RAMSTEIN-MIESENBACH, Germany — Mama West Touch of Soul restaurant is about more than just food.
Yes, Mama West serves your favorite southern-style dishes — fried chicken, catfish, pork chops, ribs and more — but the professionally trained chef dishes up plenty of down-home atmosphere.
“I don’t consider this a restaurant,” West said. “I consider it home. It gives you the feeling like you’re stepping into grandma’s house.”
The restaurant has been a home away from home for numerous U.S. troops stationed in the Kaiserslautern military community. On the restaurant’s walls are pictures of soldiers, airmen and a few generals. The spacious restaurant has numerous cozy areas for dining and does have that feeling of home.
On Tuesday nights, West hosts “Operation Just Us” in which wounded troops getting treatment at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center eat for free at the restaurant. She keeps a little book for the wounded to write in when they visit.
“When they hear the word ‘mama’ it gives them a feeling of home,” she said.
Mama West will listen to troops’ stories and then write about them on tablecloths, which she gives to the troops.
The restaurant opened in 1999 in Landstuhl and moved to its current location in Ramstein-Miesenbach in 2003. West made her way to this part of Germany in 1995 to help her son, a servicemember and single father. Even though West has a degree as an executive chef in French cooking, she worked a few jobs in and around Ramstein before opening her restaurant.
On a recent day at the restaurant, a couple sat down at a table for lunch. They hadn’t eaten there before, but they had heard good things about it. West got to talking to them and found out the man had just returned from Iraq. West thanked the gentleman for everything he did in the military. She then told him his meal was on the house.
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Mama West Touch of Soul
Hours: 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. to 10 p.m., Tuesday through Thursday; 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. to 11 p.m. Friday; 9 a.m. to noon & 4 p.m. to 11 p.m. Saturday; 9 a.m. to noon & 3 p.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday.
Prices: Appetizers start at 3.20 euros and entrees run up to 16 euros.
Specialties: Southern food — catfish, fried chicken, pork chops, ribs, etc.
English menu: Yes
Dress: Casual
Address: Jahnstrasse 2, Ramstein-Miesenbach, Germany
Telephone: 06371-614-049
Web site: None
