RAW Restaurant

Love this place! The waiters are always super friendly and you have the option to sit at the sushi bar to watch your rolls being made, making it an entertaining experience as well. If you like sake, they also have a sake bar you can sit at.
The W. Park Avenue is my favorite roll, by far. The fashion roll is also pretty good. If you’re looking to get an appetizer, get the monkey brains! Those are amazing! I also order a side of their eel sauce with each sushi I get because it really adds the perfect touch of sweetness to just about anything.
Another great thing about Raw is the atmosphere. They set the vibe of the place with dim lighting and sharp stylish décor. It’s nice enough for date night without being too fancy for a weekday lunch.
No matter which day, I always get the same great service. That, to me, is a mark of a really great restaurant! I can’t wait to go back!

I was not disappointed!!! I have been wanting to try this place for the longest time, and tonight I finally did. I’m not familiar w sushi, and so I was a bit apprehensive.
I got the Santa Fe roll, and the only thing wrong with it was that it was gone too soon! Each bite was perfectly tasty. My sister got the spider roll, which had crab in it. It was just as delicious. She preferred it over my Santa Fe since the Santa Fe has a slight kick with the jalapeños. I personally loved the spice though!
We got fried rice too. I was not as impressed with that item, but it wasn’t bad.
Overall, it was a very trendy, fun, yummy place to eat! Give it a try and share your favorite roll!

I certainly did not feel like I was in a small town while dining here for dinner. Place is swanky with a cool chill vibe. Certainly makes a great place to go on a date. I give an extra star because they played EDM.
Service was prompt and waiter was nice. Definitely no complaints there.
I was skeptical but hopeful of the quality of the sushi based on the high ratings. Unfortunately I was quite disappointed.
The green tea was served with a tea bag and packets of sugar and a lemon. Yes. very weird. The water was also not very clean. No matter what, the tea bag with a squeeze of lemon could not mask the off taste.
For my meal, I had the squid salad, Hawaiian roll, spicy scallop hand roll, and tuna nigiri. Rice was dry and the fish definitely not fresh. Went out on a limb and ordered dessert and had the Mango Foster. Meh… Total bill for all of this was $ 44 before tip.
I didn’t have any of the alcoholic drinks. This may be a good place to take your boo for a drink but I don’t recommend the food at these prices.

The West Park Ave roll, the Baldwin roll, the Volcano roll, honestly everything. I have never had a terrible experience at this restaurant. It gets busy but they have a great waiting area upstairs with seating and a TV. Closed on Sundays and Mondays so hold your cravings for the other days.

This is by far one of our favorites for «Date Night». We love the atmosphere. The staff is always friendly and the food is delicious! There tends to be a wait on Friday and Saturday nights, so be prepared to wait or arrive early. We are so lucky to have a great place like RAW in Ruston.

Wow! I hate that I have to award a star here. 90% of rolls are filled with «crabmix», green tea is a bag served with splenda, sweet and low, and a lemon (WTF?!). Shashimi can’t be ordered by the piece and after 3 bites of the rolls/​nigeri the cheap texture and warm temperature of the fish made me fear for my health. I would remove my right ring or either pinky finger if the owners/​operators of this dump agree to no longer serve such poison.

I’ve had sushi all over the country and somehow this little restaurant in north Louisiana has the best I’ve ever had. Seriously, I pride myself on knowing good food and this is it. I would pay double what they charge for a Baldwin’s roll, Fashion roll, and Quack Attack roll (minus crawfish).

Fantastic food. Everything we ate was good. The narrow layout of the restaurant was my only complaint, but the great food made up for it. The service was great, and the ambiance was nice. The prices were very reasonable as well.

Normally I have a rule about not eating sushi somewhere close to the gulf. I was craving it badly so I let this rule slide. We drove from el dorado Arkansas to come eat here & watch a movie after. We parallel parked because I don’t think there’s a parking lot. Anyways when we walk in, the hostess stand isn’t visible. All the hostess were just standing to the far right. They greeted us & for a table for two, it would be a 35 min wait. We were really pressed with time because we got there around 6:20 and our movie was at 7:20 Sushi bar was available! So we took it. As we sat down they gave us a drink menu & a regular menu. IF you do not like sushi, do not come here. Because other than the «small plates» they have zero alternatives for an entrée. We started with the jalapeño poppers which were great. They have a chef special roll. You tell them either raw or cooked and they come up with something really cool! I wish I would’ve had the appetite to do that, but I didn’t. Also it was 15 dollars and I didn’t want to take a chance on something I might not like for that price. I played it safe and got the Lewis roll which I absolutely loved !!! If I came back I would most definitely get it again. My boyfriend got a crab cake roll and another roll that I can’t remember the name of. Unfortunately, he got really sick the morning after our dinner so that’s why I give this place 3 stars instead of 4. Also white wine sangria was a really good drink to get. But for a 12 dollar drink I probably wouldn’t put as much ice.

Stopped in for dinner on my way to Shreveport last week. The restaurant was very busy with folks waiting for tables. As I was a party of 1, they were able to seat in me after a few minutes at the sushi bar.
I ordered a hot tea (green), the Yellowtail Carpaccio and the Super White Roll.
Just like last time, the yellowtail carpaccio was amazing. The fish was so fresh and had a nice kick from the pepper and sriracha.
I tried a roll called Super White which was also very good. I liked that it was lighter than the roll I got the last time, so I wasn’t stuffed!
The service was great just like last time. One of the chefs even recognized me from last time and waved at me.
Definitely plan on stopping in again in the future and trying more rolls.

RAW remains one of the highest quality restaurants in north Louisiana. Unfortunately, it is showing signs of slipping.
We ate there recently on a Saturday night. For an appetizer, we both ordered miso soup, which was simply inedible. The soup was separating, tasted off, and frankly seemed to be made from a instant mix.
I ordered the combination plate, sushi and sashimi, which was excellent, although it would have been nice to have something other than the California roll for the sushi, given the nice array of sashimi on the plate. RAW continues to obtain very high quality fish, and prepares it wonderfully. My wife had two sushi rolls that she had not tried before, the Southern and the Hawaiian. The Hawaiian was amazing, incredibly tasty. The Southern was good too, but a bit heavy.
All in all, RAW is still highly recommended, but the owners should be vigilant to maintain the quality that has gained them such a good reputation so for.

This is THE best restaurant in Ruston. The sushi is excellent, they have a good range of your more traditional American-​friendly sushi (California rolls) to the more authentic and adventurous Japanese variety so everyone can be happy. The wait staff and sushi chefs are very friendly and responsive. The space has a very interesting interior architecture: it does not feel like you’re in northern Louisiana but that you are transplanted to a large urban center. They still have some local flavors incorporated into the sushi which is fun. My winning combo is miso soup + squid salad + eel role + Nigori sake all while sitting at the sushi bar and watching the chefs concoct their culinary delights.

I have never been greeted «how y’all doin?» at a sushi place, but that just brought the louisiana in to an otherwise excellent sushi restaurant. Ended up sitting at the sushi bar with a co-​worker, found the sushi chefs quite polite and conversational, wait staff was polite and pleasant and prompt as well. We each ordered two rolls, I had the «Quack Attack» (mainly because I wanted to say I’d had a sushi with crawfish in it!) and the Alaskan Roll, which I’d say was one of hte better tasting rolls I’d ever had in my LIFE! The atmosphere was cool and calming, and nothing to complain about the place. Very good!

One of the few restaurants in Ruston worth visiting. The menu has a large selection of gimmicky rolls if you’re into that and a smaller selection of nigiri and sashimi. Service was good. They should provide diners with a sheet to make ordering sushi easier like every other sushi bar in the world.

Wasn’t expecting to find some of the best sushi I’ve ever had in Ruston, La of all places. This place is the bomb! Awesome sushi, super fresh and great menu. I haven’t tried anything here that I didn’t love! Service is great and if you want take-​out its always ready in about 15 – 20 minute. Love RAW!

This restaurant was amazing! The food was hot and delicious! I had: the wonton soup, the Louisiana role, the fashion roll, and I had the vegetable and pork egg-​rolls. Everything was delicious I enjoyed every bit of it. The service was impeccable! And the restaurant was very clean! I went along with my children and we had a great time!

This is the best place in a small town for sushi. Born and raised in Hawaii this place has quality fish. Customer service is outstanding.

Sushi in Ruston? Yes I was skeptical! However, it was amazing, great service, nice atmosphere, and good service. I ate here 8 times in 7 weeks in Ruston. Make reservations as it is a small place and it gets very busy! You have to go here if your a sushi fan.

I have eaten here several times and I have never been disappointed. I have traveled the country in search of good sushi and I must say that they are still in my top ten. If you want a recommendation, try the «Baldwin», it’s pure deliciousness. The fried rice is perfect for my pallet, they curries are good, and the list goes on.
I highly recommend them. Prepare to spend 20 to 30 dollars on your meal.

The other sushi options in Ruston can not compare. Besides being practically non-​existent or in combination with chinese buffets but RAW actually ranks high up there in my book among other of my sushi favorites from big cities. They are phenomenal.
Despite being underreviewed on Unilocal as are most other businesses in Ruston, you can find many reviews on Urbanspoon (the server even requested we write one also if we enjoyed our meal there). Rebelling, I am writing one on Unilocal instead. But we did love our meal, although incredulously overpriced it is one the fanciest and nicest places in the city so I will have to save it for special occasions. The staff were very friendly, the hostess quickly seated us and the waiter was always checking on us and even made a few recommendations.
Here are some reviews of the sushi we ordered:
1. the Louisiana roll was amazing for the price ($ 6). Fresh and spicy it actually includes huge chunks of crawfish. We will be getting this one often.
2. West Park Avenue was a favorite. I wish it wasn’t so expensive and so small ($ 12) but well worth the splurge.
3. Cajun roll was another great one with crawfish. Another favorite.
4. Gulf roll was one of my favorites with deep fried oysters. A little different than the cajun roll but both were quite similar.
5. The cucumber wrap roll was really fresh tasting and healthy. I loved it, wrapped in cucumber.
I recommend getting an entrée and just one or two sushi to share to cut costs but then again, this is a sushi place and some people can eat the price better than my budget affords.
All in all, RAW is one of the best. It has a bunch of creative rolls that incorporate Louisiana favorites like crawfish and oysters, and it’s all so fresh and tasty too. Looking forward to my next visit, no complaints except that I wish I could visit more often.