In 2003 a chef named Tyson Cole opened a sushi place called Uchi, ushering in a golden age for restaurants in Austin. Diners fell in love with the menu, which offers Japanese cuisine adapted for Texas tastes, with dishes incorporating bacon and jalapeños. Ever since, the Capital City, roughly two hundred miles from any vast body of salt water, has been a seafood town. Nay, a seafood destination (see the recent boom of omakase). Over the next couple of decades, the East Coast, Louisiana, and Mexico inspired many a seafood restaurant, including Clark’s Oyster Bar, Uptown Sports Club, and Este, respectively. Now California has entered the chat.
Fish Shop, from Uchi alumnus Justin Huffman and his wife, Nicole Rossi, traffics in the bounty of the cold Pacific Coast: tender squid, sweet Dungeness crab, clams that are like tiny dumplings of the sea, and rock shrimp you’d be excused for confusing with lobster. Huffman picks up the best of the West Coast on his thrice-weekly trips to the Austin airport for deliveries from Monterey Fish Market, in San Francisco.
The Southern California–born chef turns these fresh ingredients into dishes that reflect his home state. He infuses butter with lobster roe for slathering on a slice of Pullman loaf. And he poaches shrimp for diners to peel and eat with a side of apricot-brandy-laced Louie sauce.
Spaghetti and clams. Photograph by Mackenzie Smith 
Peel-and-eat shrimp. Photograph by Mackenzie Smith
Located on Austin’s eternally booming East Side, Fish Shop, which opened last summer, is a neighborhood restaurant, the owners insist. It’s true that depending on what you order, it can be a bit pricey for a weeknight drop-in, but this is quality, in-season seafood. The highlight of my most recent visit was tuna carpaccio, the fish pounded until it was nearly transparent, then topped with citrusy-smoky biquinho peppers, freshly grated mild horseradish, and a punchy cherry-lemon mostarda. The ever-changing menu makes the place worthy of frequent visits.
The interior, with its warm wood trim, brown leather banquettes,
and walls dotted with thrift-store art and nautical ephemera, feels cozy. The genial energy extends to the chefs interacting with diners sitting at the counter, who on a random weeknight might include girlfriends chatting over plump oysters and icy martinis (garnished with an olive, an onion, and a twist), couples catching up over lemon-marinated anchovies after work, or tourists who stumble in and, confronted with gloriously fresh mussels, cannot believe their luck.
Dinner here can be as casual as a half dozen oysters and a cheeseburger made with Texas Wagyu (the same burger Huffman served at Le Beef, his popular pandemic-era pop-up). Or you can splurge on a seafood tower, but you’re better off selecting your own combination of crudos, conservas, seafood cocktails, and raw bar items. Add a salad and fries, and you’ve got a spectacular meal. But if you’re particularly hungry, opt for spaghetti and clams tossed in garlic and lemon; fish and chips approved by British regulars for its golden-fried batter; or a Dungeness crab roll, the chilled meat bathed in a Gruyere-infused mayo and served in a crisp, buttery roll.
The menu lists legendary San Francisco restaurants as inspiration. The ingredients in the Crudo à la Swan, a nod to Swan Oyster Depot, vary depending on what’s available, but on a recent visit they included bracingly fresh tuna, scallops, and steelhead trout drizzled with nutty-sweet Banyuls vinegar and Texas olive oil and sprinkled with capers and shallots. Diners are instructed to eat the Caesar Salad à la Zuni with their hands, a sensory whimsy inspired by its namesake, Zuni Café.
A fried-fish sandwich.Photograph by Mackenzie Smith
Still, Fish Shop has plenty of Texan strands in its DNA. Huffman learned much of his trade in Austin, first at Uchi, later at ranch-inspired Contigo, and then at Justine’s, where he ran the kitchen between 2021 and 2024, arguably the French restaurant’s finest years. His experience influences the dishes he offers here, which, depending on the night, could be Mexican-inspired aguachile, tostadas topped with smoky octopus conserva, the traditional French gratinéed scallop dish coquilles Saint Jacques, or a classic fried-fish sandwich.
Huffman also uses Texas ingredients, including produce from local farms. Wagyu Excelente, in Midlothian, provides beef for the burger, and the olive oil comes from a ranch in Carrizo Springs. Gulf seafood makes an appearance as well; he worked with Three Sisters Oyster Co. to create a proprietary oyster called Little Savages. Born of Eastern oysters and grown in Keller Bay, southeast of Victoria, it is a meaty, compact variety best suited for eating raw, making it distinct from the Gulf’s large, milky oysters (which I prefer broiled).
Fish Shop beautifully melds Pacific traditions with Texan inclinations. It’s West Coast inspired, but it could exist only in Austin. It’s a place that proves that as the city grows more cosmopolitan, its restaurants can maintain a core identity.
So go ahead. California my Texas, please. (But just a little bit.)
Fish Shop ★★★
Address: 1401 E. Sixth, Austin
Phone: 512-650-3474
Hours: L&D Mon–Fri. D Sat–Sun. $$$
Opened July 25, 2025
This article originally appeared in the February 2026 issue of Texas Monthly with the headline “Just Enough California.” Subscribe today.
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