Metro Diner, NeNe's Kitchen close in North Naples

Two area diners have topped off their last coffees.

Metro Diner and NeNe’s Kitchen both recently closed their North Naples restaurants. Other area locations for these restaurants remain open.

Metro Diner’s last day was Sunday after operating 18 months in the Naples Walk retail center on the southeast corner of Airport-Pulling and Vanderbilt Beach roads. When business slowed after season, the Naples location stopped serving dinner in mid-June but remained open for breakfast and lunch hours.

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“We have made the difficult decision to close the Naples Metro Diner. This is strictly a business decision and is not a reflection of our team’s dedication to serving the community,” Crafton Bryant IV, Metro Diner’s director of marketing, replied via email.

“We understand that closing our location in Naples will affect the lives of our team members and we are helping them with this transition, including severance packages and will have some team members transferring to other Metro Diner locations.”

Since opening Jan. 31, 2017, in North Naples, the family-style diner chain started Lee County locations in Bonita Springs in May 2017 and in Cape Coral four months ago. Florida-based Metro Diner has 24 locations in the Sunshine State, with three more coming soon, as well as more than 60 locations throughout at least 10 other states, according to its website, metrodiner.com.

“We will continue to explore the Southwest Florida market for future locations,” Bryant said. “In the interim, we hope guests will visit us at our Cape Coral and Bonita Springs locations.”

Managers of Publix-anchored Naples Walk plan to place another restaurant in that corner site, which has more than 3,600 square feet of space. The unit previously was home to Mattress World and Blockbuster Video.

“We certainly will be looking at bringing in the next best food use for that space. We are certainly targeting another restaurant,” said Marc Elias, a leasing agent for Regency Centers.

Another restaurant also offering classic American comfort food with flair quietly closed earlier this month in the Naples area. After operating on Marco Island for more than a decade, Bob Natale opened his second location of NeNe’s Kitchen on Dec. 1 in a freestanding building on Pine Ridge Road near U.S. 41 that has seen its share of eateries come and go for decades.

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Although this space recently had some stability with a seven-year run by a Loving Hut vegan franchise, it previously had been home to a trio of Italian ristorantes — Chianti's, Tre Amici and Tre Fratelli’s — and before that a couple of restaurant chains — Long John Silver’s and Kenny Rogers Roasters.

Natale renovated the nearly 3,000-square-foot restaurant inside and out and had plans to eventually add dinner service to the local mom-and-pop eatery that served breakfast and lunch. NeNe’s original location on Marco Island remains open at 297 N. Collier Blvd.

Natale could not be reached to comment.

For the latest in local restaurants coming and going, see Tim Aten’s “In the Know” columns archived at naplesnews.com/intheknow, and on Facebook at facebook.com/timaten.intheknow.

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