Monday, November 13, 2006

Early Obituary: Bamn!

On St. Mark's Place in the East Village, a new take on the self-serve fast-food joint has been getting a great deal of media attention not only in New York, but nationally. Calling itself Bamn!, this new 'eatery' bills itself as a 25-hour automat. Basically, you can plop in $2 in quarters, push a white button and out pops a teriyaki burger.

For a while, it became a good place to grab a quick meal on the go; it's certainly unique in this day and age.

It was a concept that quickly lost flavor, though, in my mind. Same selection day in and day out. Same class of tourist-y people gawking at the concept. And despite the whole "25 hours a day" hook, it remains suspiciously unopen when I walk to the subway each morning. I'd like to think Bamn! will be around for the long run, but the owners need to change the fare up a bit.

But, each time I pass it, it's feeling more and more like a novelty act, something that will soon disappear from the East Village landscape.

[Photo by Tina Fineberg of the Associated Press]

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I had a grilled cheese sandwich from there and managed not to get poisoned. So I think the place has a future. But it'll be mostly at night, not in the mornings.