Austin Landmarks on the Menu

Quality Seafood Market

5621 Airport, 454-5827
www.qualityseafoodmarket.com
Market: Monday-Saturday, 8am-7pm
Restaurant: Monday-Saturday, 10:30am-9pm

From its humble beginnings in a stall at a Congress Avenue fruit-and-vegetable market to a campus-area store in the Fifties all the way to the present location on Airport Boulevard, Quality Seafood has been Austin's fishmonger of choice since 1938. Ownership of the business has only changed hands three times in those 70 years. Each new owner took a successful operation and expanded it to a new level while maintaining the reputation for product quality that made the name legitimate. Chester C. Husted bought the business in 1957 after it moved to the campus area, and it grew remarkably under his stewardship. That growth required Quality's move to the current Airport location in 1970. When local wholesale seafood supplier Sam Eaves bought out the Husted family in 1990, he greatly expanded Quality's wholesale operation and increased the size and scope of the small, existing in-store restaurant. Current owner Paul Hunts­ber­ger took over in 2004, and his contribution is the creation of the popular Aw Shucks! Oyster Bar. Now customers can shop for the most diverse selection of fresh fish in Austin or relax at the raw bar while enjoying Cajun and Creole-influenced seafood dishes, cocktails, and congenial service.