Restaurant closures featuring international cuisine: 1 North Naples, 1 Old Naples
There have been two recent restaurant shutters of note in Collier County, which featured international cuisines.
Old Naples
Afsona, the pretty restaurant with sky blue decor owned by chef Mamlakat Tadjieva at 300 Ninth Street across from NCH Baker Hospital, recently closed after nearly three years of serving Uzbek cuisine.
A previous JLB critic noted, “As I said before, I don’t like Afsona. I love it.”
The restaurant’s opening night was Dec. 24, 2020. The space was previously Maria D’anna Cafe.
North Naples
Though Google and its website say the closure is temporary, several in our city's Argentine ex-pat community are telling me Manuela and Pablo Basualdo’s Mila Bistro is not re-opening, at least in its current form. It's not been open any of the five times I've driven by in the past two months.
The couple who hailed from Buenos Aires opened their bright cafe late April 2022 at 2464 Vanderbilt Beach Road, serving Argentine sandwiches, burgers, wine and five varieties of Milanesas.
Its creative house-made empanadas eaten on early visits were the real deal. My favorite: Bacon, plum and mozzarella. Subsequent visits for carryout proved a little tricky as this reporter’s Spanish isn’t muy bueno.
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This article originally appeared on Naples Daily News: Closing time for 2 Naples restaurants downtown and north
