VEGAS DINING NEWS: Trouble in Jason Aldean’s Kitchen, World’s Largest Japanese Cultural Hub Planned
Posted on: November 26, 2025, 05:41h.
Last updated on: November 26, 2025, 05:43h.
The largest Japanese dining, cultural and entertainment complex in the US is being planned for Chinatown in Las Vegas, just 1.5 miles west of the Wynn and Encore.
According to chinatownvegas.com, a hyperlocal news site that announced the news on Tuesday, Chubby World is the brainchild of Chubby Group, a Las Vegas hospitality company whose local holdings include the X Pot at the Venetian as well as Chubby Cattle BBQ, Chubby Cattle Hotpot, Chubby Skewers and Mikiya Wagyu Shabu House — all of which are in Chinatown.
The Japanese word for “chubby” doesn’t have the same meaning as its English correlate. “Pocchari” has a strictly positive connotation, as in cute and cuddly.
Chubby World will measure 25,000 square feet and feature five separately themed floors. Here’s a preview:
- Basement: A music hall for DJs, anime-themed concerts and other entertainment
- 1st Floor: Japanese collectibles, including blind boxes, Pop Mart, anime retain, figurines and Instagramable installations
- 2nd Floor: A fresh supermarket, operated by Hashi Market, will feature seafood, Japanese groceries and daily-prepared food. It will also reportedly include Las Vegas’ most affordable omakase (chef’s choice) counter, estimated at $49-$69 per person
- 3rd Floor: A food court consisting of Chubby Group concepts and partners crowded into an alley reminiscent of Toyko street vending
- 4th Floor: A space for cosplay shows, anime events and cultural performances.
According to chinatownvegas.com, the project will introduce a radio-frequency (RFID) wristband for purchases in addition to cash and credit cards, allowing guests to unlock loyalty points and other rewards.
No construction timeline or opening date have been announced.
Ole (in the) Red
Jason Aldean’s Kitchen + Bar — the country singer’s knockoff of Blake Shelton‘s Ole Red that has failed to make a noise matching that of its live music since opening last year — has fired the Nashville hospitality company that brought it to Vegas.
According to Vital Vegas, TC Restaurant Group, which had no previous Vegas experience, has been replaced with Gen3 Hospitality, the folks behind Holsteins Shakes and Buns (formerly at the Cosmopolitan and now downtown) and Haute Doggery and Flour & Barley Brick Oven Pizza on the Linq Promenade.
Aldean’s name will remain, Vital Vegas reports, but not its executive chef and many of its staff members.
And this was all before the third Southern restaurant and honkytonk from a country music star, Category 10 from Luke Combs, opens in a much more prominent Strip location than either of its two competitors — Jimmy Buffett’s old Margaritaville space in front of the Flamingo — next fall.
Dining Ins & Outs
Bojangles, the North Carolina-based chicken-and-biscuit franchise with more than 800 US locations, is opening its very first with a full bar and live music. And that will be at the Linq promenade, where it should fit in thematically with Guy Fieri’s Vegas Kitchen and Hash House A Go Go. Bojangles currently operates one location in Vegas but has 19 more in various states of planning — including one at Harmon Corner, the three-story retail and dining complex at Las Vegas Boulevard and Harmon Avenue
The Colorado-based Chili Shack chain has opened in downtown Las Vegas at 707 Carson Ave., serving customizable burritos, tacos, enchiladas and Southwestern burgers.
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