Santana, Mina and Agassi may unite for a Las Vegas restaurant venture

“An Intimate Evening With Santana” at House of Blues in Mandalay Bay on Wednesday, May 2, 2012.

Friday, July 6, 2012 | 2:57 p.m.

During an interview last week, Carlos Santana said he’s in the process of opening a restaurant in Las Vegas. To boot, the famed guitarist said the business venture would be a partnership with revered chef Michael Mina and celebrity resident Andre Agassi.

Although Santana has already inspired a chain of Mexican restaurants in California and Texas called Maria Maria (after his 1999 Grammy-winning hit of the same name), it seems this time he’ll be following the trend of celebrity-branded eateries such as Lynyrd Skynyrd BBQ & Beer and B.B. King’s Blues Club.

“[Mina] invited me to participate and have Santana Black Magic Woman Bar and Santana Restaurant. We’re working it out right now and I’m very grateful,” said Santana.

The famed musician said the venue would “probably” land at Mandalay Place, adding he hopes for it to be close to the House of Blues, where Santana became the venue’s first resident performer back in May.

A representative of Michael Mina said, "Michael and Carlos have had conversations about how great it would be to work together and what an exciting opportunity it would be, however the idea to open a restaurant together is in the extreme infancy of discussion."

A request for comment from Agassi was not returned.

Santana seemed very enthusiastic about the possible dining concept. “It’s kind of like a triangle ... a triangle of trust. Andre Agassi, Michael Mina and Santana, at a supreme restaurant in Las Vegas, how’s that? Doesn’t that sound good?”

Given Mina’s local track record and both Santana and Agassi’s professional success, our answer is definitely “yes.”