I was happy with Ponchatoulas! It was that southern Cajun feel and the taste backs it up! We tried all sorts of food and were not disappointed. We had fried shrimp and boudin balls for an appetizer and they were awesome. The red beans and rice were delicious and so was the crawfish étouffée! read more

How do u not have crawfish during CRAWFISH season in the heart of LA??? This place sucks ass. My group , consisted of guys from Louisiana said nothing was from scratch and i agree . So disappointed we wasted our time and money coming here. Being here for out of town work in jonesboro it was a wasted trip. read more

A nice little hole in the wall place. Can get pretty damn busy on the weekends, so I suggest going during the week if you've got more than a couple of people trying to eat. The interior can get packed and there will be a wait if you're going on a holiday or Friday night. Parking is either on the road, parallel, or across the street in a public parking lot which will fill up fast on the weekend because there's a popular bar next door too. Their food is definitely great though! Get the stuffed catfish--I do nearly every time I go, it's delicious! read more

This place is a great seafood restaurant in Ruston and there's definitely a reason it's always packed. I'm giving it 4stars because the prices are a little steep and there is only one bathroom stall per gender so not conducive for the amount of people that is always in the restaurant. But the food is of quality and service always on point. Their catfish and shrimp are always a go to for our group. We had the fried crawfish tails last night and it was great. I would recommend here for your family, friends or even date night. Great atmosphere. read more

I so enjoyed my food! I had a crab cake (the best I've ever had) with seafood gumbo with a side of vegetables (green beans, broccoli, carrots, onions, peppers). As an appetizer, I had fried green tomatoes. I drank sweet peach tea. It was amazing also. I dined with a party of 9 and everyone enjoyed their food (fried fish, oysters, cheese fries, onion rings, etoufee, Crawfish, shrimp, chicken/sausage gumbo, red beans & rice). It was hot and fresh. The staff was friendly. I definitely recommend this place if looking for seafood. read more

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Ponchatoulas is cleverly known as the Best Food in Ruston and was named so on a handout I was given of the local places to eat when I moved here. For a special celebration, a group of us came here and were easily set up. Reservations are helpful too. The place is nothing fancy, and has a huge bar area (although I'd rather go to Sundown next door for that) but the food is where they stand out. All sorts of Cajun Louisiana food: creole, etouffee, jambalaya, crab cakes, poboys, and more. I can't wait to go back and try something else. read more

Was hoping that the negative reviews were not the norm, but alas I was wrong. Came in crawfish at 6 PM and they were out. Okay, plan B. order fried oyster and red beans and rice. Oysters were barely edible, more breading than oysters. The red beans were okay, but not spectacular. My dining partner had the white chocolate bread pudding and it was delightful. read more

When I go to Ponchatoula's I always get the boiled crawfish. Best I've ever eaten. If it's not crawfish season I recommend (in order of my preference): Cheese Fries, Crawfish Shirley, Seafood Platter, Shrimp PoBoy and either Chicken Fried Chicken or Chicken Broussard (CFC and Broussard are specials, but usually available just ask). Now the lone knock in my opinion on this place is it's salads. It's mostly Iceberg with other lettuces, cucumbers, etc thrown in. Unfortunately it tastes like it came out of the bag lettuce you get at Walmart / Sam's. I know they can jive it up, and if they do you'll be able to take your mom and wife there without hearing how all that's good on the menu is fried food. read more

We were passing through Ruston at lunch and found this gem tucked into an old historical building in downtown Ruston. We split an order of homemade onion rings for an appetizer and both had the Ponchatoulas sampler for our entrees. My sampler had gumbo and fried oysters and my husband's had gumbo and fried catfish. De-lish! If you are passing through the area you MUST give this place a try. read more

Do you want to overfill your craw with fried? If so, five stars, hands down, stop reading now. But if you like to taste your ingredients and want a fresh meal, move your gator on down the bayou. I made the mistake of getting the crawfish étouffée for my meal. The portion was pitiful, and almost devoid of seafood. Much better was the boudin balls appetizer, served hot and crispy, meaty and flavorful. My friend's filé gumbo looked very good as well. Everyone else's fried meal had huge portions. The fried crawfish was a lot meatier than the étouffée crawfish. I had the bread pudding dessert and it was also disappointing. It tasted like a drunken mess and the bread was almost a yellow cake. Service was prompt but very sterile. I felt like I was being moved along an assembly line. No side conversation. No smiles. Verdict: Considering I've had subpar Cajun in N'Awlins and still gave it at most three stars, this can't be more than two. Would not return. read more

Came here to try the Louisiana style food since we were passing through and are not from the south. We were very excited to try the food. It's was a mixed experience at best. Service was SoSo, nothing to write home about. The meat pies were my favorite thing we had. The red beans and rice were good but only had two tinny pieces of sausage in it. The Etouffee was ok but also very little crawfish in it. The gumbo was downright awful. It was cold and tasted bad. Very disappointing since we paid $10 for it. read more

After several visits to Ruston I was finally able to make it to this establishment and was not disappointed. The service was excellent and the ambiance light and upbeat adding comfort to the comfort foods they so aptly serve. The platters and poboys we ordered were delicious and priced moderately. The sampler appetizer was a nice sampling of Cajun cuisine that, although not as authentic as some purists would like, gave everyone an opportunity to experience a meat pie and boudin balls. The bread pudding with nuts and caramel sauce could put you in a sugar induced comma, but in a very good way. Overall a very nice experience with very upbeat and personable staff. read more

We ate here yesterday. I was pretty Disappointed. The appetizer sampler was pretty good. My boyfriend and I decided to share everything so we ordered the stuffed catfish and the seafood platter. We ordered mini corn dogs for out little one. The corn dogs and seafood platter sucked. Everything was very dark and tasted like burnt grease. Also the platter was mostly onion rings and fried crawfish tails, 2 pieces of catfish, 2 oysters, and about 4 fried shrimp. We took a piece of bread pudding home with us, which was okay but pretty bland. Service was great. Our bill was about 60 bucks and we left terribly disappointed. I'll never be back. read more

5lb bucket of crayfish for $20 something bucks? Right on! Our waitress said she could easily eat 3lbs on her own, so sharing that big bucket between my friend and I was perfect. We finished every last boiled head of those little suckers. Perfectly spiced! The sides were excellent, too, but really, come for the crayfish!! read more

Good Cajun food. Don't like prices but generally just split a plate with my daughter. Like their mixed appetizer plate with boudin balls. Generally eat here when we visit the kid thats in college. Then walk down the street to grab a sweet. If you have have not eaten here at least once for the college/Cajun food experience then stop by read more

I went to Ponchatoulas to grab some food after a LA Tech game. The bulldogs won, so the place was full of students celebrating. I however, was eating with my parents, so I got an iced tea and put my back to them so that I wouldn't feel left out from the party. I ordered the stuffed catfish (stuffed and topped with crawfish etouffee) and it was fantastic. I had trouble making room for extra hush puppies. We took more food home in to-go boxes than we were even able to eat. SO MUCH FOOD. We had to wait for a bit (it was a Saturday night) and they do not exactly have room to stand/sit around so we ended up sitting on a bench outside until they had room for us. I will definitely be back next time I go to Ruston. read more

SOOO DISAPPOINTED! waitress came to the table sweet & confident. Tea wasn't ready so when everyone else got their drinks, he had to wait. No big deal. 20 minutes later, we had to ask for it. It was as though she took it personal... and was wounded... her attitude was just different. When we ordered, I asked her to please make sure our fries & onion rings were hot. They weren't. At all. 10 minutes after we got our food I had to wave her down. Can we get hot fries? please... that same attitude of defeat. Not saying that to be mean, it's just how it felt. She came back and said, it'll be a while bc the kitchen was backed up. Muffuletta- was okay - edible. Stuffed catfish-good and fresh... a little salty but the flavor behind that was good. Roastbeef Poboy- dry and had mustard!!! Not authentic... from NOLA- put mustard on a roast beef and get beat up! my daughter could hardly eat it but after waiting so long she said she just needed to eat. Pasta salad- was good and light. Shiws the power of personality, if the waitress would have just been like, no big deal, let me fix it.. Would've been okay. Good atmosphere but will NEVER go back. read more

Great place. Not recommended if you don't know how Cajun food is supposed to taste. The only down side to "Ponch" is that they don't have an everyday cook. It has multiple cooks so the taste can vary. I eat there frequently so the reason it gets four stars is because it's good food, not great food. Wait staff is usually good. Friendly people too. Ponchatoulas also has a great night scene and has good drink specials The only other down side is that the staff when bussing or restocking supplies have no regard for the customers that are also walking and will pretty much run you over if you don't move. read more

The seafood plater was very good. I had fish, oysters, clams, shrimp, onion rings and boudin balls along with a salad. The service was friendly and fast. Small pub atmosphere that is very busy at lunch time. I really enjoyed. Highly recommended. They even sell t shirts. read more

Our lunch was great. Started with boudin balls. They were large, hot and super spicy. The fried crawfish was very good. The batter was light and crispy. And definitely get the onion rings. read more

My family and I frequent Ponchatoulas often, and we always have a great time. Highlights: stuffed catfish, crawfish evangeline, their remoulade (so good!), and craft beer on tap. Ponchatoulas catered our wedding a few weeks ago and everything was perfect. Christy is an excellent catering coordinator and answered my millions of questions promptly via email. They arrived when expected, food was hot and ready when we were ready to eat, and we even had plenty of leftovers. Thanks so much - we'll be back in the restaurant sometime soon! :) read more

Best muffuletta in north LA! All of the fried food and new orleans dishes are more than good enough to satisfy a craving for down south Louisiana food! read more

This is our second time eating here in two days. .... the food is really good. Almost like having a home cooked meal away from home. Brittany (our server) was awesome! We found a new favorite spot in Ruston. read more

So I checked out this little joint with a buddy and his wife. Unfortunately i arrived after 9 PM and they have a menu that is a little bit limited for 9 PM but it was OK because I enjoyed it anyway. It had your standard drinking menu type of stuff like chicken wings burgers fries seafood platters things like that so my buddy and I decided to split the seafood platter. I think that the seafood platter is not large enough for two people but would just fine for one person and still have leftovers. Anyway they had a great band and I think their name was DeFrance but I don't remember because I was a little tipsy off of the peach margarita which was delicious. I'll see return to check out the daily menu. read more

Ponchatoulas - Seafood platter - Cajun/Creole Near Me - Ruston, Louisiana

The stuffed catfish is the best dish in Ruston! Great seafood at a reasonable price. I usually get the shrimp poboy. The bread pudding is great if you have room!! read more

In some ways, I really wanted to give this place 5 stars. In others, I really wanted to give them 3 stars. So I settled on 4. The atmosphere was good. The staff attentive and pleasant. I got the po'boy that was half shrimp, half oysters and some seafood gumbo. The taste was really something I'd never had before, the frying of the seafood wasn't so battered down you couldn't taste the food, the bread was nice and soft and tasty, etc. If I had just had this, I'd probably give it a 5 stars (maybe 4 1/2, because I would've liked more shrimp and oysters in the poboy, but that's ok...). I had the seafood gumbo, which was pretty "meh". Not real distinctive flavor, not really all that much seafood in it, so "meh". Overall, a decent experience. If I were in town longer, I'd likely go back... read more

Have you ever had rancid catfish? I have. My parents are a big fan of this place since it's a local favorite. Visiting here for a few days, my parents wanted to take me to their old haunt since they are known for their seafood. My sloppy roast beef poboy was delicious. A bit on the salty side, but definitely forgivable since it was so flavorful. My moms dish, a turkey poboy was awful. It promised Cajun turkey...she was served low grade lunch meat. She was promised tomatoes...she got slices that needed a few more weeks on the vine. This could be her misreading the description, but she was under the impression it would be served warm. It was cold. My dads was the worst. He ordered the seafood platter, which he's had a number of times before and had told me how delicious the crawfish and catfish were. The crawfish were good. The catfish was DISGUSTING. It was probably a week older than it should have been and tasted like toxic river water sprinkled in iron. This was an hour ago, and we each tried a bite...we both still taste it in our mouths. Maybe pick somewhere else when visiting scenic Ruston. read more

Great food! Service DEFINITELY left something to be desired. BARE minimum and not friendly at all. Not even a smile. BUT once you get full off a Ponchatoula Sampler, you won't even care. read more

I travel allot so using the APP for Yelp helps me find the hole in the wall places to eat that have the best food. The food here was very good, and the place is clean. My only complaint is that while I ate here several times alone, on this day I brought s college who was African American. The service was bad and the waitress looked at us crazy. People are people and it was a very uncomfortable situation that turned to leave a bad taste in my mouth. Maybe the owners could do additional training?? read more

I like Ponchatoulas' boudin ball and crawfish etouffee. We've tried gumbo, theirs not consistent- sometimes good sometimes bad. The waitress- so annoying. If i want to have some conversation with someone, they've made i feel like im taking the table too long. read more

In town for one night. Picked this place based on yelp reviews. I ordered the peace keeper ( shrimp and oyster poboy) with the recommended onion rings. Was pleased with the food and the staff ( although I did get it to go). The shrimp were plump and tasted fresh, not frozen, the oysters weren't bad either. Price was reasonable. read more

First time at Ponchatoulas. Ambience is good. Seating is good. Appetizers were good. The ranch... you know a restaurant is good when the ranch is delicious LOL. But the entree i had, the Crawfish Shirley, was pretty good. I know seasoning is pretty much a self serve type of thing but it could have been a little spicier. Salad was good. Cheese fries good. Boudin balls were alright, very hot and fresh. The beer selection was adequate. Mugs could've been colder. The prices weren't too expensive. Had a good time there though. 4/5. read more

We stopped here for lunch with friends who live in Ruston. Best fried oysters I've ever had! Delicate fry..not overly breads and tender oyster. Perfect. I recommend the remoulade sauce..very tasty. I also had red beans and rice..huge serving, and delicious. Ambience was great..very relaxed..and the waitress was excellent..friendly and helpful. We would definitely go back! read more

This place has authentic Louisiana dishes and is very good. I've eaten there many times and it is my favorite local restaurant. On less than a few occasions there has been any problem with our orders, but they always correct them. read more

My experience there today in the restaurant was actually pretty good. Our server was awesome, and the fried green tomatoes are TO DIE FOR. But I brought my seafood platter home with me, which mostly consisted of my catfish. When I decided to eat my leftovers, I would find at least one bone in every single bite of my catfish filets. I tried each one, and bones were consistent in them all. It made me sick, and I had to just throw the rest of it out. Being one of very few places in Ruston that has catfish, I'm saddened to say that I probably won't eat here again based on this experience. read more

I love this place ! Every time I go , I get the boudin balls which taste basically authentic from the ones of southern Louisiana . Great place for lunch , leisure, and to relax. read more

Great place recommended by my nephew. Gumbo was right on the mark as was the fried catfish. Just the right amount of cornmeal batter. Hush puppies perfect as well. And onion rings fresh battered and again fried just right and not greasy....which is an accomplishment! Topping it off with bread pudding with praline sauce. Waaaay to many calories so don't do this often :) read more

Good creole food at lunch. College bar atmosphere. Friendly waitress. Kind of pricey for the atmosphere. read more

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The food was delicious, Thus the 3 stars. The service was horrible. Granted they were down to 2 servers but had many workers in standing around or cleaning. Had to stop several employees just to get a waitress to come take out drink order. Food came out Hot and good! read more

Lit! A lit-le over-priced though...but super good! Will definitely be back. Which is more than I can say about a place just down the road.