It’s a seemingly small change — rejecting those squares organizing patterns of black and white — that is also a big change, with big potential.
At Stix Asia, the highly regarded Asian food hall from Honolulu that is going into the former Sundry food hall at UnCommons in southwest Las Vegas, there will be no QR codes for ordering. Those codes swarmed The Sundry, part of a digital ordering system that many customers (even digital generations) found frustrating and often unworkable.
The Sundry closed suddenly in June after only a year, suggesting there isn’t always an app for that when it comes to the experience of dining. Stix Asia is aiming for less app, more human touch.
“Hospitality is the direction we want to go with here — the hospitality of Asia,” said Frank Clark, CEO of the company. “You don’t need a passport for Asia — just come to Stix Asia.”
New to Vegas
About a dozen concepts will populate the 18,000-square-foot space, down from 16 concepts across 23,500 square feet in Honolulu. An opening for the first quarter of 2026 is planned for Stix Vegas (stixasia.com/las-vegas).
The vendors — none have been settled, Clark said — will run about 75 percent Japanese, 25 percent other Asian. Some purveyors from Stix Honolulu, Clark said, have expressed interest in Stix Vegas, as have outlets from Asia and elsewhere. But they all have something in common.
“These are going to be first-timers in Las Vegas,” Clark said. “These concepts are not currently here.” Significant design changes to the hall, Clark added, would be made to accommodate the concepts and their Asian themes.
Potential vendors
Some of the concepts under consideration range from ramen and udon in a neon-lighted noodle alley, Asian cocktails served at the big indoor bar, and yakitori skewers and takoyaki balls (stuffed and battered) issuing from what used to be the outdoor bar.
Other potential concepts include a famous Tokyo sushi restaurant, fragrant steaming bowls of pho, a dim sum experience (including juicy xiao long bao swollen with hot broth), a seller of onigiri rice balls, Vietnamese and Thai vendors, a Chinese bakery and more.
“Anything Asian, we are very interested in,” Clark said. And with Vegas being the Ninth Island, “if there is a Hawaiian concept that fits, we would definitely include it.”
The Sundry had a confusing arrangement of vendors and seating. At Stix Asia, Clark said, “each restaurant is basically their own restaurant. There’s more dining in at the restaurants than common areas. I think you’re going to find a very comfortable, easy-to-understand layout for anyone who walks in.”
Filling a gap
Stix Asia had always had an interest in Vegas, Clark said, and that interest found focus once the company learned The Sundry had closed in June. Stix quickly got in contact with Matter Real Estate Group, developer of the $850 million UnCommons.
“They approached us almost immediately — they had been tracking the property,” said Jim Stuart, a Matter Real Estate partner. “When they reached out to us, I was incredibly curious from the beginning. We recognized they could fill a large gap in the market we had not met — speaking to the Asian community, creating a diversity of Asian offerings.”
The overture could not have come at a better time for Matter, which had been concerned about the performance of The Sundry well before it shuttered.
“We were able to read the tea leaves on he Sundry not too long after they opened. We started looking on the horizon six months after it opened up, considering other options if we needed to,” Stuart said.
“In the final postmortem of The Sundry, the operating platform and the premise — that the consumer would default to QR codes, that people would trade hospitality for the convenience of ordering from your phone — turned out not to be correct.”
Passion, flames, aromas
Serious discussions between Stix Asia and Matter Real Estate began in August. On Jan. 31, Hideyuki Takahashi, owner of Stix Asia’s Tokyo-based parent company, signed a lease agreement for the UnCommons space. He was joined at the signing by Clark, Stuart and by Matt Root, another Matter partner.
What sealed the deal for Stix Asia, Stuart said, was the financial stability and hospitality experience of the Japanese parent, as well as the commitment of the Stix team and potential Vegas vendors to top-notch food, drink and customer experience.
“I get easily excited around folks who lead with passion, lead with integrity, lead with experience, take a longer view. It is perfectly aligned with what we are attempting to do with UnCommons,” Stuart said.
Before the deal was signed, Stuart traveled to Tokyo, met with the Stix Asia team, and tasted at some of the restaurants and street markets that would inspire the food hall.
“The one piece that is so critical about what I think of Stix Asia is the technique of these food makers is very visual and alive and right in front of you — yakitori and the flames and aromas. A ramen bar with the aroma and a passionate food maker at the counter making your food.
“One of the most romantic things about Japanese cooking is the experience of the cooking, what it’s like to have the theater of presentation as part of your dining experience.”
There’s no QR code for that.
Contact Johnathan L. Wright at jwright@reviewjournal.com. Follow @JLWTaste on Instagram.