Would y'all care to provide some insight into a Saturday in Monroe, Louisiana?

Pecanland Mall is a must see

Order a peach pie from Johnnys. Just be sure to have metformin on deck

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I started a thread on the food board about it and got responses ranging from "the best" to "&!$%ing (stinks)" amongst the 3 pages of replies.

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It’s a cult following there for locals. I’m not originally from Monroe, and could never understand the hype. Then again, if all you ever grow up with is Johnny’s Pizza, I can see how it would be “the best” to a (once) small town vibe.

It’s about the same grease level as dominos with a sweeter sauce.

Riverside Coney Island is a decent bite, close to the Ouachita River.

The bayou close to ULM’s campus has some decent restaurants, Catahoula’s has a good college atmosphere about it, waitresses look good.

Johnny’s Pizza is exactly as you described, polarizing. I grew up on it. My uncle had a deer camp next to Johnny Huntsman. Eat it, won’t kill ya.

Don’t go to the zoo, my man. Too depressing.

Zoo has improved and more money for it has been approved. Chenault museum is close to airport and interesting if you are into WWII. Johnnies, imho, is great...but only the sweep the kitchen stands out. Daq's is also a good hangout and has a good share of pretty ladies.

The zoo will kill some time, but also make you feel sad and disappointed as you can see what it may have been at one point and could be in some alternate future where they have adequate funding. It's just like Monroe.

The same can be said of Pecanland Mall.

The Waterfront Grill is legit. So is Enoch's (they will likely have live music after the game).

The best places for pics around the campus will be along the bayou, around the library and in the grove. Most other places will be meh.

Johnny's is hit or miss. If it's made well, you can't fricking beat it. If it's not, it's just average. I don't know what that magic "made well" component is, but I find it happens less with the franchises and more with the company-owned stores (the ones in Monroe/West Monroe are all company-owned, or at least they were).

Forsythe Park is nice (on the other side of town from ULM) and the drive there can encompass some nice homes (after leaving Waterfront, cross Louisville at the levee). The area down to Forsythe is the "garden district". From what I understand, it's deteriorated a bit as wealth has moved out over the last 20 or so years, but there are still some nice places there.

There are some nice homes around the park (Neville HS is there, classic school look instead of the bullshite industrial/brutalist crap we see built today). Follow Park Avenue down and explore through that area until it becomes Loop Road. Once it becomes Loop you can either continue on it to get back to Hwy 165 or hang a left over the levee to drive around Little Cuba (where you'll come out onto Forsythe via Deborah Drive, hang a right to cross back over the bayou then a left to get back to Loop).

Right at the end of the university's property along University Avenue is a motherfricker of a mansion. No idea whose it is (it was still being built when I graduated many years ago) but it's impressive.

Tailgating in the grove is a good time, especially if you can get under some good shade. The biggest bonus here is that ULM attendance isn't anywhere on the level of LSU attendance. There will be people but you won't be shoulder-to-shoulder cramped (and getting out after the game will take a max of 30 minutes, if you leave when most others do).

If you're not in the north La. area to hunt, fish, roam randomly outdoors nor just relax with a good book, the area can be pretty boring (stated as someone born and raised there, went to NLU/ULM and plans to move back to the region once I retire).

That "mansion' is the Hakim house. It's huge and still being worked on. (Has bowling alleys and shite.) If you watched "Duck Dynasty", it's the house Phil was looking at with the realtor. (Completely fake, of course.) If you want high end dining, hit Parish Restaurant. Also the Warehouse or Cotton are good. Want Cajun and to sit outside, at long wooden tables, Cormier's on Forsythe is good.

If you’re smart you’ll drive in right before kickoff and start driving home once the clock reads triple zeros.

How is the Flying Heart Brewing & Pub in W. Monroe? I've been the to the Bossier City location several times. Never cared for the beers they make, but they serve other brands, and their pizza is really good. Looks like they have a nice spot right on the Ouachita River.

I was up there a couple weeks back. A buddy of mine graduated from there, he’s a drug pusher (Pharmacist). We stopped by the Alumni Center, they took us around in a golf cart, man, that place has changed, for the better.
The stadium holds less than 28,000. They average about half that. There is a number of parking areas within an easy walking distance from the stadium.
Hope you have a great time.