Frey owns retailer FreyBoy Tobacco, CigarBox.com and the Casa Fuente cigar store and bar in the Forum Shops at Caesars. He also co-developed Montecristo Rum, which was named the best rum of 2002 by Wine & Spirits magazine.

Recognizing his lack of experience in the restaurant business, Frey called some friends to help him get T&T off the ground.

Craig Gilbert, former vice president of food and beverage at the Rio, is the restaurant's operating partner while architect and partner Adam Tihany conceptualized the 8,200-square-foot space on the Luxor's atrium level overlooking the hotel lobby. T&T replaces the La Salsa restaurant and two small shops.

Brother Gary Frey is also part of the new venture, overseeing construction.

The new restaurant is part of a larger renovation of the Egyptian-themed hotel-casino that has also seen two exhibits, "Bodies ... The Exhibition" and "Titanic: The Artifact Exhibition," move from the Tropicana to the Luxor.

Although Frey is busy opening one restaurant, he recently began building a new bar at The Mirage, called Rhumbar, which is scheduled to open around New Year's Eve.

Question: How did your first restaurant venture come to be at the Luxor?

Answer: I had lunch with (Luxor President) Felix Rappaport, and pitched the idea of a taco and tequila bar. He said, "It's a great idea. We can call it T&T." So Felix actually came up with the name. He said "If you get the space, I know you can do it but I would suggest you go out and get a big-name chef." At the time I didn't think I needed a big-name chef because it was more concept driven than chef-driven.

Question: Who did you get as the chef?

Answer: I hooked up with a guy named Richard Sandoval who's one of the top Latin-cuisine chefs in the world. He has probably 20 restaurants now stretching from San Francisco to Dubai. He has Isla (Mexican Kitchen) at Treasure Island, which is fine Mexican dining. I shared my vision of what I wanted to do. He liked the idea and agreed to be my consulting chef. That I had Tihany as a partner made us a pretty formidable team. I just kept going until MGM couldn't say no to Felix, and realized we were the right guys for the space.

Question: You seem to partner with a lot of good people. What do you bring to the partnerships?

Answer: I'm an idea man. Craig (Gilbert) is an operating man, and Gary (Frey) is the builder.

My goal is to create entertainment concepts for mass market and for the older demographic. I want to specialize in doing very accessible projects. I am giving them a really cool design at a really great price. Lunch will cost between $16 and $18 and dinner will run you about $26 to $30, which even in these economic times is very affordable.

Question: Are you concerned about opening a restaurant or owning a retail business during the economic slowdown?

Answer: I'm excited. We're in a hotel that has 4,400 rooms. And we're connected on both sides to 8,000 more rooms (between Mandalay Bay and Excalibur). They're putting attractions 20 feet from me. There's a lot of people in this town. There are people who want to come to Las Vegas, enjoy themselves and they'll pay for a good beer, good margarita, good tacos in a fun atmosphere. ... Anyone who likes a cold beer and tacos is my customer.

Question: Is this a joint venture with MGM Mirage, owners of the Luxor?

Answer: No. I went to them. There were a lot of people going for that space because it is a unique space. I just finished doing Casa Fuente, my cigar bar, in the Forum Shops (at Caesars).

It was doing great and I was looking for the next thing. I happened to be in a place in Los Angeles called El Carmen on Third Street. It's sort of a cool dive tequila bar. I said, "Damn, everyone likes Mexican food and tacos." I believe that a taco and tequila bar would be the next thing.

Question: How did you end up working in television on shows such as "Dallas" and "The Waltons"?

Answer: When I got out of school (at the University of Southern California studying film and history), I wanted to be a TV director. So I started working so I could get into the union. You needed 200 days to get into the Directors Guild. It was brutal work. A lot of 18-hour days fetching TV stars their breakfasts. I said, "enough is enough" and I got into production.

Question: What brought you back to Las Vegas from Hollywood?

Answer: I got tired of the movie business. I was in it for eight years. I lost my job due to a writers strike and an actors strike. Then I went to work as a production executive for a guy and we didn't get along so he fired me. I said, "That's it. I'm going to work for myself." I wanted to control my own destiny.

Question: How did you choose the cigar business?

Answer: At the time I was a cigar smoker. I thought if a cigar business would do well in any city it would be Las Vegas. That was at the height of the boom in the mid-'90s. So I started coming back here and got into the cigar business.

Question: Was it a bitter experience in Hollywood?

Answer: No, I had great days. I sat in a room for three hours with Al Pacino and Alan Parker, the director and Richard Bryce, a great writer, working on a remake of a French film. It was so intense sitting in a room with Michael Corleone. ... But those days were few. The rest was BS and a lot of ass kissing.

MICHAEL FREY

Age: 49

Occupation: Owner of T&T at Luxor, Casa Fuente at Forum Shops, Cigar Box retail store, ticket agency Great Seats West

Quotable: "My goal is to create entertainment concepts for mass market and for the older demographic. I want to specialize in doing very accessible projects."

VITAL STATISTICS

Name: Michael Frey.

Position: Owner of T&T at Luxor, Casa Fuente at Forum Shops, Cigar Box retail store, ticket agency Great Seats West.

Family: Wife, Catherine Bloom.

Education: University of Southern California, bachelor of science in history.

Work history: Caesars Palace, lifeguard; production assistant, story editor, associate producer and vice president of development on various television shows including "Dallas," "Knots Landing" and "The Waltons"; Bob Woolf Associates, vice president of client relations; Entrepreneur.

Hobbies: 5 p.m. daily tequila shot; collecting photography; retail and hospitality projects.

Favorite book: "Shalimar the Clown," by Salman Rushdie.

Hometown: Las Vegas and Los Angeles.

T&T (Tacos & Tequila) is at 3900 Las Vegas Blvd. South and can be reached at 262-5225.

Contact reporter Arnold M. Knightly at aknightly@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3893.