On July 2, 1912, Horn & Hardart opened their first New York City location in Times Square, while inundating newspapers with advertisements heralding “The New Method of Lunching,” with an additional promise of “Try it! You’ll like it!” In 1936, a man removes his pie from an Automat. It should come as no surprise that a diner centered around efficiency, minimized human interaction, and an endless supply of freshly brewed coffee would find a steady foothold in New York City. Workers beyond the wall then hastily replaced it with a fresh plate.įrom its humble beginnings in Philadelphia, the Automat only grew. A testament to efficiency and convenience, diners selected their desired dish from the Automat, fed it a coin, and retrieved their meal. Public DomainĬustomers swarmed to the restaurant to try this new method of dining. In 1902, the two opened their first Automat, Horn & Hardart, in Philadelphia. Soon, the fad piqued the interest of American business partners Joseph V. The novel technology gained traction across European cities over the subsequent years. According to Automat chroniclers Laura Shapiro and Rebecca Federman, the interior of the Berlin restaurant was “a splendid dining room in the Art Nouveau style, lavishly appointed with mirrors, marble, and stained glass.” Yet customers selected their own meals from walls of glass containers: the Automat machines themselves. The world’s first “automatic” restaurant-or Automat-was actually a German innovation, introduced in 1896. As it turns out, it had-over 100 years ago. Seamless and efficient, I couldn’t help but wonder why such a practical concept never caught on in the United States. Customers simply come in, drop coins in a neighboring slot, and press a button to remove their dish of choice. Rather than a counter and cashiers waiting to take orders, walls of glass and steel contain little compartments filled with items from the menu. Finding one of the restaurants is easy, given their ubiquity throughout the Dutch capital of Amsterdam. But FEBO (pronounced fay-boh) is a must-see in the Netherlands. When envisioning culturally authentic food experiences, fast food chains don’t typically come to mind. The gleaming FEBO automatiek dispenses burgers, fries, and croquettes.
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