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Ace Bailey
Andrew Quinn
Dave Alford
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Dzeneta Arslanovic
Jason Kaplan
Stan Utley
Zev Nadler

Championship Dining

Each year, Experience Scottsdale profiles a selection of local celebrities, from restaurateurs and sports figures to artists and adventurers. We invite you to meet this year’s luminaries and find out what they have to say about living, working and enjoying life in Scottsdale.

"I was always in the restaurant business," says Don Carson, owner of Don & Charlie's. "My father was in the restaurant business and I've always enjoyed the people aspect of it – meeting new friends, having people tell me they had a good time and loved the food. I just enjoy the whole thing."

Carson, who grew up in Rogers Park on Chicago's North Side, opened Don & Charlie's in 1981 with a robust menu of American comfort food, a love of sports and more than a few bare walls. Inspired by Randy Hundley's first baseball fantasy camp in 1982, Carson commissioned an artist to draw a caricature head shot of the 1969 Chicago Cubs team on a wall in the bar, which many of the players have signed over the years. Today, Carson's museum-quality collection of sports memorabilia covers all of the restaurant's walls, and then some.

"We just started hanging things from the ceiling," Carson says with a laugh. "They're great conversation starters. If someone says, ‘hey, what's with that picture?', I can tell them the story. Or if a family comes in and the son is a Red Sox fan, I can take him around and show him all the Red Sox memorabilia. Sometimes, we even have people knock on the door when we're closed and want to come in so they can see everything with the lights up."

While Carson's memorabilia collection and gracious staff create the welcoming atmosphere at Don & Charlie's, the restaurant's MVP is a Chicago-inspired menu that includes prime steaks, fresh seafood, melt-in-your-mouth barbeque ribs and a complimentary chopped liver plate served before every dinner. It's a winning combination that has made Don & Charlie's a year-round Scottsdale favorite and a must-stop for players and fans during March's Spring Training season.

"We just want folks to come in, relax and have a good time," says Carson. "Providing great quality food at a really good value is what we're all about."