Since 1934, Middendorf’s has been standing over the waters of Lake Maurepas in Manchac — a tiny Louisiana fishing community that sits between Lake Pontchartrain and Lake Maurepas on a strip of land accessible only by highway and surrounded by cypress swamp. The thin-fried catfish here is the stuff of Louisiana legend: fresh-caught, sliced thin, fried golden in a cast iron skillet until it shatters like a potato chip and pulls apart in flakes. Alvin and Josie Middendorf opened this place during the Great Depression and the family has been running it ever since. The dining room sits on pilings over the lake. The cypress trees rise around the parking lot. The catfish has not changed.
