5 Top Restaurants in Ruston Louisiana

Ruston Louisiana is a quaint little town in north Louisiana. While the size of the town may be small, the local restaurants are big on flavor.

Several years ago, we used to live in Ruston. Now we're heading back for a weekend to visit a few favorite restaurants and try some new ones. Here's our list of the top five places to eat in Ruston, Louisiana.

Written By: Two Upright Tray Tables, 2019

1. Raw

Raw is our pick for the best restaurant in Ruston. It also happens to be one of the best sushi spots, not just in Ruston, but anywhere we've ever been. Seriously. It's that good. We started our meal with several appetizers. Pork gyoza, edamame, vegetarian spring rolls, and tuna poke. Amazing! Then we ordered a Fashion roll for me and the vegetarian special for Charise. We've never once had a bad meal or even a bad dish at this place. Raw is worth a visit to Ruston all on its own.

Tuna Poke

Vegetarian Special

2. Beau Vines

Not to be outdone is Beau Vines Steakhouse. Beau Vines is a warm and relaxing classic steakhouse. They also happen to have a huge open fire grill right in the middle of the dining room. Naturally, I ordered a steak that was cooked perfectly. Even though it's a steakhouse, Charise was happy with her strawberry salad and some vegetable sides. We both really enjoyed our meal and finished up with some cheesecake. If you want a steak in Ruston, this is where you go.

Filet with crab and au gratin potatoes

Cheesecake!

3. Utility Brewing Company

Brick oven pizza. On-site craft beer brewing. What more do you need? Utility has a fun atmosphere and delicious pizza. Charise ordered the Spicy Artichoke pie, and I chose the BBQ beef special. Both were amazing. Every beer we had was great too, but if you just can't decide, try a flight and sample 6 to pick your favorite.

Just throwing some dough around.

Spicy artichoke and BBQ beef pizzas

Honey Saison Ale

4. The Heard Food Trucks

For an outdoor option, head to The Heard Food Truck Park. Here everyone can get something they like, and a group can share several different dishes. Grown and Grazed focuses on locally sourced ingredients for their sandwiches and burgers. Bad Wolf BBQ has some amazing brisket tacos. Chindian Flavors is there on some nights as well, serving up Indian and African cuisine. Cap it all off with some nitrogen ice cream from Yolo Nitro. It's hard to top that, especially when the weather is nice for sitting outside.

Liquid nitrogen ice cream!

Habanero burger and BBQ brisket tacos

5. Ponchatoulas

Ponchatoulas is an excellent local place serving up great Louisiana dishes such as red beans and rice, catfish, and gumbo. Back when I lived in Ruston, I used to eat here almost every day for lunch or dinner. In fact, we came up with our own menu items. One example is the "Rob Trahan," which is the standard red beans and rice but with fried chicken on top. I'm pretty sure they won't know what you mean if you order the "Rob Trahan” now, but you can still get red beans and rice with fried chicken if you ask. The gumbo is also delicious, as is pretty much anything else on the menu. It won't be a light meal, but you'll love Ponchatoulas if you're in town.

Pictured: Fried pickles

Chicken and sausage gumbo

The “Rob Trahan”

Conclusion

Ruston Louisiana has some excellent food options. You can't go wrong with anything on our list. But there are more than five restaurants in Ruston. Did we miss your favorite? What did we leave off the list? Let us know below in the comments.