Popular Ocean Grove restaurant Napona announces closure

A popular restaurant in Ocean Grove will close its doors soon, with the owners set to pursue new ventures.

Napona Restaurant will close on July 13. Picture: Alan Barber

A popular Ocean Grove restaurant will close its doors for the final time next weekend.

The owners of Napona have announced it will close on July 13.

The Mediterranean-style restaurant on Hogson St serves a variety of pizzas and seafood dishes.

Napona is a well-known dining destination on the Bellarine Peninsula and is highly regarded by TV food critic Matt Preston.

Owner Will Swinton said the phone started to ring “straight away” with customers wanting to book in a final meal at the restaurant after they announced the closure on their Instagram page.

“We’re full for our final services,” he said.

“(Our customers) are happy for us that we are moving on to pursue other things.”

Napona owner Will Swinton Photo: Ginger + Mint

The business wrote on Instagram that it had decided “not continue with the lease for a multitude of reasons”.

“Economic forecasts, but also the desire to explore different opportunities and give more priority to our young family, (were among the reasons),” the social media post read.

“We cannot express enough gratitude for the relationships we’ve built over the years with customers, our suppliers, and also all our awesome staff.

“We’ve watched families grow, staff grow from kids to adults, made friends and had some truly great times.”

Napona will be open on Friday July 12 and Saturday July 13 for takeaway pizza before the venue closes it’s doors.

“We’d love the opportunity to show our appreciation for your support over the years,” the business wrote on social media.

Originally published as Popular Ocean Grove restaurant Napona announces closure