After almost four years in, Embeya's run in the West Loop has ended. Co-owner Attila Gyulai confirmed the closure on Wednesday at the restaurant on Randolph Street. Executive chef Mike Sheerin also said that the pan-Asian restaurant closed, and several customers emailed over the weekend to say that staff told them that Saturday was the restaurant's final service.

In calmer times, Embeya (which means "little one," in Vietnamese) opened in fall 2012 as a partnership between Gyulai and chef Thai Dang. Dang, 27 at the time, brought Vietnamese flavors and executed a unique upscale menu while Gyulai helped fine-tune the atmosphere in the swanky space, resulting in Esquire placing it on the magazine's 2013 list of the best new restaurants in the country.

But those good times were short lived. Gyulai and Dang endured a well-publicized split, leading to Dang's departure in March 2015. Dang and his brother then slapped Embeya with a pair of lawsuits, one resulting in a ruling where Dang won $100,000 in May after a judged agreed that Embeya breached their contract after the chef's dismissal. After Dang's departure, Embeya brought on chef Sheerin, and his new menus were well-received by critics.

There's no signage indicating a closure at the restaurant. It's unclear what Gyulai's and wife Komal Patel's next step will be. Gyulai asked to check back on Friday for more details.

Right now, Dang is focusing on opening up his own restaurant —HaiSous in Pilsen. He did return a text message on Monday morning about Embeya: "Friday our HaiSous inbox received messages from Embeya staff asking for jobs because they were closing after Saturday service. We have no other information."

The Tribune also spoke with Gyulai, and he told them: "The lawsuit ruined us." Lawsuits have played roles in restaurant closures, as shutters of Japonais and Karyn's Cooked have recently shown. It's unclear how much of a role that lawsuits played in the closing of Embeya.

UPDATE: Embeya sent out the following email blast shortly after 1 p.m. Thursday informing customers of the closure: