Quality Seafood Market — Restaurant in Austin

Everyone loves visiting a new and shiny restaurant.  It's a great place to see and be seen.  There are craft cocktails, trendy food dishes and a decor that will provide perfect selfies for your Instagram or Facebook account (depending upon your age).

Quality Seafood is not new (87-years-old founded in 1938), it's ambiance isn't sexy or hip and it smells fishy. That's actually a good thing.  Another good thing is their food.  Actually, it's kinda great!

Going to Quality for the first time might confuse many people.  Is it a restaurant?  Is it a bar? Or, is it a seafood market?

Yes.

If you want some direction on how to approach this unique space, I suggest starting at the bar for happy hour.  It's a blue collar joint, so maybe order a beer ($2) or a glass of wine ($6). Think basic cocktails too.

Oysters on the half shell are a must and they have a selection of 12-15 of East Coast Oysters for $2.25 each.  Gulf Oysters are $1.25 each and Texas-farmed oysters are $1.50.   You can also get them grilled one of three ways for $4 each - House-style, Rockefeller or Pepper Patch.

I would also suggests getting some Peel and Eat Shrimp ($0.35 each), the Coconut Shrimp $0.75 each and the Crawfish Dip ($8).  You can also order off the main menu, but more on that later.

Cathy will probably be working at the bar, she's been there for a couple of decades.  She'll take good care of you, after a few visits, she'll remember you and treat you like familiy.

The restaurant side of the house does not have table service.  You order at a counter and they will bring your food to the table.

If you love seafood hold on.  They have catfish, cod, salmon, trout and Texas drum.  You can get them grilled or blackened. There's shrimp, clam strips, soups, chowder, gumbo, Po Boys (10 Kinds), seafood salads and 12 different sides.  You can get all of these foods ala carte or in a myriad of combos, plates, platters and dinners.  You can't make a wrong choice, everything is excellent.

If you want help, get a cup of the chowder ($8), with some cornbread($3)  Order the catch of the day and get it blackened.  For your sides (you get two) try their macaroni and cheese. Ask they about how they make it, it's a very different twist on the traditional preparation.  Your other side should be the coleslaw or the beans; hush puppies if you don't mind two starches.

If you've made it this far, there's still the seafood market.

The market is a really unique place for being located in Central Texas. They bring in fresh fish daily from the Gulf.

Shoppers to the market are usually able to select from 8-10 different types of fresh, never frozen fish, shimp, scallops, clams and crab.  In another case, there is smoked salmon, deviled eggs with smoked salmon and salmon candy (seafood crack).  There are soups, chowder and gumbo by the pint and quart, and six coolers of frozen seafood, many containing items prepared in house.

Your ultimate visit tip: Come and buy some seafood for tomorrow night's dinner, and they will put it in one of the coolers  for you to pick upon the way out. Sit down with Cathy at the bar and enjoy some great Texas hospitality while noshing on some of ATX's best...

I love this place, never had a thing I disliked until my recent visit or I would have put 5 stars instead of 4.

Let me begin with what I love here. I LOVE the tacos, especially on Taco Tuesday. If it wasnt for my new hours at work, I would be there every Tuesday to partake in this delicious meal. Everything they offer is fresh - they have the quality as well as the quantity. This last visit I noticed no more Mahi Mahi though and replaced it with Drum - well.. this is like replacing ribs with ham or Crab with Krab - not too happy about it. But I ordered the shrimp which I always love. They have yummy pico de gallo to do with this as well. Go on Taco Tuesday - save $2 a taco. Its soo worth it.

Also, the tartar sauce is really good here. Cant say that about a lot of places, but it is really really good here. Creamy and tangy but not too chunky.

The blueberry cobbler is to die for. We always get this yummy sweet treat for dessert. It has this cream on it that is sooooo good and its warm and fills your tummy with delight. Lots of blueberries - warms the soul.

Unfortunately this last visit we had - it was like we were given the scrapings of the bottom of the pan - if it is not good quality - then dont serve it. The first time we were disappointed with it.

The Banana pudding is also a very good dessert to have over here. Not overly sweet, creamy with yummy bananas and cookies in it. Usually another of my favorites. Again, this last visit - it disappointed me. There were just too many cookies and barely any pudding in it at all.

I am thinking they were just super busy this night though and sold out -but again, if it is not high quality like what is usually served here, then do not serve it. But normally these two desserts are super awesome and I recommend them highly.

I ordered the soup of the day, Crab, potato, and leek. I was super excited to try this as everything else I have ever ordered here has been very good. For one, they forgot the dang crab in it - I kept looking for it and it just was not there. So I called over one of the two amazing waitresses they have there as we sat in one of the tables to be served on and she went and corrected this. It was not her fault -but I was not too pleased they gave me a 2 tbs of cold crab to put in my soup. The soup was also spicy and there was no indication it would be.

On the whole, we will be back because only once we have been dissapointed with a few of their items. Generally it is a very good place to grab some seafood considering we are not on the coast. The staff, well the waitresses and bartenders - are super friendly and easy to talk to. We will not let this one visit steer us away - we will return for those tacos...

Such a big disappointment. We haven't been since Covid to what was our go-to Seafood Restaurant. Despite it being an hour drive from our home.) We primarily went Saturday evenings for their whole Lobsters. We enjoyed the grilled fish and the King Crab. My husband brought me for dinner to celebrate my 70th birthday and I was really looking forward to some seafood. Our bad that we forgot the whole lobster was only served and is only served Saturday nights. I tried to get excited about shrimp but I make it at home. No crab- no seafood pasta.... We ordered a 1/2 dozen grilled oysters to share as an appetizer. They were cooked in white wine and sprinkled with shredded Parm. They were delicious! 5 out of 5! Best part of the meal I also had a cup of clam chowder. Zero clams, lukewarm, watery broth with diced fresh celery and potatoes- that were partially cooked. Not at all what I remembered. 0 stars. Our entrees arrived after we had only just started on the oysters. Hubster had broiled Ruby Trout and chose Green Beans and Potato Salad for his 2 sides. I ordered "Choose Two or Three" and I chose 2- Cod and Shrimp-my 2 sides were Hush Puppies and Green Salad. The trout was cooked perfectly but was coated in black pepper-and I do mean coated. Challenging for Mr. No Spice-and not the way it was served or cooked in the past. The green beans and potato salad were good. My cod and shrimp were fried. The Cod was fresh which was a treat except that it was deep fried too long and was very dry. Contrary to my dining partner I had to salt and pepper the fish and I did manage to eat one small fillet. They served 2 small cod fillets and four shrimp. The shrimp was not as over fried but also devoid of any spice. I admit that part of my challenge with this experience has to do with the fact that it wasn't lobster or crab .....but overall I found my entrée disappointing. The hush puppies were nearly burnt, which made them very hard and dry. My salad was a typical green salad with a cherry tomato that had been sliced in half. I know inflation has influenced pricing everywhere. This meal with tip was right at $100. The meal is brought to the table after you order at the counter. It looked like the large bar area was nearly full with locals enjoying adult beverages. A couple of the high top tables over near the bar were occupied with people that were dining and drinking. The dining room had one person in it when we arrive shortly before five and about four other tables were occupied when we left. I'm not sure that we will return but we will see perhaps we will try coming back on a Saturday night...