I regret to make a negative post about a restaurant that I enjoyed over the years. But it is worth reporting as we are owed an apology that has yet to be made. Our night out at Ponchatoulas Saturday night was at the least, very disappointing. But only got more humiliating and insulting as the night progressed. No one made any effort to find us seating or make any amends, but got worse when it became harassing. It started with the break down in communication between the person who answers the phone and the hostess. My SIL called and made a reservation for 12 as we made our way out the door to the restaurant. The hostess never said anything about how long the reservation would be held before giving our table away. After they texted my SIL to let her know our table was ready (we were already on our way), she called back and told the person who answers that we would be there in 15 minutes and they told my SIL they would let the hostess know. When we arrived, the hostess said "nobody answered and they gave the table away". I said that's strange because she just called. Obviously the hostess did not get the message or if she did, she gave our table away anyway. I asked the hostess when we could get a table. We were told 20 minutes. Because of the size of our party and that we had 5 kids with us we waited outside in the cold. 45 minutes later my brother spoke with the manager on duty and she basically said sorry we can't make people leave. (We obviously understand that). She made NO effort to communicate with the hostess to suggest breaking up the seating...as we saw NUMEROUS people being seated as we stood there coming in and out of the cold. After an hour wait, my husband spoke with the same manager at the bar. He asked for the restaurant manager or the owner's number. She gave the owner his number and he called my husband. My husband was in the middle of trying to explain what happened and the owner cut him off and accused him of going behind the bar and threatening his staff! He made this false allegation before he could even explain what happened. I watched my husband the entire time and never did he go behind the bar nor was he rude. He's the most laid back person I know. The entire night was ruined (except for our waitress who was polite and apologetic). My brother who was visiting from out of town had to get on the phone and explain the entire story which the owner then believed. The owner clearly had an agenda to threaten and harass my husband before he even spoke. This is sad and disappointing as we have loved eating here for many years. I graduated from Ruston High and my husband and I both went to La Tech. My FIL eats there several times a week for lunch. We wanted to share a restaurant with my out of town family (they're from out of state) and the night was a HUGE disaster and embarrassment. At the very least, my husband is owed an apology from the owner. Please check your cameras and call him to apologize. This is unacceptable, unprofessional behavior from any business owner. And I will be making my complaint on multiple sites. read more

Receive 3.5 from us for sure. This place is pretty good. I had the seafood gumbo it was pretty good but had an after taste and a nice amount of crab inside. They had a lot of fried options. The shrimp was my favorite item and my husband loved the fried crawfish and had a po-boy. I had the seafood platter and my hush puppie was wicked crispy. All in all we were happy we stopped in and had enough for left overs. The dessert menu was two items, no bengets but what can you do right?!? read more

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The service sucks they are rude and they seat people ahead of you when you have been waiting in line. I would not recommend this place even if it was completely empty. They have no common curiosity and can not operate in a orderly fashion. We called to make reservations and was told they do not take reservations then once arrived they told us we had to use their app to be put on a reservation list. So which is it do you or do you not take reservations. read more

Great atmosphere Catfish platter is awesome Salads always fresh Great place to hangout with friends read more

Good food in Ruston. Had crawfish and shrimp. Really good. Only disappointment was no romalade sauce. Asked for it and was promised some but never received. Otherwise good food and ok service read more

Just ok. I'm little disappointed that the quality has gone down. The shrimp had a aftertaste. Fish wasn't crispy as I requested. May or may not give it another try. read more

The red beans and sausage was amazing! The staff was Johnny on the spot and the atmosphere was fresh!

Catfish platter and oniom rings. Also, got the sampler (Onion rights, boudain balls, mini meat pies, fried mushrooms, fried cheesesticks) it gave a true sample of their appetizer menu and while it was all good, the mini meat pies and boudain balls were so good! Not at all overpriced, because the taste and quality was great and the service was just as good. Came after 9 so was subject to the late night menu but will definitely be back before 9 to try some other things! Thanks Cassie for the great service! read more

Ponchatoulas - Catfish Platter with Onion Rings! - Cajun/Creole Near Me - Ruston, Louisiana

We came on Sunday and they were crowded but they were well staffed and efficient. The food was not up to our standards and the ambience was lacking as well. Hubby had oyster po boy but the bread was not at all crusty enough and there were 2 oysters on each half of the po boy so that was disappointing. The fries were meh, may have been sitting under a heat lamp for too long as they didn't taste freshly made. I had the seafood gumbo which was described as having blue crab and shrimps but I got the 3 smallest ever crab claws with barely any meat on them and the shrimps were so incredibly itsy bitsy tiny. The majority of the gumbo was rice, just rice. I know gumbo is supposed to be rice but pleassse some protein with it would have been better. I had ordered a side dish of oysters which arrived as 3 and costed $4 yet they were not of generous size either. Oh well it was better than the fast food chains. read more

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Passing through, checked the reviews and went in for dinner. Clean, comfortable and yes great food. Catfish, chicken and Roast beef sandwich, all cooked perfectly. Definitely will visit again when this way. read more

Food was great. We had the seafood gumbo for an appetizer, and it did not disappoint. Fried shrimp and hush puppies were very flavorful. I would highly recommend. read more

I would advise against eating here. The food quality in the past was great but not today. Tonight we encountered cold French fries with our entrees and "luke warm" crawfish etouffee with cold rice. The server stated that we were not the only ones complaining of the food temperature this evening. The crawfish etouffee was replaced by the server/manager with chicken and sausage jambalaya upon her recommendation. While eating the jambalaya a dark black hair, that did not belong to us, was found in it. I advised the server/manager we were done. I asked for the ticket, paid and left. We will not eat here anymore. read more

Okay place with a decent atmosphere and with overpriced okay food. I'm from a big city visiting this small town so maybe the food is fine for me local people. read more

This is going to be a long review, but all context is needed. We arrived with a reservation scheduled and the waitress at the front told us that they removed us from the reserve because they called and no one answered. Well, we had called back a minute after the missed call and told them we were 20 minutes away and the lady on the phone said she would tell the hostess. There must have been some miscommunication between the staff because our reserve was inevitably deleted. They said the wait would be approximately 20 minutes. We waited for an hour to be seated. The wait time in retrospect was not the problem; the continued attitude and tone by the manager was frankly unprofessional. After we were seated, the manager called the owner, Johnny Gaudet, and told him my father went behind the bar and was yelling in her face. The owner took it upon himself to call my father and talk down to him by "cutting to the chase" and outright saying "You went behind the bar" and "Y'all were late to the reservation weren't you." He went in there with a likely preplanned attitude and order of script when he called my father. My uncle took over the phone and explained the entire story to the owner; with the owner having a completely different attitude toward my uncle compared to my father. My father never went behind that bar and he never yelled at the manager. This whole situation could have been handled better if customer service was a valued aspect in their restaurant. I will say, the only competent person we communicated with was our server, Blayre M. I very much appreciated her. read more

It was very busy but our salads , appetizers and main course came at the same time. We ordered mushrooms and got a combo, sent it back and got the right appetizer, but were charged for the more expensive item. Not happy! read more

I actually liked this place. It was what I expected, a dive bar with great sandwiches. I had the roast beef sloppy poboy and I cannot lie, it was pretty awesome. Their beer selection was pretty broad and the service was great and friendly. The place itself could use a little more love buy hey... It's a dive bar! read more

This is one of our favorite authentic Cajun and Creole place. We stop by anytime we're headed from Texas to West Monroe. Everything on the menu is fantastic - shrimp, crawfish, catfish, ettouffee, jambalaya, gumbo. Oh my goodness. It's time to go back already. read more

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

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I travel to Monroe, LA quite a bit and I always make it a point to stop here for dinner at least once during my stays. I think the crew of co-workers I travel with enjoy it too as they never protest the suggestion. I ordered the crawfish etoufee a couple years ago and have never strayed from the amazing cajun dish. This place is well known for it's cajun style and I couldn't imagine a substitute. I have modified my dinner selection by adding fried catfish as a side which I feel is a good complement. The atmosphere is kinda like being in a converted basement. The ceiling has exposed floor joists and there is a lot of wood present. I think it gives this place a kind of coziness though. Ponchatoulas is located near Louisiana Tech so it can get pretty packed at later hours so plan accordingly. read more

Worst Orleans food ever. The waitress was very nice, but a terrible server. We ordered fried pickles as an appetizer and the server literally apologized 5 different times about how late the pickles were, then they came with our salads. They were so salty we ate 5 or so a piece and just couldn't eat them. We didn't complain, we figured oh well fried pickles aren't for us. Plus we didn't want piss off the help since we didn't have our entree yet. So sorry to have to write this, but we couldn't eat our food, my red beans and rice must have been cruel joke, so salty again, and the gumbo was a mush of rice and things that resembled sausage chicken and shrimp. Again tons of salt, It must have been boiling down for hours. My wife had 5 bites of her jambalaya and put it aside, again salt was off the charts. Ok so one last thing, we ordered hurricanes that we swear was kool aid without any booze. Now please understand, this place is a long way from New Orleans and we probably should never have gone there since we lived in New Orleans for a couple years. But but but but it's still in Louisiana. They never actually cut up the Andouille sausage, it was just laid on top of the red beens. Look we were traveling though and spent a couple nights in town. We talked to an older man at the laundromat and asked him if there were and good Cajun or Orleans food in town. He said in typical Louisiana accent, ain't no Cajun food here. 5 restaurants in the area had Cajun in there name. After we ate here we understood what he meant. So we tipped the server 20% and just left the food. We couldn't eat it and didn't complain, we will never be back. Good luck to them. read more

I don't know what the deal is with this place. It sponsors the university and provides food for the school of design along with other events but going there as a costumer, it's a different experience. I think it's great to eat local, especially one so involved with the community and a staple college student eatery but my experiences have only been bad. This particular time, I went with one other person. Staff was inattentive, the wait was just so long, even for the drinks. The food was average. It's not like it was bad, it's just not worth it. read more

Very disappointed, the hotel I'm staying at told me how good their gumbo was. But truthfully there was nothing in it but some little crab crawl No meat, no shrimp just rice and sauce. For $11 I think I'll go someplace else next time read more

Spent over 30 minutes for them to bring out our curbside pickup they never came out after three calls that we were here had to go in and it was sitting on the counter but not bagged up up The food has always been good but the have no clue on how to do curbside Including getting curbside orders correct missing items ordered etc read more

My absolute favorite is Crawfish Étouffée!!! Cheese fries with ranch dressing too! Ponchatoula's ranch is the best!!

We got our food to go and had a few drinks while waiting. Everyone was phenomenal! Entire staff. Anna Belle is the perfect host and bartender, very helpful and honest on beer selection and food. The Chef's, OG and Preston did our food RIGHT!!! I asked if they sold their Remoulade sauce and they said they would, small container and reasonably priced to take hime. Very excited about the Shrimp Creole and my husband can barely wait to get the Hamburger Steak home. Sauteed veggies are incredible. Ok, everything and everyone made our first experience here a memorable one and cannot wait to return!! read more

I was told they had crawfish and shrimp boil. Went there signs everywhere even on the table that said they had it. Then was told they only have them Wednesday thru Saturday. Told the manager that they needed to remove them and she said she will tell the main manager. Why don't you just remove them now yourself? Ended up with a salad. read more

Ponchatoulas - Cajun/Creole Near Me - Ruston, Louisiana

I had the muffuletta it was very good and the service was great! I will be eating here again the next time I am in town

Great lunch specials. Healthy menu choices available. Food was delicious! Fast, friendly service. read more

Ponchatoulas - Cajun/Creole Near Me - Ruston, Louisiana

I went with a small group for someone's birthday. The service was polite and I feel that they did well on serving and meeting our needs. The gumbo is okay, but personally I would not recommend. The mozzarella sticks and onion rings are very tasty! I also tasted the stuffed catfish which was amazing!!! The fish and shrimp platter is a good choice also, plenty of food! Definitely a good place to eat at! Would recommend and eat again! read more

Friendly staff, great service, delicious food!! The stuffed catfish is a must! So good!! read more

Had good atmosphere and friendly wait staff but food was mediocre at best. We started with a sampler platter for our group. It was a small basket-afar cry from a platter and woefully too small for even our small group at$9.95. They advertised 2meat pies which were no more than a single bite each. The boudin balls were just rice balls with very little meat in the mix. They were nothing like what you would get further south in Cajun country. The fried mushrooms, both of them were good. We had a mix of entrees. Portions are generous. The catfish had no flavor. Very bland. Same for the hush puppies. The onion rings though were nicely seasoned. The catfish poboy also had very little taste using the same fried catfish. It wasn't terrible but certainly nothing that any of us thought would inspire a return trip any time soon. read more

Great vibe and some of the mostly friendly wait staff I've even seen. Middle of a college town w Louisiana food at its best. The étouffée was wonderful. I should have just ordered that instead of it as a kids. Had the burger too. It was a burger, what else can I say. Can't remember the name of the fruity drink I had, something Hooter. Worth going to if you're in town! read more

Ponchatoulas - Cajun/Creole Near Me - Ruston, Louisiana

The food tastes awful!!! Particularly the Gumbo. The salads are like a joke. The place is very old and the seats are uncomfortable. read more

We placed a curbside order and couldn't have been more pleased. Our order was hot and delicious. The boudin balls appetizer was enough for a meal for the two of us 60 year old travelers. Add a bowl of seafood gumbo and onion rings and we had more than we could eat. We were being cautious because of Covid and had our picnic in the car. We will make a point to return on our way home. read more

Great food and greater service. Laura W, was absolutely amazing. I definitely recommend this restaurant to anyone. The boudin egg rolls are delicious, we end up ordering more to take home. read more

I really want to give them 5 stars but it took our food an hour to come out. Thank God the boudin balls were served and tasty. That particular night some of the kitchen staff had called in. (It happens, you just have to be ready) The food on the other hand was very good. I had the grilled/baked fish dish and added fried shrimp. It had a good flavor. Oh and the prices for food and drinks are decent. Worth trying out when you are in town for a Tech or Grambling event. read more

Visiting from California ( Bay Area ) and when I tell you the food was delicious fresh and hot. Our waitress was friendly and courteous. Will be coming back before we leave to go back home. ( Dropping off our kids to College) #Gramfam24 read more

Some work friends and I ate at Ponchatoulas this week and it was average. I was expecting it to be really good since it is highly rated in the area. I ordered the fried shrimp and every shrimp had that chlorine / chemical taste. I really do not like shrimp that have this taste and was extremely surprised to have shrimp at this restaurant with it. I really did like the boudin balls and would definitely recommend those. The fried pickles were average and so are the fries. It's an okay restaurant and has a good feel, but I don't think I will return. I may have just been unlucky and got some bad shrimp, but I would figure the quality control would have been better. Service was very good and our waitress was very attentive. read more

Nice bar area with good beer selection. The food is really good with friendly service. Located in downtown Ruston...in the thick of things on La Tech football weekends! read more

Ponchatoulas - Another good place to eat when we visit our son at Louisiana Tech. Crawfish poboy..delicious! Good service as well. - Cajun/Creole Near Me - Ruston, Louisiana

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4:30 pm on a Saturday the restaurant was about 70% full. My wife and I both had the sampler, she - fried oyster & seafood gumbo and me - fried shrimp and seafood gumbo. Both were were solid dishes that we would recommend to others. We had bread pudding for dessert with the praline topping. I enjoyed it, but my wife wasn't a real fan. She would have preferred a more traditional rum raisin sauce topping. If in Ruston you should consider giving this place a tray for seafood. read more

This place was good. We had a seafood platter which is a lot of food so we split it. It can with a house sold that was just okay. The platter was plentiful and the batter they use on the catfish was just spicy enough. There were also oysters (great), shrimp (great), crawfish (meh), hush puppies (meh) and onion rings with french fries. The ambience is terrific and the service was fast. We also had the seafood gumbo- my husband loved it. read more