Big news! Provided you're old enough to know it had ever left.
What's an automat? For anyone born after 1991 — when the last one in New York closed its doors — the automat was a kind of vending-machine cafeteria.
Inside was a wall of windows: hundreds of little compartments, each with a delicious slice of cherry pie or a tempting beef stew nestled within. You'd pop your quarter in the slot, turn the knob, and — pop! — the window would open, and there would be lunch.
Now, the automat has returned. But returned, like the new "light rail" trolley cars or the new digital cameras, as a high-tech version of itself.