~Photo by William Tauro By George P. Hassett The Breakfast War erupted in Ball Square Saturday afternoon, leaving one breakfast hot spot owner heading to the hospital and another claiming he was assaulted. The fisticuffs are the latest chapter in a feud that dates back to 2007 and has caught the attention of television producers, the city's mayor and people looking for good french toast.

Police were called to Broadway today as a crowd scuffled and tried to separate the owners of SoundBites and Ball Square Cafe. It wasn't the first time police were called to mediate Ball Square owner Mike Moccia and Yasser Mirza, of Sound Bites, but it may have been the most intense episode yet with witnesses reporting punches thrown and blood drawn.

Until today, customers had been the winner of the breakfast feud as two short Broadway blocks were home to four highly regarded breakfast spots – Kelly's Diner and True Grounds are also nearby.

Mirza did not immediately return a call for this article.

Moccia said Mirza instigated the fight by threatening to spit on his parents, who own Victor's – another restaurant on the block, and then actually spitting on Moccia and lunging at him. Moccia said he punched Mirza in the head in self defense, breaking a knuckle.

"Bang bang, he was right out" Moccia told a friend today after the fight.

"Good for you, he deserved it," said the friend.

Producers of the Travel Channel program Food Wars contacted Mirza and Moccia about appearing on an episode but Moccia said Mirza pulled out this week, after both had initially agreed.

"Food Wars pits the nation's most famous culinary rivals against one another for a final showdown, where a blind taste test will settle the debate: Who makes the Best Dish in Town?," accoring to the show's Web site.

"He doesn't have the game [at Sound Bites], he was scared, he knows he'll get shown up," Moccia said. "Our food and our service is better. That's why he won't agree to go on the show."

The dispute started when Ball Square Cafe displaced Sound Bites at 708 Broadway and Sound Bites moved next door to replace the closed El Guapo in 2007. It intensified when longtime Sound Bites cook Omar Djebbouri joined Moccia as a partner at Ball Square Cafe.

Djebbouri was part of the original team that opened Sound Bites in 1992 under original owner Julia Sati. He said today Mirza often antagonizes the cafe owners by trying to lure their customers into his establishment as they enter Ball Square Cafe.

"He's trying to ruin the business atmosphere in Ball Square. He just won't stop," Djebbouri said. "He's crazy."

Throughout the dispute, Mirza has repeatedly said he doesn't want to be civil with his neighbor. In April 2008, Moccia delivered a letter of apology, hoping for a truce.

"I don't want to respond to his letter, I don't want to be civil, I just stay away from him," Mirza told The Somerville News at the time.

Mayor Joseph A. Curtatone said at the time that "everyone has been aware of the tension" between the businesses.

Today, Moccia said he still hopes peace can prevail. "I'm not happy with this, I want to resolve it. I don't want it to get any worse," he said.