Middendorf's Slidell

My sisters, mom, and I were traveling home from a weekend trip. We were in town for the memorial of a loved one lost. We figured we would stop at Middendorf’s for a wonderful meal before heading home. We had heard great things about this restaurant and were excited to get our minds off of what was going on. Boy oh boy, we should’ve just hit a fast food place and stayed on the road. Let me start out by saying the server, Bell, was the sweetest, most attentive server I’ve had in a while. She was perfect and in no way at fault for our unfortunate experience. The restaurant looked so good walking in. Decor was perfect. Greeting was fresh and friendly. We were truly feeling that we made the right decision in stopping. Sadly, we were wrong. I ordered the frog legs, fried. The one leg I tried was a little fishier than frog legs I’ve enjoyed in the past. I was so polite, never rude or pushy. I asked Bell if I could maybe try them broiled, the only other way they’re offer. She suggested that I get something else if I didn’t like them fried. I ordered something else. While ordering something else the manager walks up and starts lecturing me about sending them back. “There’s no way you don’t like them. They are the best in town.” I was taken aback by her response. She was quite aggressive and obviously upset by my decision to send them back. Instead of getting upset and arguing I just let her blow off some steam and that be that. “Just so you know, frog legs are generally fishy.” she says as she pats me on the shoulder a couple times then walks away. Her putting her hands on me like I’m a child really, really crossed a line. Still, I remained calm and simply decided to tell the server that I didn’t need to order that other plate of food. The manager came to our table for a 2nd time just to lecture me on how frog legs normally taste, again. I just smiled and nodded hoping she would get over it. Nope, she couldn’t let it go. A few minutes later she walked up to the server right behind us and started lecturing her, saying she needed to make sure she tells people ordering frog legs that they are generally a little fishy. She knew that she was saying it loudly enough to hear. Checks came. The manager made sure that the server charged me for my side of veggies that came with my frog legs. I kindly told the server that the veggies were untouched on the other side of the table with the other dishes we were done with. Everyone paid their bills, I was writing a note the the manager that stated, “Never under any circumstances should you put your hands on a guest. Even if it is a simple condescending pat on the shoulder.” I guess she was watching me from across the dining room. She was so happy to run to my table, “Oh! Is that for me?”, she joyfully says while reaching for the note. I tell her, “Yes ma’am it is.”. Before I can walk away this woman aggressively say, “Just let me tell you how it is..”. She reaches to grab my arm. I jerk away and sternly tell her not to touch me again. I walked out before she could tell me “how it is”.

Yes, the frog legs were a little ‘extra’ fishy. They were also coated in the thickest better I’ve ever seen on frog legs. They were completely flavorless.. maybe that’s why the fishyness was so strong. My family member’s food wasn’t any better. Oysters, stuffed crab, shrimp.. all flavorless. The catfish is advertised as thin catfish but it was so thin that most of the breading was hollow, no catfish. The french fries were not salted at all and definitely not fresh. When the gumbo was ordered we were warned that it contained tomatoes and okra to which our response was, “PERFECT!!”. No okra was found. It must’ve run away with all the flavor.. I hope they’re happy together. All of these flaws could’ve been overlooked had it not been for the repeated mistreatment of the manager, pretty sure she was the general manager.