The owner of Sports City Taverna in Fort Worth didn’t start as a host or a waiter, or even a sous-chef. His background was in basketball, first as a standout at Keller Central, then at Weber State, before spending time in the NBA.
How it happened
Bolomboy became a standout at Weber State, located in Ogden, Utah, leaving the school as the all-time rebounds leader and joined the school's Hall of Fame in 2024. The Utah Jazz drafted him with the 52nd pick in the 2016 NBA draft.
That actually paved the way for his current venture.
“The NBA does a really good job at educating the incoming rookies,” he said. “We had actual classes and lessons on life topics, money management, saying no to family when it comes to money and the lifestyle in the NBA. The one portion that really stuck with me was the money management aspect of it. They guide you and tell you to get a financial adviser to manage your money. So long story short, I realize a lot of my super successful and wealthy friends are business owners, real estate owners, restaurant owners, or are in the hospitality industry. I was always interested in restaurants, and I knew one day when the time came, I knew I wanted to [have one].”
Bolomboy has been playing professional basketball since 2016, most recently with Crvena Zvezda in Belgrade, Serbia, during the 2024-25 season.
The big picture
While he was playing basketball overseas, he launched Business Junkies, an investment company in 2022. He and business partner Kevin Noe purchased Sports City Taverna, which opened in 2022, in May 2024.
“There’s a lot of local bars near there, but there aren’t too many sports bars,” he said. “So, being a basketball player, I thought if I took this bar and kind of capitalized on it with sports being the aspect of it. There are a lot of problems going on in this world, whether it's global, economic, war, whatever, right? Sports, in general, is one of those things that you can find common ground and truly bring people together.”
Business Junkies also operates Russo's New York Pizzeria & Italian Kitchen in the Houston and Austin areas. Bolomboy said the plan is to bring two locations to the Dallas-Fort Worth area, but the timetable is still in the works.
The specifics
The company improved the outdoor patio space with six jumbo-screen TVs, new TVs inside the restaurant and two pool tables. In addition, they revamped the menu and added daily lunch specials, a daily happy hour and drink specials, Bolomboy said. The sports bar also added a 10% discount if customers take a selfie, post it on social media and tag the restaurant.
On the menu
Bolomboy said the restaurant offerings include traditional sports bar food like wings and burgers. There are four pizzas offered, including one of his favorites, the shrimp and pesto, which includes the two aforementioned items, garlic, basil, olive oil, ricotta cheese and lemon. Sports City Taverna also offers shrimp that is deep fried and tossed in sauce, similar to chicken wings, with flavors such as mango habanero, barbecue, lemon pepper, garlic parmesan, sweet chili, honey garlic and hot or mild buffalo sauce.
He said the changes included removing items such as a steak and salmon dinner and adding The Hangover Burger, which includes a beef patty, melted American cheese, lettuce, bacon, fried eggs, tomato and mayo.
“The main thing is being able to provide someone a great time and over a great meal,” Bolomboy said. “The core is being able to provide meals to people, families and individuals, and it truly does bring them together. We're able to do that by providing meals and food and drink and just an atmosphere and venue that shows sports games.”
- 5711 Golden Triangle Blvd., Fort Worth
- www.sportscitytaverna.com
