Le Cirque, one of the most storied names in American restaurant history, with a pedigree stretching back more than 50 years to New York City and its founding by hospitality legend Siro Maccioni, is closing after almost 28 years at Bellagio on the Las Vegas Strip, MGM Resorts International announced Monday.
The restaurant is the final location for the brand in the U.S., following the shuttering of the New York flagship in December 2017. The Bellagio outpost will close after service on Aug. 23, sending out its final tasting menus featuring modern riffs on French classics. The space will become another culinary concept planned to debut in mid-2027, the announcement said.
“Le Cirque played a pivotal role in the city’s transformation into the fine dining destination it is today,” Mark Czerniak, general manager of Bellagio, said in the announcement.
“The restaurant is an institution and has been home to many of the world’s best chefs, sommeliers and service professionals. We are proud and grateful to those dedicated team members — past and present — who contributed to Le Cirque’s remarkable legacy by delivering an unforgettable experience to guests from around the world every night.”
The original Le Cirque, opened by the Maccioni family on East 65th Street in Manhattan in 1974, had long been one of the country’s most famous restaurants, a celebration of high-style French cooking beloved by royalty (regnant and deposed), celebrities, poobahs of commerce, social cyclones and assorted shiny folk.
Le Cirque Vegas opened in October 1998 with the debut of Bellagio. The restaurant offers an intimate scale (about 40 seats), with a tented ceiling in bright stripes (inspired by the circus version), striped chairs and booths beneath, windows framing views of the Bellagio fountains, and panels of monkeys at the circus painted by the artist who created the original murals on East 65th.
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