Gothamist: It's Automat-ic!

java_bucks

Sun, 03 Sep 2006 00:42:40 -0500

Check out my review of the book, The Automat: The History, Recipes, and Allure of Horn & Hardart's Masterpiece by Lorraine Diehl. It'll give you an idea how people really depended on the Automat for their everyday meals.

Lord Jezo

Tue, 29 Aug 2006 18:37:42 -0500

Hey, it's me again. For a complete run down on the whole menu, at least what they had to offer last night at the event.. Read and see it all here MUCH more exciting than all those boring news paper articles that are just a bunch of text. We bring you pictures! Okay, enough self whoring. Bamn! has a great selection of things to try and I plan on going back there with friends. The Spam Musubi is to die for. *drool* and be sure to try the truffle sauce if you get the fries.

foodfan

Tue, 29 Aug 2006 17:52:22 -0500

You are so wrong. The food at the Automat was great. LIttle pots of baked beans topped wtih bacon; wonderul cherry pie; the best sugar cookies I've ever had. I, too, went to the opening of Bamn and thought it was adorable. I tasted only one thing, a roast-pork bun. It was good but surely not as good as good old Horn & Hardart.

Lord Jezo

Tue, 29 Aug 2006 15:29:43 -0500

I was at the opening party last night and put up a bunch of pictures of the event. You can see them here Tonight I will be writing up a review on all of the food as I tried everything on the "menu" during the event. Most of it is good, some is really unique, and a few are stinkers. I'd go back, it's in a great location for what it's trying to do and the pink REALLY stands out from what's around it.

kath

Tue, 29 Aug 2006 10:51:06 -0500

Bring back Horn and Hardart's!

Illtron

Tue, 29 Aug 2006 09:06:04 -0500

I'd like to check this place out, but I have a feeling that if I'm around the corner from Paul's burgers, I might as well just eat at Paul's.

and they still make a profit

Mon, 28 Aug 2006 18:41:49 -0500

Throwing away food is nothing new. Mcdonald's has had the same policy for about 50 years.

hhardart

Mon, 28 Aug 2006 17:47:34 -0500

yeah and cr it's not a new concept. automats have been a ny staple up until horn n hardart closed in 1985. the 15 minute rule is nonsense. this place is scheduled to be open 24 hours. don't believe it.

yeah

Mon, 28 Aug 2006 17:24:19 -0500

the whole food wasting thing got to me too. they openly said they would "throw anything out over 15 minutes old." BUT... 1. it is a gigantic waste and people will eventually complain 2. realistically, i don't believe they really will as it would make budgeting next to impossible and how could they make any money doing it that way 3. why would you pay $2-3 for a mini burger when you can get a regular sized one for almost the same price at a fast food place 4. how is a grilled cheese not gonna get soggy and cold if it's sitting in a box for 15 min? i want to like this concept, but i just don't.

CR

Mon, 28 Aug 2006 16:59:44 -0500

The whole concept of this place shows little-to-no original thought so what do you expect from their website?

natis

Mon, 28 Aug 2006 16:27:18 -0500

UX = User eXperience. The flash movie keeps repeating, not letting the user know when it's almost safe to start using the site... as if there might be something the user should be waiting for. But no, it's set on rinse/repeat. The upper logo should be optimized as a gif rather than a jpg and the design tries to scream "Hey, we're Web 2.0" without really knowing what the buzzword means. It's taken a concept and tried to turn it solely in to a visual design. That can work time to time, but not here. And yeah, the iPod ad style instructions shows little-to-no original thought.

areacode212

Mon, 28 Aug 2006 16:15:03 -0500

What is UX? Anyway, I agree about the site. A Flash animation of hamburgers, donuts and water bottles isn't exactly enticing me to hop on a train and head for St. Marks Place. But I may go inside to look at the automat if I'm ever in the neighborhood.

brooklynbee

Mon, 28 Aug 2006 15:05:56 -0500

It's kind of a neat idea... although there's no seating. I guess if you wanted to eat in the park, or lived nearby and wanted to take your food home you could go there. But eating on the street... how gauche.

Gristléd Bünching

Mon, 28 Aug 2006 14:48:02 -0500

What if you don't have an ipod?

Beanbag Amerika

Mon, 28 Aug 2006 14:41:27 -0500

I saw the story about this on NY1 yesterday. The thing that concerns me, is that in order to keep the food "fresh", anything that sits in its little drawer for 15 minutes will be thrown out. That's a potential of a huge waste of food.

James Frey

Mon, 28 Aug 2006 14:39:43 -0500

It looks like the guy in Figure 3 is cleaning his ears. Yummy.

chris26

Mon, 28 Aug 2006 14:21:48 -0500

Haha. I agree w/ natis. branding involves a silhouette of a chubby guy w/ a backwards baseball cap... move along.. nothing to see here.

chris26

Mon, 28 Aug 2006 14:18:47 -0500

A shop full of vending machines?!? Microwavable burgers in plastc wrap that you got form the snack room in the Uni Library... Sometimes there's an apple... sometimes there's yogurt. If you want cheap eats goto Yakitori Taisho on the same block.

natis

Mon, 28 Aug 2006 14:15:58 -0500

The site needs to be redone. Terrible branding, bad HTML, and an even worse UX.