The Edison Automat — Restaurant in Edison

First off let me say my family and I LOVED the Automat.

We typically would frequent the Automat about 2 to 3 times a month for the past 2 to 3 years and would always bring our close friends. It was always an awesome experience.

However, over the past year a lot of what we loved about it has changed, and unfortunately, not for the better.

The food and coffee is still on point most of the time, but we’ve seen a noticeable reduction in portion sizes, specifically with sides such as French fries and Home fries. One of the things we loved about the Automat was you always felt like you were getting an awesome price to portion ratio, and extra side portions were often generous. However, seeing a reduction in portions, especially with extra sides that you’re paying extra for is disappointing.

We’ve also seen a big change in the staff. We use to know all the staff by name, and understandably turn over happens at restaurants, but there seems to be less staff working at a given time expected cover the same amount of tables. The newer staff are friendly at times, but now they seem to be more in a rush, where as before there used to be time to talk with them and really get to know them.

Lastly the atmosphere had changed a lot. This is not something that we alone have noticed. Many of our close friends who would frequent the Automat often have noticed this as well. I don’t know if there has been a manager or owner change, but in the past, the Automat always felt like a friendly laid back cafe that happened to be a restaurant with amazing food. Now that cafe feel seems to have disappeared and it feels a bit stricter and uptight.

Before you never felt rushed in and out. However the last time we went went to brunch with our friend, during a non busy time, we were getting glances from the servers along with who we think was the manager. This was after we payed our check and were just enjoying our coffees after finishing our food. Again this wasn’t during a busy time as we would completely understand if there was a lot of people waiting for a table.

In sum, we love the Automat. The food is still good. But after seeing some of the changes that have been happening this past year, that once instinctive desire to say “Hey let’s hit up the Automat for brunch today!” has lessened, and we don’t recommend it to our friends as much as we used to.

We would love to see some of that Automat feel return, as we are locals, and as stated before this was a spot we went to almost...

The Edison Automat.

I admit that I was drawn in by the name, and visions of a new spin on the Automat concept of old. Sadly, you won’t find post-office boxes of food dispensers at this cafe, situated in the space of the Edison landmark, Sunnyside Deli.

Instead, they have a lovely selection of coffee, pastries, and breakfast/lunch food prepared to order. We had the buffalo chicken salad sandwich, the Mac Cadillac (a veggie burger) and the AB Club sandwich on marble rye.

Decor does feature prints of Thomas Edison and some of his inventions, including the Automat he designed. It manages to be cozy without feeling kitsch, which appealed to me greatly!

All of the sandwiches were generous in portion size and extremely tasty. I particularly enjoyed the buffalo chicken salad - it definitely gave you the experience of buffalo wings. Similarly, the Avacado Bacon club was both massive and delicious - crispy but not incinerated bacon, and lovely ripe avocado that managed not to be mush.

My kids and I all enjoyed the gluten-free Snickerdoodle cookies. They were crispy and had a light almond finish.

No review would be complete without some complaints, so here are mine, few tho they be:

The sandwiches all had iceberg lettuce on them. As my readers know, I loathe iceberg lettuce. And in a more objective sense, it’s not really consistent with the upscale cafe feel of the place. I would recommend a nice butter lettuce, romaine, or arugula for some pop.

It was a bit loud in the cafe due to the hardwood floors. Matt, the owner, said they were working on their acoustic treatment.

But those minor tweaks aside, I look forward to coming back for lunch or brunch with my family and enjoying the food and ambiance.

I wish the Edison Automat all the best!

For more restaurant reviews and recipes, check out my Tumblr called HiHeat....

Pulled into the parking lot at 1030 on a Sunday morning questioning if they were closed - barely 10 cars in the lot. This place is always packed. My daughter and I enter and notice the switch of the piano vs the lounge chairs. New faces. We had a pick of any table to sit at. Dread set in as I see all new, albeit cold faces behind the coffee bar. No one greeted us. Not even a hello. The waiter approached us and asked “what’s your order?” My response “good morning to you too”. I wanted to walk out but chose to give it a try. Plus, everywhere else would be at least an hour wait. Bottom line, food is not the same. My omelette was undercooked and runny. The cloud pancakes were not “clouding”. Meaning, they were unevenly shaped and flat. Tasted the same but not appealing to the eye. Scrambled eggs were odd tasting. Surprisingly, despite having Indian owners, pork bacon was still on the menu. Sadly though, corners were cut as it was a poor quality compared to what prior owners supplied. My chai tea was luke warm upon delivery. Waiter never checked to see if we were ok or needed something else. I looked around while we waited and noticed the subtle physical changes. But the atmosphere was cold and unlively. Just like the staff. Not a jab but an honest observation. The woman who brought food out from the back looked miserable. The woman who appeared to be the manager was cold and aloof. Never once engaging with the customers. My daughter and I have been coming here since 2018 for good food and lively ambience with a friendly staff who made you feel welcomed. I’ll miss seeing Matt’s dad running around checking on everyone, tidying things etc. sigh. No, I...