Hendersonville-area restaurant closings from January-June 2023

Dean Hensley, Hendersonville Times-News
·4 min read

HENDERSONVILLE - From January through June, several area restaurants had to close their doors. Below is a list of the ones that shut down in alphabetical order during the first six months of the year.

Appalachian Coffee Company

A barista gets a drink ready for a customer at Appalachian Coffee Company in Laurel Park in this file photo.
A barista gets a drink ready for a customer at Appalachian Coffee Company in Laurel Park in this file photo.

After opening on Fifth Avenue in Laurel Park in 2017, this coffee shop went out of business in February 2023.

In an owner's blog to his customers, David Schnitzer announced the closing with these comments:

"Know that we are actively looking for other options to move to a new location.  At this time, we do not have any details to share but hopefully we can in the near future. Our online store will remain open, and we will continue to supply our many vendors throughout the area.

More: Hendersonville's newest coffee shop opens at the site of a former Laurel Park coffee shop

"I cannot stress enough how proud and grateful I am to the Appalachian Coffee staff.  Over the next month please join me in thanking them for their hard work, love for our customers, and desire to create an atmosphere where all are welcomed and feel at home. These wonderful people not only helped us make it through the pandemic but enabled us to thrive once we got through it. Our business was healthier post-COVID than ever before, and it is all because of our talented, joyful, and hardworking staff."

Schnitzer is the owner of Trailside Brewing, which opened just a few weeks ago at Lennox Station in Hendersonville.

Breedlove's Family Restaurant

Breedlove's Family Restaurants was one of the Hendersonville restaurants that closed this year. It has been rebranded as Queen B's Marketplace.
Breedlove's Family Restaurants was one of the Hendersonville restaurants that closed this year. It has been rebranded as Queen B's Marketplace.

Breedlove's Family Restaurant, located on Chadwick Avenue in Hendersonville, closed earlier this year after rebranding in 2022, changing its name from Breedlove's Deli to Breedlove's Family Restaurant. But something has taken its place: Queen B's Marketplace.

Owners Jenny and Mike Breedlove opened the deli in March 2021 but held off on holding a grand opening until the following July due to COVID-19. After having to close the restaurant this year, Jenny Breedlove kept the place open by changing it to a consignment store that also serves food.

Queen B's Marketplace serves wine, beer, coffee, tea, milkshakes and sandwiches.

Cocula Mexican

Cocula Mexican Restaurant, located at 1751 Brevard Rd., closed earlier this year. The other Cocula Mexican Restaurant located on Tunnel Road in Asheville is still open.

ConoSur Latin Fusion

Patricio Vera, co-owner and manager of Conosur, shows Mackensy Lunsford and Meherwan Irani a part from his rotisserie oven in Mills River Nov. 29, 2018.
Patricio Vera, co-owner and manager of Conosur, shows Mackensy Lunsford and Meherwan Irani a part from his rotisserie oven in Mills River Nov. 29, 2018.

Conosur Latin Fusion, a restaurant located at 4195 Haywood Road in Mills River serving Latin cuisine, closed last month after the co-owners told the Times-News they had to close due to the N.C. 191 road widening project, but the North Carolina Department of Transportation said that wasn't the case.

NCDOT anticipates putting the contract for the $112.6 million project out for bidding in July 2024, according to David Uchiyama, the communications officer for the mountain region of the NCDOT. He also said the project doesn't require businesses located in the corner of N.C. 191 and N.C. 280 (Airport Road) to be relocated.

More: Mills River Conosur owners claim they're closing due to road widening; NCDOT disagrees

Jonny Mac's Low Country Grille & BBQ

A barbecue spot in Fletcher closed earlier this year: Jonny Mac's Low Country Grille & BBQ.

The restaurant was located at 3885 Hendersonville Rd.

Las Cazuelas Mexican Restaurant

Las Cazuelas Mexican Restaurant, located at 321 N. Main St., permanently closed earlier this year. There was another location in Black Mountain, but it, too, has been permanently closed.

Mona Lisa

Mona Lisa, an Italian restaurant located in downtown Hendersonville on North Church Street, closed its doors earlier this year.

Tom Verri ended up purchasing the property and opened Verri's, another Italian restaurant, in April. Mona Lisa owner Franco Bonaduce wanted to retire to spend more time with his family. He had owned the restaurant since 2007.

Renzo's

Renzo's was an Italian restaurant on Main Street that closed earlier this year. Now in its place is Indian Aroma Bistro.
Renzo's was an Italian restaurant on Main Street that closed earlier this year. Now in its place is Indian Aroma Bistro.

Renzo Maietto, a high-profile designer of Mediterranean-style Miami homes, changed his focus to authentic Italian cuisine back in 2014 when he opened Renzo's at 502 N. Main St.

More: Indian Aroma Bistro opens in Hendersonville and is town's first Indian restaurant

Maietto hails from Verbania, Italy, and in 1977 relocated to Miami, where he designed and built lavish homes like the $3.9 million Casa Florence mansion. He decided earlier his year to close his Main Street restaurant for good. In its place now is Indian Aroma Bistro, which opened on May 1.

Dean Hensley is the news editor for the Hendersonville Times-News. Email him with tips, questions and comments at DHensley@gannett.com. Please help support this kind of local journalism with a subscription to the Hendersonville Times-News.

This article originally appeared on Hendersonville Times-News: Hendersonville-area restaurant closings from January-June 2023