Mon Ami Gabi to close at Oakbrook Center

Mon Ami Gabi is bidding adieu to Oak Brook.

Representatives with Chicago-based Lettuce Entertain You Restaurants announced this week that the lease for Mon Ami Gabi at Oakbrook Center was expiring. The French bistro has been at the luxury Oak Brook mall for 21 years, and its closing is set for Nov. 24.

"We invite guests to join us for dine-in and carryout to make the most of these last days together," Lettuce Entertain You officials said in a statement. "We have felt so honored to be part of the Oak Brook community for over two decades, and it has been an absolute pleasure to serve our wonderful guests. Our guests' loyalty has meant the world to us."

The original Mon Ami Gabi restaurant opened in 1998 in Chicago's Lincoln Park neighborhood. The French bistro franchise would also prove to be important to the expansion of Lettuce Entertain You restaurants beyond the Windy City.

In 1999, a Mon Ami Gabi opened at the Paris Hotel & Casino - the first Lettuce Entertain You restaurant to be located along the Las Vegas Strip. And a Mon Ami Gabi that opened in 2002 in Bethesda, Maryland, would also mark the first Lettuce Entertain You restaurant in the metro area of Washington.

Another Mon Ami Gabi in that region later opened in Reston, Virginia.

A spokesperson with Brookfield Properties, which manages Oakbrook Center, said ongoing negotiations prevented them from disclosing why the Mon Ami Gabi lease was not renewed.

Other restaurants in the Lettuce Entertain You portfolio include Antico Posto, Beatrix and Wildfire, and they continue to operate with locations at Oakbrook Center.