Man in intensive care after brawl at Melbourne pizza shop

A Melbourne man is in intensive care after a brawl broke out at a pizza shop in front of shocked diners.

The business only opened on Tuesday but the owner claims he's received threats since he began renovations last month.

Daje Pizza restaurant owner Andrea Caroli and his friend say they were forced to defend themselves when three men stormed the store on Sydney Road in Brunswick last night.

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Customers ran out of the shop as punches were thrown and chairs, a crowbar and a fire extinguisher were also used in the brawl, which was captured on CCTV. 

"Came into the shop, three of them, three big guys, they started punching and kicking, they damaged the shop as well," Caroli said.

Caroli suffered a black eye but his friend copped the brunt of the attack.

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He is in ICU at the Royal Melbourne Hospital in a stable condition with head injuries.

"His eye was like this," Caroli said, gesturing a swollen eye.

"I've never seen anything like that and his mouth, blood everywhere, he vomited a few times."

Caroli claims a rival pizza shop owner is behind the attack after receiving threats while renovating last month.

"All this because we are competition, they're scared that they're going to lose their business," he said.

Despite being injured and the clean-up ahead, Caroli is already back in the kitchen getting ready to serve customers tonight.

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