Villa Mon Repos stands on the seaward edge of Kadriorg Palace park, in what was once a famous summer resort district. The area grew up around Kadriorg Palace, built as an imperial summer residence, and its park laid out after the example of Versailles. In the 19th century it was a favoured place of summer retreat and pleasant leisure for the Russian nobility, especially the high society of St Petersburg. At the turn of the 20th century several spa and bathing establishments were still operating here, and the summer houses of Tallinn townspeople stood in the same neighbourhood. In the early 20th century the summer villa changed hands and gained a new purpose: already at the end of the tsarist era the house was turned into a casino. In 1921 the restaurant and casino Villa “Mon Repos” (French for “my rest”) opened its doors in the building.

Thanks to its fine cuisine and lavish cabaret programme, it quickly became popular. The performers included well-known actors and artists from Estonia and abroad. The menu and the kitchen were the responsibility of master chef Aleksander Paalberg, who had trained at the court of the Russian emperor and worked as head chef of the English Club in St Petersburg. The restaurant's heyday was short, but it was valued, among other things, for its intimate atmosphere. Having later fallen between the cogwheels of time, the building was renovated in 2016 and its former splendour restored. The contemporary interior and the surviving historical details were brought together by interior architect Külli Salum.