The first Eat & Box restaurant opened in 2006 in Topeka, KS, and the momentum quickly built, as communities across the U.S. clamored for their own local boxing bistro establishment.
The deceptively simple concept allegedly occurred to entrepreneur, Bruse “Bobby” Larko, when he was sitting in an International House of Pancakes thinking about the impact of Fight Club on his psyche. “I was munching the pumpkin pancakes when I thought, hey, what about a place that merges America’s two favorite things: eating and punching people until they are senseless?”
Larko quickly landed investors intrigued by the concept of eating and then determining who pays the check by demanding “justice” from an anonymous table from somewhere else in the restaurant.
A bonafide ring announcer will bellow out “Challenge from table 10″ to settle the egg and bacon special plus chocolate milk tab from a senior citizen from Hoboken, NJ, and patrons will rush to Eat and Box’s staple “inflatable ring” at the bistro’s center to witness the pounding she will take from the duo of 15-year-old junior hockey players from Hamilton, Ontario who had the “short stack special.”
“It’s all in good fun,” says Mabel Driscoll, a 45-year-old travel agent from Monroe, LA, who has won her last five challenges in a row, recently dispatching two different sets of twins, one identical, one fraternal, both, ironically, from the same town in Wisconsin.
Larko admits the insurance costs can be steep, but suggests “it’s worth it, just to see the smiles on the faces of those lucky victors, who not only walk away with a free lunch, but a pretty good work out to boot.”
Larko advises franchisees to keep a staff of nurses and “cut doctors” on hand, especially later in the evenings when the skill level of the would-be punchers is lessened by the excessive alcohol they consume even before they enter.
“Around midnight, that’s the worst,” he explains, “because after a meal of water chestnuts, donuts, and poached prunes, you’re either primed for three rounds, or ready to take a dive after one left hook.”
Poxxy the Kangaroo, the restaurant’s child-proof mascot, visits each table every 10 minutes to rev up the crowd’s enthusiasm for the competition, and to scout new talent.
Bruno Simpson, who wears the Poxxy costume for the Austin, TX franchise, loves his job: “First, the hours are great. But being able to spot an up-and-comer just by the way they deploy a fork and spoon—male or female, I don’t care—tells you who can take a punch and who will land an uppercut early in the 2nd round. That’s what makes my job special.”
There are now Eat & Box bistros in 40 states and more than 90 cities. “That 100th city is going to be special—we’ve got 8 in the pipeline, so we’re looking at Portsmouth, OH or Sitka, AK as our Century City,” crows Larko. “I tell ya, we’re going to have quite a premiere grand opening at that site, maybe a tournament of all of the other Eat & Box winners.”
Larko says an Eat & Box home game is in the works, plus a cookbook featuring the recipes of diners’ favorite dishes, including the Egg and Bacon Special Plus Chocolate Milk and the Water Chestnut. Donut and Poached Prune Casserole.
For franchise information, write to Larko at this address: larko@eatandbox.com.
In the wake of 
You asked for it, now you got it. Introducing:
The McKinney store is about to open. Applications are now being taken and interviewing will begin soon. We like a lead time of about 6 months. Cooks, waiters, greeters, referees, and ring announcers are invited to supply a phone number and mug shot. No one with a college education need apply; we prefer those who have lived in the real world most of their lives. Who else is better equipped to take care of customers who come to Eat and Box to eat and to box? That diploma of yours looks good on the wall, but can you call a TKO in the midst of confusion over who ordered the Coconut Cabbage flapjacks? We employ more GEDs than all other American restaurants combined!
If our driveway and parking lot are not cleaned off from snow, sleet, hail, or freezing rain, that’s ok, because we have Our Patented™ No Stranded Policy. 
