Tucked on the corner of an ordinary street in the German city of Mainz is an unlikely sight — a Chilean restaurant offering rich, traditional foods and drinks.

Patagonia Steakhouse looks like an ordinary German restaurant from the outside, but step inside and you'll be transported straight to Chilean Patagonia. With traditional decor reminiscent of a Chilean hacienda, Patagonia offers mouthwatering dishes that will appeal to both Chilean expats and Germans hoping to venture into new cuisine.

The restaurant is co-owned by brother and sister-in-law duo Fernando Scholtbach and Carmen Gloria Lazcano Burgos. Scholtbach, who is married to Lazcano Burgos' sister, arrived in Germany 13 years ago to seek medical treatment for one of his daughters, who has spina bifida. Lazcano Burgos and her German-Chilean husband followed shortly afterwards in 2003.

During an interview with Latin Post, Lazcano Burgos admitted that she came to Germany with the hopes of one day opening up a Chilean restaurant. After years of dreaming, the pair discovered that Chilean meat was imported to Germany and decided to open a sandwich shop, she says.

"The idea was something in the center [of Mainz]," Lazcano Burgos said. "A small thing, to see how churrascos, completos faired."

Scholtbach elaborated, "Finding a store was the hardest part. It had to be something like we imagined, or at least, had to have characteristics of what we were looking for. We're pretty far from where all the activity is, [but] it's close to home."

Landing on a name for the restaurant, however, was an easy choice, the two say. Both come from the Chilean Patagonia region, which is also where the restaurant's meat comes from. Scholtbach added that not only is the name Patagonia easy to recognize and pronounce in German, picking it as the name of their restaurant allowed them to educate people that the region is not only part of Argentina.

Since opening three years ago, Scholtbach says the restaurant has enjoyed highs and lows. "Now in the summer, it's generally less popular because this side of the city has more students and they leave," he said, adding, "Winter is our best time."

The family-owned eatery is run mostly by staff consisting of Scholtbach's daughters, Lazcano Burgos and a small group of Spanish-speaking employees. While the Chilean community near Mainz is small, Scholtbach says they see plenty of Chilean customers. "[Chilean] people are always coming in. They come from very far," he said.

Patagonia's menu reads like a higher-end Chilean sandwich shop, with a few concessions made for less adventurous German patrons. Lomo a lo pobre, one of their more popular dishes, consists of loin cut meat from Chile and steak fries. The hamburgers, for their German customers, are also made from Chilean meat, which they purchase from distributors in Germany.

Their drink selection also boasts a multitude of Chilean wines and traditional Chilean cocktails, such as pisco sour.

Despite carving out their own slice of Chile in Germany, the pair admits that life in Germany is vastly different from life back in their hometown of Osorno. "In general, in our way of life, in our day-to-day life, we keep to ourselves and we don't have any big relationships with German people," Scholtbach explains.

"We stay in [our own] colony," Lazcano Burgos joked.

Scholtbach continued, "Here, a German will not invite you to his house to participate in his life. That doesn't exist here."

"It's hard to form relationships with them," Lazcano Burgos added. "They aren't warm, I don't know, Chileans, sometimes, are warmer people."

"It's not easy living in Germany," Scholtbach said. "The type of friendships that they [Germans] offer are not the type of friendships that Chileans offer to foreigners. Over there, you pick up a foreigner, you offer him things, you take him places, you show him around...you include him in things. Not here."

Lazcano Burgos says learning German was perhaps an even bigger obstacle to deal with than the way people relate. Scholtbach added, "Sure, without the language you have nothing to do. I mean, how are you going to have relationships with other people if you don't know the language?"

Despite their misgivings about Germans and their culture, the restaurant owners are keen on inviting fellow Chileans to come work with them. Germany and Chile signed a "Working Holiday Program" earlier this year that allows 18 to 30-year-olds to apply for a year-long visa in the partner country.

Lazcano Burgos says they'd be happy to sponsor Chileans with culinary or hospitality experience.

While the two say they don't have plans to return to Chile, they do hope to one day expand their business with additional Chilean products.