SERVALL went up against the mighty Horn and Hardart, if I'm reading "automatic service" correctly. Or it meant you could make out your order by checking off boxes and dropping it in a box near the kitchen. I've no idea. But if you didn't want the automatic route, you could go with the table service option, to say nothing of the Fountain Service Bar - aka the lunch counter.

I'm sure they did grand business: the Pershing Square Building was right across the street from Grand Central Station.

It's also a beautiful building, one of my favorites in a city of similar delights.