Charles Dean `Chuck' Quinn Brought Style To His Restaurants
Charles Dean "Chuck" Quinn wowed Seattle's young restaurant crowd when he opened Charlie's On Broadway in 1974.
The restaurant's Roaring '20s design and wine-by-the bottle at near-retail prices got Mr. Quinn noticed.
Loyal staff members, late hours and competitively priced food earned Mr. Quinn respect and the wherewithal to open more restaurants.
"The first Charlie's was quite innovative, with about 75 menu items, and stayed open until 3 a.m., an hour after bar closings," said Ken Bauer, his partner in the Charlie's Inc. restaurants that once reached from Seattle and Bellevue to Portland and Spokane.
"He just enjoyed culinary arts, and did a fair amount of entertaining himself, at the houseboat he used to own but also on his yacht. I don't think his wife will mind if I say he did a fair amount of the cooking when they did entertain."
Mr. Quinn drowned Christmas Day in Salmon Bay after falling from a dock near his yacht Charisma, his home the past few years. He was 63.
The Walla Walla native grew up in Spokane and graduated from Lewis & Clark High School. He became fascinated with restaurant hospitality while working summers as a doorman at Spokane's elegant old Davenport Hotel.
"He so loved entertaining from those early days," said his wife of 20 years, LeAnne Quinn of Seattle. "One time Bob Hope was there and entertained the kitchen crew. Another time, in the mid-1950s, Elvis Presley stayed there. All Chuck remembered is the man that had
this porcelain skin."
Mr. Quinn earned a bachelor's degree in restaurant hospitality at Washington State University, then served in the Navy.
After the Navy he worked at several Seattle venues. He was an original partner in Rich Komen's Restaurants Unlimited, operating theme restaurants such as the Red Baron, Horatio's, and Clinkderdagger, Bickerstaff and Pett's.
In 1972 he wanted to open his own spot on Capitol Hill. While that was under way with a Hollywood set-designer attending to the stained glass and purple vinyl, Mr. Quinn ran Black Angus restaurants in Reno and in San Mateo and San Jose, Calif.
In March 1974, he and Bauer opened Charlie's On Broadway in Seattle, next to the former Broadway Theater. The food, drinks, flapper motifs and movie-star photos were a hit with young baby boomers who wanted entertainment with their meal.
Mr. Quinn opened a Charlie's in Bellevue and in Olympia, and with other partners owned restaurants on Shilshole Bay - Quinn's Fishmarket and yet another Charlie's.
He took a run at a Southwestern cafe in University Village but found the menu "too labor-intensive with its real mesquite wood," and "a little too on the cutting edge," Bauer said.
Also short-lived was The Raven, a big-band-era throwback in the Elks' Club at Shilshole Bay.
His Patsy Clark's restaurant in Spokane did better: President Bush ate there, writing two checks - one for the meal and one as a souvenir for Mr. Quinn, who promised not to cash it.
He also owned Opus Too restaurants in Portland and in Seattle.
Ever excited by new concepts, he reconfigured the Bellevue Charlie's as Roxie's, with dueling grand pianos and one of the area's first wood-fired pizza ovens.
Most of his restaurants now have been sold. Remaining is the original Charlie's On Broadway, and Mr. Quinn's reputation.
"He was so honest and had so much kindness for people, that he was much respected throughout the community," said family friend heidi Spaeth. "His employees worked for him year after year.
"On his headstone is, `To do what you love and to love what you do.' "
Also surviving are a son, Jon Quinn of La Grande, Ore.; a daughter, Mallory Quinn, Seattle; a brother, Willard Quinn Jr., Port Ludlow; and two grandchildren.
An Irish wake has been held in Seattle. Services are at 3 p.m. Monday at Heritage Funeral Home, 508 N. Government Way, Spokane.
Donations may go to the Forgotten Children's Fund, 4635 92nd Ave. S.E., Mercer Island, WA 98040.
Carole Beers' phone message number is 206-464-2391. Her e-mail address is: cbeers@seattletimes.com