At the average c-store, customers drive up in automobiles. They fuel up, grab something to eat and drive off. 

At the Atchafalaya Basin Landing and Turtles Bar & Grill, it’s a little different. It’s a floating store and restaurant in the Henderson Swamp in Louisiana. There’s fuel, but it’s boats that motor in to fill up. Customers walk into the c-store for snacks and beverages, then they can walk next door to dine in the restaurant, but sometimes, when they look down, alligators might be peering up at them. 

The business itself has been open for 26 years, but there wasn’t always a bar and landing. It was once just a store and a boat launch. 

“My dad, Tucker Friedman, owned a convenience store, but he always wanted to build a floating store, restaurant and bar,” said Christine Friedman, general manager of the store, which is owned by her father. “He had a vision. We have his sketches from 10 years before it was built in March of 2024. It’s a 6,000-square-foot floating island. A floating store and restaurant had never been done in our state. Permitting was a nightmare. They had to create new codes for it.”

Christine’s brother Nick, who is now the operations manager, and her father built it all with the help of staff and friends. “Each piece of wood in here was planed by my dad.”

“It sits on plastic dock floats. They had to be installed according to weight. There are different size floats for different weights. Everything was delivered like a puzzle. My dad, Nick and our employees put it together by section and they would float it out and then put another section together,” she said. 

Homemade Meals 

Tucker always had a flair for food. His chili was popular back when he had his first c-store. He brought that recipe—and a lot of others—to the island in 2024.

“I’d say the burger is the most popular menu item. You can add bacon, jalapeños, onions and more. They come with our house chips, which are very popular,” Christine said. 

Like with all great burgers, the beef is the key. “We work with a local meat market in town. It’s a special fat-to-meat ratio that we like. We’ve gone back and forth, but so much of the flavor comes from the fat,” Friedman said.

The chili is a different story. While the same meat market provides the beef, it contains less fat. “We don’t want greasy chili.”

Also popular on the menu are chicken wings. She noted that attention to detail pays off with wings when it comes to flavor. The wings are marinated for 24 hours and they’re not battered. “That’s a personal preference. Our customers like them that way. They go better with the sauces.”

In this part of the world, tourists and locals want gumbo. At the Turtles Bar & Grill, the gumbo is a staff favorite. “Our gumbo is also Nick’s homemade recipe

It’s chicken and sausage, and made using both fresh (uncooked) sausage and smoked sausage from a local meat market,” she said

Nick also created the restaurant’s homemade ranch sauce. “He’s particular about what goes in it. If a particular buttermilk is out of stock he won’t make it,” Christine said. “It is a customer favorite. We go through a ridiculous amount of ranch sauce. Customers want to dip not just wings, but fries, burgers, fried pickles and fried jalapeños and Tater Kegs. Tater Kegs are large tater tots stuffed with bacon, cheddar cheese and chives. We also have a Cheese Bomb, which is a Tater Keg stuffed with four different kinds of cheese,” she explained. 

The Beauty of a Swamp

The Atchafalaya Basin is the nation’s largest freshwater swamp—even bigger than the Florida Everglades. The store is located in the Henderson Swamp portion of the basin. The Friedman family offers a way for people to see more of the swamp. 

“We have four airboats that we can run at a time. They can accommodate up to 46 passengers at one time,” Christine said. “And, this is the most beautiful portion of the swamp.”

“Visitors see alligators, birds, snakes, turtles, deer and nutria. It’s a wildlife adventure. It’s always unpredictable. It’s completely wild and you never know what you will see,” she said.

Friedman surveyed her surroundings and said, “I feel like our calling is to be here and show them the beauty of the Atchafalaya Basin. Our family has dedicated our lives to that.”