Horn & Hardart? Huh?

[jhlurie]

Okay... you know those little useless free regional magazines you get in the mail and throw out without reading? Well just this once I actually opened a copy of "Clipper Magazine: New Jersey Gold Coast".

On page 2 is something bizarre. Weird. Creepy.

An ad for "Horn & Hardart Coffee Co.", Grand Opening at 353 Broad Avenue, Leonia (201-592-1662).

Yes, its the same one. Well probably not... you see I think someone just bought the name. But they say "as good as you remember" (does anyone remember it that way?) "remember the thrill of eating at Horn & Hardart" and talk about having "Horn & Hardart Classics" as well as Grilled Sandwiches, Soup, Baked Goods, Espresso and Smoothies.

Just to prove their sincerity, they have coupons.

I guess I'm really out of the loop because this claims that they have lots of locations--mostly in NJ.

What demographic are they going for? Senior citizens or yuppie-like middle age people? On the website they harp on how they pre-date Starbucks. But wasn't the original H&H a lunchroom? And then later an Automat?

This transition seems to be hinging on the phrase "It was upon the excellence of its coffee that Horn & Hardart was founded" used on their website.

Anyone been? Anyone care?

[Rosie]

jhlurie---What kind of mushrooms did you have this evening? I remember going to H&H in NYC as an infant and getting such a thrill putting a nickel in the slot and getting food. Can you give me the address and phone # and I'll try to see what I can find out.

[jhlurie]

The location listed in the ad: 353 Broad Avenue, Leonia (201) 592-1662.

The whole franchise of pseudo-Horn & Hardart "we're a coffee shop not an automat" locations per their webpage.

Now Open!!!

16th & JFK Blvd., Phila., PA

17th & Arch, Phila., PA

18 West State Street, Doylestown, PA

1601 Sansom Street, Phila., PA

Eagle Plaza, Voorhees, NJ

Consumer Square, Mays Landing, NJ

Eastpoint Plaza, Middletown, NJ

Independence Plaza, Hamilton, NJ

Meadtown Center, Kinnelon, NJ

Liberty Village Outlets, Flemington, NJ

353 Broad Ave., Leonia, NJ

Coming Soon

Trump Marina Hotel & Casino,

Atlantic City, NJ

201 S. State St. Newtown, PA

Swede Square, East Norriton, PA

Washington Center, Sewell, NJ

Chester Commons, Chester, NJ

Town Center, Old Bridge, NJ

54 Main St., Somerville, NJ

No doubt everything costs more than a nickel. And remember... they are NOT automats!

Actually, I myself ate at the Third Avenue and East 42nd Street location of the real McCoy a reasonably large number of times through my childhood. My grandfather was very fond of the place. Then again, he also loved those all-you can eat cafeteria places in Florida.

Also of interest (for fun): http://www.theautomat.com/index2.html

[Peter B Wolf]

Ah, Oh, "Horn & Hardart" - Philly 1957 near Reading Terminal, little glass and brass door, to be flipped down, afer inserting THIRTY CENTS, out came a beautiful "Liverwurst Sandwich". Ah, Oh, THE thing for a new immigrant, who worked for the great sum of Fiftyfour Dollar a week.

[ngatti]

jhlurie---What kind of mushrooms did you have this evening?      I remember going to H&H in NYC as an infant and getting such a thrill putting a nickel in the slot and getting food. Can you give me the address and phone # and I'll try to see what I can find out.

Infant eh. Oh yeah! me too!

Nick

[glenn]

I remember going to H&H in NYC as an infant and getting such a thrill putting a nickel in the slot and getting food.

Yeah yeah yeah, how times have changed since you were at the first automat in NYC in 1911. Those were the days and all that.

This has to be a huge hoax. There's even a website HERE. And they even have tall and grande cpffees. just like someone else we know, though they make a big deal about being original.

Top 5...

Automatic - Go Go's

Big Coin - Beautiful South

Steve's Automat - Plotzkie Philharmonic

A Nickel for a Fish Sandwich - Negativland

Automatic Teller - New Bomb Turks

[kelly]

Do you think they will have "cream cheese on date nut bread " ?

[Rachel Perlow]

Jon - Have you driven by the Leonia location yet? It is only about 10 minutes from where you live.

[ngatti]

Do you think they will have  "cream cheese on date nut bread "  ?

Chock Full O' Nuts

Nick

[glenn]

Chock Full O' Nuts

Made at the Hoboken factory, or so I hear.

[jhlurie]

So "Why is Horn & Hardart the World's Most Famous Brand of Coffee?"

I swear, those are THEIR words, not mine. Go look.

[shugga]

I saw it a few months ago while they were still working on it.

Passed it the other day and it is open now.

Looks like just a coffee shop with muffins etc. I have not stopped

in yet. I will one of these days.

[shugga]

Stopped at the Horn & Hardart Coffee Co. on Broad Avenue in Leonia today on my way home.

I had a cappuccino to go. It was good. I have had better and have had much worse.

They have about 8 small tables and serve pastries, muffins, sandwiches, soup, salads, smoothies and the Horn & Hardart

Classics ( Mac & Cheese, Rice Pudding, Pearl Tapioca, Creamed Spinach, & Barbecue Beans)

They have PB&J and Grilled Cheese sandwiches for the kids.

Nice clean place, might be ok for a quick lunch.

[finker99]

My wife works right across the street from this place and said it was ok but pricey $6 grill cheese sandwich.

hmmmm

[shugga]

Rode past this place the other day and saw a new name on the place. I guess Horn & Hardard didn't make it!

[markk]

Do you think they will have "cream cheese on date nut bread " ?

I do believe that was Chock Full of Nuts, which has also reappeared in Hoboken.

(Nedicks is supposed to be back too - does anybody know of any locations?)

[Rich Pawlak]

Lemme clear the air about this Horn & Hardart stuff, revived because of a new post.

H&H was my account about 2 yrs ago now, when I worked as PR Director for their ad agency. For years after the demise of the automats ( I ate at the last Philly one when I was in college in the 70s), Arnold Katz purchased the recipes and continued to make some of the classic dishes as frozen take-out items, and fresh-served take-out items for delis and supermarkets, primarily in the Philadelphia area. Some of you will remember the many H&H retail stores that used to dot the Philly area, in strip malls and train stations, as late as the 80s. Well, early in 2000 Katz and his son, Rob, decided to revive the name and many of the dishes and coffee with coffee bar/cafes bearing the H&H name, and began franchising as such, starting, of course, in Center City Philadelphia, and soon selling stores in the suburbs and New Jersey. That's when I came aboard, and began to work on their account.

Over the last year or so, the elder Katz passed away, and there have been many, many, somewhat ugly franchisee disputes, among other things, and I have left the agency who represented them, and the agency dropped them as a client, mostly due to a lot of past-due bills. There have been several locations that have closed, or been changed into other kinds of coffee houses. I can remember doing the PR work for Leonia and the Trump casino location, as well as a few of the Philly and NJ stores. I cant even imagine what some of the franchisee disputes have been about, but I'm not surprised by the collapse of some of these places.

I will say this: the macaroni and cheese is as good as I remember from college, as are the baked beans, creamed spinach, tapioca pudding and the smooth, robust coffee. Thank God they remained faithful to the old recipes at the corporate kitchen. I imagine that the H&H website should have an accurate listing of current locations. They had plans for a big expansion into suburban New York, but I have to wonder how that may be coming along.

[viejo majadero]

The one listed as Meadtown Shopping Center, Kinnelon came and went within a year. No one I know that went there said they would go back.

The location is now a Falls View hotdog joint.

Viejo