Little Water, near Rittenhouse Square, opened in October 2024. The airy neighborhood restaurant focuses on contemporary coastal cuisine and is owned by James Beard Award semifinalist Randy Rucker and his wife, Amanda. It is the couple’s second restaurant, joining East Passyunk’s River Twice, known for its tasting menus, hefty Mother Rucker burger, and seasonal tomato sandwich, which is eagerly anticipated each summer.
Little Water’s menu draws on Rucker’s experiences living and cooking along the Gulf Coast, in New England, and in the Mid-Atlantic. Rooted in local seafood and produce, it is also a place to splash out on luxury imports such as golden ossetra caviar. (Rucker is well known in Philly for his deep love of excellent caviar.) Touches of Texas, including redfish flown in from the state, and Connecticut are braided together seamlessly, making the restaurant feel singular yet firmly rooted in the city. A lunchtime fried oyster BLT towers so high that it could only have been born in a staunch sandwich town like Philly.
Lively and somehow both fancy and casual, Little Water’s Sunday brunch is quickly becoming legendary, as is its cocktail program, featuring innovative martinis usually made with some variety of seaweed. Its bar is never too fussy to sidle up to on a weeknight, though the restaurant can easily serve as a special-occasion destination. Little Water was recommended by the inaugural 2025 Michelin Guide Northeast Cities and has earned spots on food lists across town. It has even brought swordfish Milanese and Alabama white sauce into everyday Philly food parlance.
Little Water is also one of the city’s few places to get a serious seafood platter (as well as a hot dog tower), with pristine chilled shrimp dusted with fresh horseradish, crab claws, Jersey clams, and lobster. Its raw bar is unparalleled in the neighborhood when it comes to the diversity and freshness of its shellfish.
