Waterfront Market at Ruston

This place would be awesome if there were more vendors & you didn't have just 15 minutes to fiddle with a QR code (in a spotty Internet zone) & your smartphone to pay for parking. Luckily, they have Belly collagen smoothies, gelato, Street Tacos (oooh, salsa that eats like soup), a mini-farmer's market, & cool side shops, like a local honey purveyor & pashmina scarf seller. Also, when we visited, an Asian vendor set up out front, burning the food while trying to figure out the cookware. Maybe they should have their own stall inside, just saying. Seems an unfair advantage.

Great market stop. Gentleman at the nut shop was a fabulous salesperson. Tasted a variety of types and flavors. I decided on a 1/2 pound of spicy Taco Peanuts, and my sister in law got the toffee nuts. My sister, niece, and sister in law found really great earrings, and we all walked out with tea from Tea Madame. That gentleman was a fabulous salesperson full of info and education, too. Ended the visit with some fantastic gelato. Mmmm. Very yummy.

The vendors at the Waterfront Market do not validate. You must pay separately for parking. Kind of scummy but from other reviews, seems the market does not have a say in this. No offense, but the businesses inside are not doing well. Contracts might’ve mislead businesses saying traffic is high which is subjective but holy cow, it’s a ghost town in there. Parking is definitely a reason why.

You must pay for parking everywhere in this area even to visit the market. There is a lot of empty stalls yet but I imagine when this is fully up and running it will be a great place!

I don't recommend this place unless you happen to be walking by and are bored or something. The lot was like 5% full and I had to pay $6 MINIMUM to park for a one hour minimum on the app. No, you can't select less than an hour. It was around noon on a sunny weekday. Ridiculous price considering that inside there's only like 10 vendors, most being hot food, and it took me right under 6 MINUTES to see everything, look at items in one shop, and buy a drink to go from one of the other shops. The parking thing didn't even go through originally on my app and kept throwing me an error so I chose to skim in the "15 minute grace period" posted on the signs due to the app issue. Then I found out later that it did go through on my card. So I paid $6 to park in a pretty much empty lot to look at a pretty much empty building for 6 minutes. The concept/location was spot on, but it was executed very poorly. And charging a 1 hour minimum parking at a higher than average rate when most visits are 20 minutes or less is a desperate grab for money. Maybe kick out the tweaks and campers instead of pushing away interested customers.

The place is not worth it currently. It's only half filled with vendors and even though we were there midday on a Saturday, likely their busiest time period, about a third of the vendors were not open already. It was especially frustrating that they charged for parking for what was a mostly empty market. The couple of vendors that we talked with were very kind and helpful, but I feel very bad for them given how empty this place currently is. They are the reason this isn't a 1/5 rating. Feels like management is really dropping the ball with this place ... Also seems like there's quite a bit of construction nearby... Maybe if this place can figure out how to fill up the vendors, it will be worthwhile in a few years.

The farmers market is ok. Some good food and drink. They can definitely do more with it and probably will. Lots of parking and other activities around it. Restaurants, movie theater and the beach.

Vendors are great! The events are great! The internet is terrible that's the only way you can pay for parking there's no other way you either risk getting your car towed or just not going at all because you can't pay please somebody fix this. I would love to give this a five star review if you want people to pay for parking please make that a possibility. Every time I come here I watch people struggle for 15 minutes trying to get some glimmer of hope and maybe it's gone through

Stopped by on a weekday afternoon around 2:30pm and enjoyed walking around and checking out the different vendors. The parking was only about 1/3 full and inside it was fairly quiet. A smattering of customers here and there perused the stands dividing up this large industrial building. Plenty of natural sunlight too. Being a sunny day it seemed most people were enjoying the outdoors rather than coming indoors. The vendors include a farmstand, flower shop, butcher, candle store, a few apparel and accessories shops, a boba tea parlor, regular tea shop, jewelry shop, gelato stand, several food vendors. I tried a burrito from the Mexican spot and it was pretty tasty. There looked to be ample space for at least several other vendors to setup, which from the sound of it may be more occupied over the weekends. There is an upstairs level above the vendor floor that looked not in use when I was there. From the other photos posted by the business this appears to be a rentable event space.

Waterfront Market is located just above the parking garage next to Ruston waterfront. Not sure if the market validates parking or not but if you are dining in restaurants below they do at all the locations. The market has a variety of small local business shops from food to clothing. They already have holiday decor which I was really excited about. They even have a section to take pictures with your family and friends. It doesn't take long to cruise through it all but it's definitely something you can do with your family since its warm and indoors.

Dog-friendly indoor market with vendors that sell produces, baked goods, plants, wellness products, and more. There are also a few places that sell food. There is always a long line waiting for Mexican food. Parking gets full on the weekend. You may have to park in the garage and walk over.

The Waterfront Market at Point Ruston is a nice change of pace for the Tacoma area. There isn't much for specialty items for food or gifts that have a personalized touch and your next best option is just going to the mall for gift shopping. There is a variety of different food vendors here with food trucks, a coffee shop, a meat shop, gourmet peanuts and nuts and more! There are permanent vendors here throughout the week and more pop up during the weekend. I don't come here too terribly often but I did notice on their website some weekend vendors listed were not there on the last weekend I went there. So I am not sure if the weekend vendors vary from weekend to weekend or if the website is outdated in regards to vendors that no longer participate at this location. Well, despite that it's still fun to pop in here once in a while as it's refreshing pace change with shopping for the area. Summers are especially fun to come here but it's very enjoyable anytime of the year.

There are different stall and they offer an array of vendors that sells clothes, candles, arts & crafts, bags, food, cookies, pastries, flowers and so much more. It seems to be different every time we go there. It's a must see and experience. The ambience is very welcoming and the vendors are nice.

I was envisioning something like SF Ferry building but it was not that busy and not too many produces. Maybe b/c it isn't peak summer time yet. Lemonade for $10? No thank you.

This place is always evolving so it's fun to stop by when I'm in the area and see what's new. The produce stand here is my favorite in the area. They always have a great selection and the staff are great!

My wife and i love this market!! We hail from Puyallup to Tacoma every few weeks just to see what's new. From pet apparel to hand crafted leather goods, jewelry, flowers, soaps, and so much more! Do yourself a favor and check this place out! You'll love it!

Took over for pt Ruston public market. Way better than it was before - a lot of new vendors and development

Best market of all time. I love these people and vendors! My favorite place to sell food at!

it's OK. Basically, it's like a mini version of pike place market in Seattle. And it would be worth going to at least once.

One of the best markets in the state. Safer than pike place, great vendors and amazing food!

All the vendors are so welcoming and sweet - love the jewelry and selfcare products and the barbacoa tacos at taco street hit the spot every time!