KOed him twice.
    4/3/95 round #1
    1/3/96 round #2

  4. Lori says...

    Ground and pound closed last week ! They were open for three weeks

  5. randy says...

    From: randy
    Subject: ground and pound / bruce bellocchi

    Message Body:
    any idea what happened to ground and pound from your june 20 post?

  6. Heather says...

    Closed with an eviction notice – Bruce Bellocchi aka Stefon Bellocchi is a con-arrest.

  7. jay says...

    if anyone knows where bruce is hiding please let me know…he owes alot of ppl money.

  8. Susan Monson says...

    Not only did he close…with no notice to employees…he still has not paid them for their work during those few weeks and is planning his grand opening for yet another one in west palm…right next to papa bambinos…any day now…long history of doing this…

  9. curt says...

    Im glad i got out wen i did..he wud short me money every week durin the remodel.i had a feeling about him so i walked..

  10. Ty says...

    My friend was involved in a wannabe scam by him and his then girlfriend “carol” (who knows if thats her real name) involving a beauty salon. He had an ad on craigslist asking for investors, my friend invested $5000 then after about 2 weeks he tried to fire her and not give her the money she invested. NICE TRY! She was too smart for that and threatened to go to the police and sue him, he kept saying he didnt have the money, making up excuses…finally returned her money via another investor that took over the salon. Turns out NONE of the bills were being paid at this place and it was destined to be shutdown any minute…im convinced both him and his girlfriend were in on the scam. Sad to see other people are getting scammed too! As much as I like what karma is doing to him I would like to see what the courts will do to him too!

    • Patty says...

      How long ago was this. Bruce robbed us also in a resturant deal in boyton.

      • Ty says...

        This was back in June/July 2012! Luckily she caught onto the scam before she got too deep in. He is the scum of the earth and a predator who needs to be dealt with!

        • Patty says...

          This guy is a low life. Does anyone know where he lives?

          • Ty says...

            Nope. He is M.I.A. at the moment. I’m positive he’ll resurface again with some more b.s. scams.

  11. CAROL says...

    First let me say…. yes carol is my REAL name… next let me address you all one by one as to the simple fact you all know nothing it seems!!!
    First of all Stefan is a name he used while acting! Did any of you even know he was on a TV show? He was also a writer for Melrose. So no it is not a con arrest… which i believe not correct english but who cares!! Next let me address Ty.. who ever you may be!… I WAS THE STYLIST doing hair in that salon which I owned with Bruce… and your “friend” in which you refer to SUCKED at hair and i was constantly fixing her mistakes!! She was never fired but told to avoid doing hair since she sucked!! she became hostile and she and i got into an argument… The salon cost me and Bruce all we had and we were falling behind in bills so decided to sell salon. The man who bought salon was very well informed even spent days on end hanging out at salon so was not kept in the dark at all about its struggles and he bought it for a great price where your “friend” and other investor got back what they invested even made a profit… Bruce and I came out in negative not your friend!! Susan… not knowing you involvement with restaurant i will assume you are writing your comment based on what you “heard”… let me explain… The restaurant at Grand Opening costs THOUSANDS have Frank Mir there on top of everything else!! The restaurant went down quick because it ran out of money FAST!! Bruce for fact sold all her owned from boat to car to try and make it stay alive and to pay employees…. the money was gone leaving him no choice but to close doors and even lost his own place in which he lived!!! A con man i believe walks away with money… not really sure but thinking thats what makes in a con!! He sold TVs and all else to try and make enough to pay all the workers and i know for FACT he met up with workers weeks after closing to pay them owed pay. Patty… not sure who you are either but define robbed??? You mean you invested and it went out of business??? so if you go to a black jack table and lay down money and walk away with nothing did casino rob you? CURT… lmao.. how you have the balls to put a comment on here blows me AWAY!! you couldnt get a job walking dogs!! He gave you jobs doing everything to help you and your son survive.. even sent you money western union when you went to collect your daughter from another state and had no money to get home… you robbed him blind always skimming the top of your limo jobs.. always borrowing money to never return.. even your last sighting was you given $200 for material for a job and you even borrowed money on top of they to disappear with money and never be heard from again!!! you were always drunk or high and you couldnt do any job right yet he gave you chance after chance.
    I am real… so is my name!!! you all need to find another way to spend your time other then feeding into gossip lies and hate!!!
    If you invested in ground and pound and you lost your money it is because the restaurant had no more money to keep it open… neither did Bruce to keep it open or even to keep his own home.
    THIS IS ALL FACT!!!
    Peace and love to you all i will pray you all find a way to find peace instead of hate!!!

    • juli says...

      A BAD con man walks away with nothing…and if Bruce was a stand up guy he would not have cleaned out the restaurant, selling furniture that was in there from the wings place and telling the landlord he was re-modeling….AGAIN> He is a liar, and a cheat, and anyone associated with him is just as bad

  12. Alan says...

    Bruce bellocchi is a good guy. I have known him for years. He tried with everything he had to make that restaurant work and it was his dream. He didn’t scam anyone. The restaurant went out of business because of poor management. His only fault was not being there enough. Carol who I also know did nothing wrong either. Bruce gave it a shot which is more then most. I know he spent every last dollar he had to make it work and even met employees after it closed and paid people off until he didn’t have a dollar left. Guy gets a bad wrap.

  13. Victim says...

    Bruce is now in jail. Please share this link so that any of his victims that are seeking justice can contact him: http://florida.arrests.org/Arrests/Bruce_Bellocchi_26808221/

  14. Jnose says...

    Bruce is a piece of dog shit, and deserves more time then he is spending in a florida prison. He is the biggest scam artist ive ever met. He had a whole ebay scam going on out in Las Vegas in the early 2000’s. I obviously found out he was a scam artist after doing some odd jobs for him, picking up cars and dropping them off at transport companies to be shipped to buyers. Not knowing that he lied about the condition of the cars, mileage, etc. I was 18 at the time. He did this to so many people using mine and my freinds name, and i woukd actually get threats that some people were going to come to vegas and find me. Honestly he isnt serving enough time, but glad to see his bullshit catch up with him.

    • Marcus says...

      This is a crazy forum. Too bad the press drives this kind of thing. Known Bruce for more then 30 years. He is not and never was a con man. He just tries things without solid plans. He gave that restaurant everything he had and then some. And if all of you knew the facts surrounding his arrest you would be submitting apology letters. I’m not going to get into it here. Its just like his fights against Tua. The guy that posted he got knocked out twice. Bruce took both of those fights on a days notice and wasn’t even in the gym training at the time. I would like to see anyone do any better without training for Tua.

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