Mon Ami Gabi — Restaurant in Chicago

Having one’s birthday the same day as your 90 year old mother in law is a real bonus. We get to share our dinners together. She picked one of her favorite places and invited us to join along with her friends and family. It was my first time here, even my first time walking into the beautiful and elegant Beldon Stratford Hotel. We were seated in a private area with a large guest list. The party started with cocktails and hors d’oeuvres, while we stood around greeting and talking to guests. Sitting down, there was soft churned butter and fresh French baguettes in paper bags. What fun to rip bread with your family and friends. Wait until you have the Brie cheese with nuts and fruit compote on the crunchy fresh French baguette. OMG! I could have had that as my whole meal, but I thought if this is only a prelude the the rest of the meal, I had better slow down. I am so glad I did. It only got better as the meal went on. Next the table was served family style pots of mussels and more French bread, outstanding! I had the green salad with micro greens on top and some had their classic French Onion soup. Everyone loved both. There were a few choices of entrees, so my choice was the filet mignon with a red wine glaze and thin sliced French fries piled high. To my pleasure and amazement the steak was prepared perfectly to a beautiful medium rare state, leaving juicy and tender. Have ever heard”it melts in your mouth?” Well it was the very best filet I’ve had in many many years. Can you tell that I was excited about this meal? Every dish was perfectly prepared and served from my entree to the very creamy sautéed spinach, the crisp green beans and topping those was the sautéed wild mushrooms in a lite butter sauce. Coffee was served along with the birthday cake that was brought in. But they didn’t just serve the cake, but placed their profiteroles sliced in half, with vanilla ice cream inside and topped with a melted hot fudge sauce on top. I must address the service here as well. I must say the service matched the level of the food as well. The head waiter had a great memory and knew how to serve the table. The only complaint I could find was, I assume a busboy was pouring water and hit everyone’s glass with a clunk of the bottle on the glass. Other than that service was five star as was the food. I hope that you find this writeup helpful and informative. Before you go, look 👀 below 👇 and tap the thumbs up...

We chose Mon Ami Gabi in Chicago to throw my Mom a Surprise 70th Birthday Party. From the beginning, working with Julie was a wonderful experience. We planned the menu, the seating, elements of decor, and other logistics that are part of planning a party. The restaurant accommodated our special menu requests and worked tirelessly with us to develop the best table layout. Later in the planning process, she welcomed me to come tour the place (even in the midst of the COVID surge). In a technical sense, planning an event with this restaurant is done through an online guest portal where all the details for the event are stored (contracts, payments, menus) etc, and any email conversation flows in and out through that portal. I have had other venues or event services work through a portal, but more often than not, some kind of glitch happens. It was a such a relief to have a system that actually worked. Additionally, I found Julie to be extremely responsive to my emails.

Once the planning was done, it was time for the party, and everything went off without a hitch. The servers and other restaurant staff were there to set up the tables with the amazing linens that were rented from Windy City Linen, and help with any other items that were needed. The space came together beautifully! I was fortunate to have "Justy" working our event and she was fantastic! Our guests raved about the food (especially the french onion soup), and the fare was served in an orderly and timely fashion (not too soon and not too late). I like to say it was the "Goldilocks" of service. All the staff at Mon Ami Gabi helped us create a very memorable day for my Mom and we cannot thank them enough for all their effort, positive energy, and overall superb service. Anyone looking to create a special event that you will remember for a lifetime for all good reasons, can't go wrong choosing Mon Ami...

Our group was 8 in size. We had a reservation and arrived before 5pm, our reservation time, and the time they open (Sunday hours are 5-8:30pm). We were taken to our table which was set for 6 people....not the end of the world. Our server was friendly and ready to attend us. She was advised we were not in a hurry. She took our drink order, advised us as to the specials and gave us time to peruse the menu before taking our order. 6 at the table ordered appetizers. Before they arrive, the bread plates are removed (the bread and butter are still on the table) and all of the forks and knives are replaced (in a bit of a flurry). I now have nothing to put my bread on. The reviews were mixed on the appetizers. Once again there is a flurry of activity to clear the table of utensils and plates, even those unused. While 2 people are still eating their appetizers, the dinner arrives at the table. This is a major pet peeve of some of us at the table. After all, this is fine dining. The dinners were sent back to the kitchen to, most likely, sit under heat lamps. We are being served at record speed. Dinner is now re-served. One of the specials, halibut, was what most of us call appetizer size, about 3 1/2 inches by 1 1/2 inches in size all for $36. 2 people ordered that, it came with no sauce, and 1 asked for some sauce because hers was very dry (could be the heat lamp situation caused that!). I ordered the beef wellington. It was cooked perfectly but I would have to say that the sauce was lacking flavor. My husband was disappointed (taste and quantity) with his frites meal (steak with sauce) and said the frites were limp. The bright side of the evening was dessert. No complaints from anyone, as a matter of fact, compliments all around. We passed some of them around so that all could get a taste. Not a great experience for my money and will...