Before there was McDonald's, there was the Automat.

Now a fading memory, the Horn & Hardart Automat in its heyday served up lamb stew and pie to millions of New Yorkers who dropped a coin into a slot and opened a small glass door to fetch their food.

Three young entrepreneurs are hoping to revive the tradition _ with a few modern twists _ when they open Bamn! Automat in the East Village this week.

"What's old is new again," said Robert Kwak, 30, co-founder of the new Automat. "We want to give the younger generation the experience."

According to Kwak and partners David Leong and Nobu Nguyen, the name is meant to suggest speed _ bam! put your money in; bam! grab your snack _ and the idea that the food is damn good.

Less than a restaurant but more than a wall of vending machines, Bamn! is holding a kickoff party Monday and opening to the public Tuesday with a menu featuring teriyaki chicken sliders, pizza dumplings and mac-and-cheese pockets.

Wedged between Japanese restaurants and tattoo parlors, the 600-square-foot (54-square-meter) Bamn! comprises a well-equipped kitchen and a tiny storefront decked out in cotton-candy pink neon.

The technology is similar to the Horn & Hardart Automats, with columns of coin-operated window boxes.

While the Automats had communal tables and cafeteria-style food, Bamn! will offer no seating and will sell small bites of portable items, many of them fried, like chicken nuggets and mozzarella sticks. French fries and soft-serve ice cream will be served by a human and not the machine. Most items on the menu cost less than $3 (euro2.35).

"There was a reason why the Horn and Hardart Automat eventually failed," said Leong, 30. "They were serving big meals. They weren't adjusting to customers' preferences. ... We wanted to take the best aspects, the great things about it, keep it here and then also make it a viable business."

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