The Automat (2021) on Netflix
TV-PG20211h 19mDocumentaryHistory
For a nickel, Horn & Hardart served meals from vending machines in Philadelphia and New York City. Former customers recall the coffee and the communal tables.
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- Netflix4.4/5
- IMDb7.8/101,928 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes98%
Trailer
Plot summary
Joseph Horn and Frank Hardart started their company in 1888, and it grew into the chain that ran the earliest automat restaurants, in Philadelphia and New York City. A customer put a nickel in the machine and took a plate of food out, then carried the plate to a communal table. The automats served as an inspiration for Starbucks. People who ate there describe the food, the coffee and the tables where generations of Americans took their meals. The documentary gathers the accounts of former customers and follows the company across a hundred years, as the way the country ate changed.
Cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about The Automat (2021)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- Director Lisa Hurwitz was inspired to make the documentary by her love of eating in her school cafeteria day after day during her college days.
