automats
Self-serve vending eateries
Automats were coin-operated self-service restaurants, most popular in American cities from the early to mid-twentieth century.
Patrons inserted coins into slots beside small glass compartments to access prepared foods like sandwiches, pie, and coffee.
The Horn & Hardart chain made automats iconic in New York and Philadelphia.
The term also applies more broadly to any vending machine or automated food-dispensing device.
The automat offered a quick, cheap lunch for office workers.
Activated by inserted currency
- self-serviceCustomer performs the task
- dispenseGive out in portions
- compartmentEnclosed subdivision of space
- glass-doorTransparent panel entry
nickel · quarter · slot · mechanism · turnstile · window · selection · freshness
Self-service dining facility
- eateryCasual dining establishment
- luncheonetteSmall informal eatery
- buffetSelf-service meal display
- counterFlat service surface
patron · meal · dish · sandwich · pie · coffee · macaroni · casserole
Coin-fed entertainment machine
- dinerCasual American eatery
- bygoneOf earlier times
- yesteryearTime not long past
- retroEvoking recent past
sepia · reminisce · wistful · heritage · Americana · midcentury · Manhattan · Philadelphia
No longer in use
- defunctNo longer existing
- closedNot accessible now
- vanishedDisappeared from sight
- demolishedCompletely destroyed a structure
fast-food · McDonald's · competition · preservation · documentary · museum · revival · endangered
coin-operated
Activated by inserted currency
- self-serviceCustomer performs the task
- dispenseGive out in portions
- compartmentEnclosed subdivision of space
glass-door · nickel · quarter · slot · mechanism · turnstile · window · selection · freshness · replenish
cafeteria
Self-service dining facility
- eateryCasual dining establishment
- luncheonetteSmall informal eatery
- buffetSelf-service meal display
counter · patron · meal · dish · sandwich · pie · coffee · macaroni · casserole · dessert
nickelodeon
Coin-fed entertainment machine
- dinerCasual American eatery
- bygoneOf earlier times
- yesteryearTime not long past
retro · sepia · reminisce · wistful · heritage · Americana · midcentury · Manhattan · Philadelphia · chromium
obsolete
No longer in use
demolished · fast-food · McDonald's · competition · preservation · documentary · museum · revival · endangered · forgotten
automatsfine dining
Elegant restaurant experience
butler service · banquet service · bistros · trattorias · brasseries
automatschef's table
Restaurant's kitchen-view seating
tableside service · silver service · omakase · butler service · teppanyaki
- automatic doorsEntrances operating without manual effort
- automatic transmissionSelf-changing vehicle gears
- automatic weaponsSelf-cycling firearms
- automatic pilotSelf-guiding navigation system
- automatic response
- automatic rifleSelf-reloading rapid-fire gun
automatic, automatically, automat, automaticity, automatism, automatics, automatized, automatable