Ruckus Pizza Pasta & Spirits

This Ruckus is on Tryon Woods Drive in Cary, one of several the company runs around the Triangle. Pizza, pasta and a full bar cover most of the menu, and the kitchen sends out more food than most people expect.

Ruckus began in 1999 at a location near NC State, built around great food, great music and great times in roughly that order. Nothing about it is fussy, and the prices stay where a weeknight dinner belongs. The Cary room keeps the same character as the first one, which is the whole idea behind opening more of them.

What to know

• Guests are supposed to feel like they have come to a friend’s house for dinner.
• The owners’ sign-off hopes their house is always too small to hold all their friends.
• A five-star Google review called the food phenomenal and the portions the best anywhere.
• Comfortable and affordable are the other two goals the owners name.