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We recently went to Ruston Louisiana for a long weekend. I want to say that I just love the South. For starters, I love all that country music! And I love southern accents, and of course I love southern hospitality.

And, If you know me, you know I love honkytonks. Ok I’ve never been in a real honkytonk but I love the sound of it. Are there still real honkytonks out there? I want to say I’ve been honkytonkying before I die!! And for sure I love southern food. While we were in Ruston recently I sampled as much great food as I could and want to share it with you! There are a LOT of good places to eat in Ruston! Check out my list o the 9 best restaurants in Ruston, LA!  

Where is Ruston, LA?

When I found out my son’s tournament was going to be in Ruston, LA, my first thought was WHERE? I’ve been all of the United States, but I am from up North so had never heard of Ruston before. For those of you that don’t know, Ruston is a really cute college town located in North Louisiana. It’s about 1.5 hours east of Shreveport, Louisiana or about 2 hours west of Jackson Mississippi. There’s not much very near Ruston, but that’s ok because if you’re visiting Ruston, there’s a good chance you’ll be there for something related to LA Tech, and you’ll be way too busy to worry about what’s nearby. And with the campus, cute downtown and so much good food, Ruston has all you need.

What Are The Best Restaurants In Ruston, LA?

We were in Ruston for 4 days so we had plenty of time to check out the Ruston restaurants around town. And we weren’t disappointed. Full disclosure that there’s no way we could sample ALL the great restaurants in Ruston, but we did get to a good many. And from bowls of gumbo to bbq tacos to scrumptious desserts, we found a lof of really good food in Ruston.

Here Are The Best Restaurants We Found In Ruston, LA

1.Ponchatoulas

Ponchatoulas is the real deal for authentic Cajun food in Ruston. Located in a historic building in downtown Ruston, the restaurant was busy when we got there at about 7pm on a weeknight. Luckily, I made a reservation so we didn’t have to wait – I think we would’ve had to wait without one. When I’m hungry I hate waiting so I always try to make reservations. A lot of places don’t take them these days, but some do so I say try it. 

Ponchatoulas is bigger than it looks from the outside, with a very large bar taking up one corner of the restaurant. Overall the interior is cool with quite a bit of the historic red brick walls that I like. It’s all very casual which is fine with me because I didn’t bring anything other than casual clothes with me on this baseball trip!

Best Restaurants In Ruston: Cajun Food

Onto the food! We were told by multiple people that Ponchatoulas is THE place to go in Ruston for authentic Cajun cuisine. We ate a late lunch, so we weren’t super hungry for dinner, but we really wanted to try it out. Even though their large menu had a wide selection of Louisiana inspired entrees, I wanted to be a little healthy so I ordered a side salad to start. I don’t think I had eaten anything green for days beforehand so a salad was overdue. For my entree, I ordered a bowl of gumbo.

My dining partner had the Oyster platter with onion rings. And with my gumbo, I added a side of one of my very favorite things in this world: hush puppies!! Yes. I don’t know what it is about those crispy little balls of goodness but I LOVE them. Anyway, my gumbo was seriously delish! And he said his oyster platter rocked.

Confession: I do not like oysters in any way, shape or form. I’ll take his word for it that they were good. And last but not least, my beloved hushpuppies. They were good. I like mine a little spicier. So these were definitely above average, but not the best I’ve ever had. But overall, everything here was excellent. I think it’d be tough to have a bad meal here.

All in all we really enjoyed Ponchatoulas. Their Louisiana inspired dishes were just what we were looking for and the friendly staff made us feel at home. We planned to go back so we could try the jambalaya, crawfish and red beans & rice, but with so many other places to try, we just didn’t have the time!

2. Flying Burger & Seafood

This place has a strange name in my opinion, but so many people recommended it we decided to go for it anyway. As first time visitors, we didn’t know what to expect, but it was a good choice. The Flying Burger & Seafood restaurant is definitely more of a quick service type place in the sense that you order at the counter. But it’s not really fast food type food. It’s way better than fast food. It’s pretty fast yes, but it’s also good fresh food. And they have a much bigger selection of entrees that what you’d find at your typical fast food place. 

We hit the Flying Burger for lunch and again, it was crowded! All the Ruston peeps know where the good stuff is I guess! I ordered grilled shrimp kabobs with red beans & rice. My partner had a basket of the jumbo shrimp & fries that came with….you guessed it – hush puppies!

Best Hushpuppies In Ruston?

And while he wasn’t looking I snuck in a side order of hush puppies for myself. I think they were $2.50 and let me just say, they were worth every penny. These my friends were the BEST hushpuppies of the trip. In fact, I’d say there were in the top 5 orders of hushpuppies that this gal has ever had. And I’ve had me some hushpuppies before. These were tha bomb! They were far and away the highlight of my lunch.

In fact, I thought about getting a takeout order of hush puppies, but well – a girl only needs so much food! But, If I go back, I can’t promise that I won’t order a basket of hush puppies for my lunch! Our lunch was delicious and inexpensive. I’d definitely go back. There’s lots of good things on the menu I’d like to try. But above all, I’ll be back for those hushpuppies. For this reason alone, it makes my list for one of the best restaurants in Ruston la. If you go to Flying Burger, get yourself some hushpuppies. You’re welcome!! 

3.Portico Restaurant And Bar 

On another night we headed over to Portico for drinks and dinner. We met some friends from the team and we all wanted to hear live music, so Portico’s was our choice. Sure enough when we walked in we saw & heard the band playing in the enclosed patio area. We opted to sit in the bar because it was too loud to have a conversation out on the patio with the band right there. The bar was perfect for our group because we could still hear the music but we could also chat, so it worked out great.

I’d say Portico’s is a little more upscale than most of the other restaurants we hit in Ruston. It wasn’t super fancy, but i’s a nice place with a full bar and large restaurant area in addition to the outside area. With the live music it seems like a welcome addition to the area’s dining scene. We started off with drinks from the bar, then checked out the menu. Our group ordered a wide range of dishes from the menu.

While I’m usually a fan of chicken sandwiches, I had one of their specialty sandwiches, the cheesy pig sandwich- it’s a really unique combo of pulled pork, mozzarella, asiago, cheddar and jalapenos on grilled ciabatta. It was delicious! Another person in our group ordered the crabby tomato appetizer which is fried green tomatoes topped with lump crab. And another friend had the the southern made burger which has the popular and yummy pimento cheese, along with a fried green tomato and bacon. Also super good was the mac & cheese. The pork chops and the hamburger steak looked fabulous as well.

Best Restaurants In Ruston: Most Creative Hushpuppies

If you head over to Portico while you’re in Ruston, try the pimento pups. I’m so mad I didn’t get them when I had the chance! I was actually too busy talking and didn’t notice they were on the menu until it was too late. These bad boys are pimento and cheddar jack cheese hush puppies served with a remoulade dipping sauce! How could I have missed these!  

4.Heard Freighthouse Food Truck Park

Another day for lunch we headed downtown to the food truck park – which isn’t really a park, but rather a lot where 3 food trucks are parked. We had seen the food trucks the day before when we were out and about. And, since I’m all about cheap (and good!!) eats, we definitely checked these out.

Grown and Grazed Food Truck offers quite a selection of great looking burgers and some people I talked to said they are some of the best burgers in town. The neighboring food truck is a bbq truck called the Bad Wolf BBQ. They were doing quite a business for lunch so we did have to wait in line but it was worth it! I had the bbq street tacos special which included 3 tacos, each filled with different smoked meat. All were very good, my favorite was the chicken. We also tried a side of their sweet chili brussel sprouts. Oh. My. Goodness. These are the absolute best brussels sprouts ever. They sweetish and spicyish and you’ll freakin love them!

Next door at the Staple Sandwich Company I found heaven in a really wonderful roasted tomato soup. The soup was a flavorful tomato soup and full of chunky potatoes and carrots, served with a side of foccacia. I also had the yummy and unusual garbanzo bean salad, and finished up with one of the best Arnold Palmer’s I’ve had – super fresh! I highly recommend checking out this delightful food truck food or the others for homemade, fresh and delicious fare. It’s apparent that they take great pride in all they serve.

5. Uptown Downtown Bakery 

If you know me, you know I have a big sweet tooth (trying to reform!!) but alas, on this trip to Ruston I did need a little sugar and Uptown Downtown hit the mark. The bakery is just the cutest little spot downtown and everything there looked absolutely fabulous. I can attest to the fabulousness of their scrumptious brownies. So while maybe not a true best restaurant in Ruston, I’ll say one of the best bakeries in Ruston. Uptown Downtown looks like it’d be a great place to grab the girls and chill with some coffee and sweet treats. I’d love to try more treats from Uptown Downtown.

Best Restaurants In Ruston, LA That We Didn’t Get To

6. Rotolos Pizzeria

We heard that Rotolos was the place to go in Ruston for awesome pizza and craft beer. They’re supposed to have great pizza and Rotolo’s craft beer got rave reviews from those I talked to. I’m a big pizza lover – it’s hard to beat pizza and a glass of wine or a cold beer – so will definitely plan to try Rotolos if I’m ever back in Ruson!

7. Beau Vines Steakhouse 

While we didn’t make it to Beau Vines, this upscale steakhouse got big thumbs up from many. While definitely not a regular family dining spot, Beau Vines is the place to go if you’re looking for fine dining. It’s definitely not cheap, but if it’s a special occasion, it might be worth it to you to spend some cash on what looks to be a fabulous meal.

8. Log Cabin Grill & Market

Several people told us to check out Log Cabin Grill & Market  on farmerville hwy as it’s a must go-to in Ruston and definitely in the best restaurant group in town. Unfortunately we didn’t make it. I even called to see if there was a wait one night and of course there was so we went elsewhere. But the menu options area insane here and everyone I talked to said the place is awesome.

9.Raw

I think every college town needs a sushi bar or two and Ruston is no exception. We saw a few different sushi places, but Raw was always the buy one. I did check out the menu and it did look like they had amazing sushi rolls. I love spice so their spicy crabmix and spicy salmon rolls look especially awesome to me!

What are your favorite restaurants in Ruston? Shoot me a message and let me know! I’d love to hear 🙂

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