Mattingly’s 23 was a sports-themed restaurant and lounge in Evansville, Indiana, owned by hometown baseball star Don Mattingly during the height of his career with the New York Yankees. Located at 1700 N. Morgan Center Drive, near Showplace Cinemas, the restaurant opened in August 1987 and operated until June 1996. Its name came from Mattingly’s famous Yankees uniform number, 23.
Restaurant and Sports Memorabilia
The approximately 7,000-square-foot restaurant was designed around baseball and sports. Its carpeted floor resembled a baseball diamond, and customers could sit in two areas designed to resemble dugouts. The restaurant seated approximately 269 people and displayed an extensive collection of sports memorabilia.
Displays honored baseball legends including Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Joe DiMaggio and Thurman Munson. The restaurant also featured a boxing-ring dining area and a Hoosier Room devoted to Indiana and Evansville sports figures, including Mattingly’s late brother Jerry Mattingly.
The entrance resembled a baseball ticket booth and included World Series programs and a souvenir area selling Mattingly’s 23 merchandise. In 1991, the restaurant even issued a 15-card Don Mattingly baseball card set sponsored by Coca-Cola, tracing his career from Reitz Memorial High School through his years with the Yankees.
Evansville Legacy
Mattingly’s 23 became one of Evansville’s memorable sports restaurants of the late 1980s and early 1990s. The menu featured casual American food, including steaks, sandwiches, potato skins and fried appetizers, while Mattingly’s fame made the restaurant a destination for local baseball fans.
The restaurant closed in June 1996, shortly after Mattingly’s final season as a Major League player.
Pieces of Mattingly’s 23 have continued to survive in Evansville. Decades after the restaurant closed, memorabilia from the former establishment was incorporated into Casey’s Dugout, the Evansville sports-themed restaurant founded by Casey Keown, preserving part of Mattingly’s 23 for a new generation of local sports fans.