An automat is a fast-food restaurant where food and drink are served through a vending machine, typically without waitstaff. The world's first automat, Quisisana, opened in Berlin, Germany, in 1895.[2][3]
By country
Germany
The first documented automat was Quisisana, which opened in 1895 in Berlin, Germany.[4] In 1904, a similar restaurant opened in what was then Breslau, German Silesia (the city is now Wrocław, Polish Silesia).[5]
Japan
In Japan, in addition to vending machines that sell prepared food, many restaurants also use food ticket machines. This process involves purchasing a meal ticket from a vending machine, which is then presented to a server who prepares and serves the meal.
Kaitenzushi restaurants, which serve sushi on conveyor belts, are also common in Japan.[6]
Rail transport
A form of the automat was used on some passenger trains. The Great Western Railway in the United Kingdom announced plans in December 1945 to introduce an automat on buffet cars.[22] Plans were delayed by impending nationalisation, but an automat was finally introduced on the Cambrian Coast Express in 1962.[23]
In the United States, the Pennsylvania Railroad introduced an automat between New York Penn Station and Washington Union Station in 1954.[24] Southern Pacific Railroad introduced automat buffet cars on the Coast Daylight and Sunset Limited in 1962. Amtrak converted four buffet cars to automats in 1985 for use on the Auto Train.
See also
- Automated convenience store
- Automated restaurant
- Automated retail
- Cafeteria
- Conveyor belt sushi
- FEBO
- Full-line vending
- Virtual restaurant
Further reading
- [26][27][28]
- Automatic restaurants, Der Spiegel
- Meet Me at the Automat By Carolyn Hughes Crowley, Smithsonian
- Before Horn & Hardart: European automats
- The Automat, an east coast oasis
External links
- In Praise of the Automat – slideshow by Life magazine
- Sielaff Automaten Berlin – Max Sielaff, Automat inventor website
- Used and new Automats in the United States
- Doris Day at the Automat in That Touch of Mink (1962)
- Token from Automaten cafe Quisisana, 57 Kärntner street, Vienna, Austria
- Automat Restaurants :: Trade Catalogs and Pamphlets
References
- Bernardo Friese, grandson of Max Sielaff^
- The Return of the Automat Food & Wine, retrieved 2024-01-29^
- Addison Williams. Automat History History Associates Incorporated, 2020-07-23, retrieved 2024-01-29^