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***image1***Coffee runs for the office just got a lot easier with the grand opening of Army Europe’s first drive-thru Java Café July 9 on Rhine Ordnance Barracks.Just ask Sgt. Robert Green and Sgt. Simona Lorenzo, both with the 230th Military Police Company based on ROB. They have been going to the facility for that morning or afternoon coffee since its soft opening a month ago.
“We work late so it’s nice to get a cup of coffee right before you go on shift,” said Sergeant Lorenzo, who normally gets the Vanilla Latte coffee, but on July 2 – a hot day – she decided to try the Vanilla Latte “Javaccino” – the café’s themed name of the Starbucks’ brand of the blended-ice-beverage “Frappuccino.”
Located across from the 24-hour shoppette, the café serves Starbucks brand coffee, blended beverages and another first for Java Cafés in Europe – breakfast and lunch menu options such as burritos, salads, wraps and sandwiches, said Valentine Pumphrey, the U.S. Army Garrison Kaiserslautern’s business operations chief.
She lists other Army Europe firsts for this café such as it being the only one out of the three other locations in Germany that is located in its own building, which adds other unique features such as the drive-thru window and game room, which sports a pool table, slot machines and one of two flat-screen TVs.
***image2***“Almost everything is here,” said Ms. Pumphrey. “We hope customers come in and are comfortable.”
Customers can choose from a variety of seating options, from the outdoor patio with four picnic tables with umbrellas to inside accommodations that include couches and sofa chairs with low tables, bistro-style tables and chairs, and even 10 gaming and Internet machines – three of which are in the gaming room.
Music can be added to the atmosphere by a network jukebox, where customers choose from loaded entries or select a song from the Internet.“We try to cater to whoever comes in here, whether it’s a Soldier or a family member,” said Raymond Rodriguez Jr., the Java Café manager, speaking on behalf of his 12 employees.
He added that most of the positive feedback he has received from customers during the soft opening has been about friendly service.
“Of course, we are friendly,” said Donna “Macchiato Mamma” Harrison, a Java Café employee. “We want everyone to have fun when they are here.”
***image3***Customers can plug in their laptop computers as wireless access is available for a fee.
That’s what Sgt. Steven Herrera, with the 1st Battalion 8th Infantry currently deployed downrange, did while he was in the KMC waiting for a flight back to Iraq after escorting a wounded comrade to Landstuhl Regional Medical Center. He was here for about three days, half of which were spent at the Java Café uploading software for his personal laptop computer and drinking a Café Mocha or two.
“Yesterday, this was the first place they pointed out to us when we came through the gate,” said Sergeant Herrera. “I think there should be one of these at every base, especially in Iraq.”
Construction began in February on the 3,220-square-foot building. The total cost of the building, including equipment – espresso machines, blenders and ice makers – was about $735,000, said Ms. Pumphrey.
Hours of operation and menu options can be found at http://mwrgermany.com/kl/java_cafe/java_cafe.htm.
