St. Louis, Mo.:For the first time in its 17-year history, Wasabi Sushi Bar is taking on a business partner—and defying the pandemic—with the opening of its seventh restaurant.

Wasabi Sushi Bar, located at 4239 Duncan Ave. in the Cortex tech district, will open on Dec. 17 for takeout, delivery and catering business.  The nearly 4,300-square-foot restaurant cost $2 million and will employ 20 new and existing team members.  Once COVID restrictions on indoor dining are lifted, the newest Wasabi will add 10 more employees. 

Wasabi entered into the Cortex partnership with leading hotel development, management and investment firm Midas Hospitality.  Wasabi is next to the Midas owned and managed Aloft Hotel by Marriott located at 4245 Duncan Ave.  The $28 million hotel, which was developed by Midas Hospitality and built by Midas Construction, opened in June of this year. 

The Cortex location is one of Wasabi’s larger properties since its typical restaurant is under 3,000 square feet.  Cody Cooper and Neta Johnson will jointly serve as Directors of Operations.

“We have retained all 130+ employees thanks to our amazing customer base who have remained extremely loyal during the pandemic,” said Wasabi’s CEO John Kim.  “We are carefully optimistic about the future as we anticipate continued growth for our brand.”

Spiegelglass Construction Co. created the restaurant’s interior and has worked with Wasabi since 2011.  This is the first project that St. Louis-based Architextures SP has handled for the restaurant.  Peoples National Bank financed Wasabi’s build.

“Midas and Wasabi share both a similar customer base and a synergistic approach to business,” said Midas Hospitality’s CEO and Co-founder David Robert.  “This joint partnership is our first endeavor into the dining industry, and we look forward to our collaboration with an industry leader like Wasabi.”