The Automat

For 90 years, you put nickels in slots and got fresh-cooked food. At their peak, Horn & Hardart Automats fed 800,000 people daily—and became gathering places where all social classes shared communal tables.

Through interviews with Mel Brooks, Carl Reiner, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and Colin Powell, alongside family members and workers, the film captures what these restaurants meant. Archival footage reveals how Automats created spaces where single women felt safe eating alone, no racial barriers existed, and strangers became friends. During the Depression, they provided quality food at bargain prices when people needed it most.

A wistful look at a vanished era and what we've lost: communal dining, worker dignity, and gathering places that welcomed everyone equally.