Charlie's Cafe Exceptionale was a large and successful[1] restaurant in downtown Minneapolis, Minnesota from 1933 to its closing on July 21, 1982.

It was located at 7th Street and 4th Avenue South and has been called Minneapolis's "most talked-about dining establishment" during its existence.

(Saunders' original partner was Charles "the Finn" Herlin, who died shortly after the restaurant opened.

[4][5] In 1975 it had a capacity of 358-seats (221 in upstairs banquet rooms) and produced 320,000-meals-per-year, employed 175 people (with pay checks totaling more than $1 million each year in 1975 dollars) including 41 waitresses, 14 waiters, and four "captains".

[2] The restaurant featured a six-foot fountain statue of a water nymph (called "Scherzo", from an Italian musical term denoting a lilting happy movement) near its front doors, given to owner Charlies Sanders by a friend.