Pret A Manger, a London-based grab-and-go cafe, unexpectedly closed its Evanston location Thursday.

The company announced the closure on its U.S. Twitter account Feb. 12, stating, “Today we sadly close the doors of our Evanston shop.”

Beverly Basiga, a spokeswoman for the company, shared the company’s statement in an email to the Daily.

“After careful consideration, we are sad to be leaving Evanston,” the company stated. “Our decision to close is based on the location’s long-term performance. We are looking forward to continuing our growth in Chicago.”

Ald. Jane Grover (7th) said she first heard the news in an email from city manager Wally Bobkiewicz, but did not know why the restaurant was leaving the space or any other details about the company’s decision to close.

“We were all really glad when they opened,” Grover said. “I believe it was even its first suburban location.”

Pret A Manger, 1701 Sherman Ave., opened its Evanston location in January 2012. The company had expanded to Chicago in September 2010 and currently has eight locations in the city, all located in downtown Chicago.

Grover said the disappearance of the cafe from Evanston raises questions about what to do with the space.

“It’ll be interesting to discuss and see what we want to have there,” she said. “We definitely want to keep that corner lively and I’m hoping we can get feedback from the community and find out what they would like to have.”

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