Seafood Unlimited: A foodie 'speakeasy' in Rittenhouse

We always hear about the shiny, new food companies. The Spot is a series about the Philadelphia area's more established establishments and the people behind them.

Rittenhouse Square is known for its high-end restaurants, but there are more casual places to eat amid the luxury homes and boutiques. Seafood Unlimited is one such semi-secret place. It's not a special-occasion restaurant. In fact, it's the opposite, by design. 

Husband-and-wife co-owners David and Judi Einhorn created a kitchen and dining room for those nights when you don't feel like cooking. 

The everydayness of the place probably dates to its long history as a neighborhood fish market. Before Whole Foods and the bilevel DiBruno Bros. around the corner, this was where Rittenhouse residents picked up their salmon, shrimp, and cod. Over the years, the Einhorns have remained attuned to their customers' changing wants and needs. In recent years, the fish market part of the business has shrunk steadily while the restaurant part has been in increasing demand. 

Today, the store has vanished. The bar is bigger than ever, but patrons are still welcome to bring their own wine if they prefer. 



What is the history of Seafood Unlimited?

David: Seafood Unlimited was opened in 1971 as a fresh-fish market. I bought it in 1989, and, over the period of about 12 years, converted it into a restaurant and a bar.



How did Judi get involved?

David: Judi used to come in for lunch when she worked in the neighborhood. After I divorced my first wife, we started dating, and when we got married, she came in and started working here.



How do you divide responsibilities? 

Judi: Over the years - I've been here now 22 years - we've really got our own routines. I work Monday, Tuesday, Saturday nights. He works Wednesday, Thursday, Friday nights. Once in a while, I'll work on a Friday night for him, and there will be like all these people I haven't seen in a while. 

How has the business evolved?

David: When I first had it, it was a fish market with some communal tables in the back, a lot of take-out food, a lot of fried food. It's kind of changed the way habits in the neighborhood have. There's more fresh fish, there's a bar.

Judi: People come out to eat more often than they did before. We do a lot of deliveries now with caviar. 



When did you change over to a sit-down restaurant? 

David: 2001. Business in the fish market was trailing off, but there was demand for a bar. We had a smaller bar, about half of the fish market. Then in 2012, we got rid of the last of the fish market and doubled the size of the bar.



How have you seen people's taste evolve?

David: Tastes in general have gotten healthier. There's less salt, sugar, fried, everything else. There's gluten-free, there's . . . you would not believe the number of customers we get here with seafood allergies. We do a million things gluten-free. We always find a way to do the shellfish-free for the people that are allergic to it.



How have you seen the neighborhood change around you?

David: It's gotten to be much less transient and definitely a higher income bracket in the neighborhood. I grew up in the neighborhood. When I was growing up here, the apartments on Spruce Street were mainly rentals. Now, they're primarily families and couples living in these huge houses.



How do you manage to offer great-quality seafood at a pretty low price? 

David: We eliminate one or two levels of handling by buying most of the stuff directly from my purveyors. A lot of restaurants will buy their seafood from Samuels, for example. They're paying more than us because they have to pay Samuels. For example, tonight, we will have a $20 pound-and-a-quarter lobster dinner, and you can't find a lobster for $20.



And what do you mean by a "seafood speakeasy"? 

Judi: Sometimes, people who still want to cook fish come in and they would say, "Hey, can I get a piece of salmon?" I'd be like, "Sure, no problem." We run upstairs and get a piece of salmon.

Judi: I call it a speakeasy.

David: 'Cause you got to kind of know.

Joy Manning, a writer and editor who has covered food and restaurants in Philadelphia for more than decade, is also the executive editor of Edible Philly and Edible Jersey magazines. Also follow her on Instagram @joymanning.