Thursday marks the 85th year of Middendorf's restaurant -- the perfect time for expansion.
"This is an old door from Middendorf's. Some of the wood we use is from the old Middendorf's. The doors behind the bar is from the original 1934 Middendorf's when you go in and out of the bar. So we tried to bring a little bit, you know you need to bring a little bit over of the original," explained owner Horst Pfeifer.
Pfeifer gave us the grand tour of Middendorf's new, second location. When he and his wife Karen were looking for the perfect place to expand - Slidell just felt right! The original Middendorf's is in Manchac -- you come over the bridge and the restaurant is right there.
"So I was looking for a space and it was the same here. You come out of New Orleans, you go over the bridge and it's right there."
"That's the main dining room," Pfeifer pointed out. "And the reason why we've created this - a little bit back to the family again. The people here in Slidell, everybody knows each other, probably waving at each other, talking to each other. Here also we want to bring the inside and the outside together. That's why we made it a little more fun."
The first location is always packed, so the Pfeifer's felt like they owed it to their employees, some of which have been with the restaurant for 40 years, and to the customers to expand.
"Middendorf's is not just a restaurant. Middendorf's is a following. I call it the gospel of catfish. It is! You know it's very unique. You know they used to have catfish houses here. What Middendorf's is, we're a catfish house slash roadside dinner and there's not so many in this area anymore."
"I hunted the wood. To find all of this wood and to find something with character and personality, it's taken me probably the last two and a half years. When I realize what I'm going to do, I look for it and then I have a big barn. You know you stack it up nicely, you wrap it in plastic, you put the humidifier in there to make sure it's ready when you bring it in here."
Horst wanted to showcase what nature has in the swamp. He's been collecting pieces to display for years.
"Like over here. Here you see a close up how the barnacles.. this was under water probably for a hundred years and the barnacles ate it up... and then also when you see it - how the different colors come out. Its just a little bit polyurethane but being under the water all these beautiful colors. Look the barnacles how they ate it. So this was created under water... An old beam. This was from an Amish Farm and I found it. So we created this light fixture."
And the new location is very family friendly, with outdoor seating for 150 people.
"What we want to create. You know be fun. And out here there's always a breeze, it's colorful. So you can sit here and watch your kids play. We brought a little bit, not the swamp, to make it - what we always call when you come to Middendorf's - we call it staycation. Bring a little bit tropical here, make this little umbrella so the kids can play in the sand and in the shade. You can sit here, eat thin fried catfish, drink a margarita and be happy."
Middendorf's in Slidell has about 80 employees. They've had plenty of training, but an operation this big - there will be kinks to work out at first.
"There's only so much you can train and practice. Eventually you have to kick the ball and get rolling and the game starts."
"Our kitchen here. (Nice!) Yeah for a fried catfish house it's nice!"
The new restaurant is impressive -- very welcoming! And for Horst & Karen that's what it's all about -- the customers.
"I bought it 12 years ago and I'm very, very proud to be part of something like this. To be the keeper of a Louisiana icon. I feel very privileged and special to be the one to carry the torch right now."