Middendorf's is a seafood restaurant out in the middle of pretty much nowhere -- at the end of that long, long bridge coming out of New Orleans, headed north to Jackson. It's so popular, sometimes, that they have an entire second restaurant next door that they open up when they need to.

I asked our waitress my new favorite new restaurant question, "if I can only eat at Middendorf's once in my life, what should I get?" She sold me on the thin-cut fried catfish and a soft-shell crab on the side. The catfish was so thin-cut that some of the pieces were mostly just fried, with not much fish. It was good, but I think Rowdy's was better. I've had soft-shell crab parts before, in sushi, but never a whole one. I think I'm not really a fan of the goopy taste of the insides, and the enterprise kept making me wonder if I was eating parts you're supposed to eat.

Middendorf's
Highway 51 at Pass Manchac
Akers, LA