Ever since I first saw Gray's Papaya in the motion picture "Fool's Rush In", I wanted to try their hot dogs. While I was in New York recently, I got the chance to do just that.
Now, New York hot dogs are different from Chicago style dogs in that they are usually grilled on a metal grill, and they don't offer all the toppings that you get with a Chicago dog. They're much smaller than most Chicago hot dogs, as well.
The first Gray's Papaya began in 1973 when Nicholas Gray, a Wall Street stockbroker, opened his first location at 72nd St. and Broadway (see map). Over the years, he opened a second location in Midtown at 37th St. and Eighth Ave. (see map); and another location in Greenwich Village at 8th St. and Sixth Ave. (see map). Gray's Papaya is open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. It's a popular late night place and they also serve some breakfast items, as well.
Gray's Papaya is a either viewed as a clone or a rip-off of Papaya King, a New York hot dog institution that opened in 1932. Where the Papaya comes into play in the names of the two is from the fruit drinks they sell in addition to the hot dogs, or as Nicholas Gray calls 'em, "frankfurters".
Gray's Papaya and Papaya King have sprouted a number of other similar "Papaya" hot dog places in New York, including Mike's Papaya, Papaya Dog, and Frank's Papaya. But from what I heard from talking to some union guys working at the convention center during set up, plus from what I've read, Gray's Papaya had the best hot dogs in the city.
The AES Convention had finished and we broke down our displays and were waiting for the shipping crates that hold our products to show up. I decided to take off to go to Gray's Papaya which was about a 10 minute walk from the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center.
The area around the Midtown location of Gray's Papaya is a little dicey, a few homeless people walking about, but I felt safe enough. It was a nice evening for the walk between the convention center and Gray's, so I didn't care much about the street scene.
I went in and and the place was bustling for about 5:45 in the evening. I took a look at the rather slim menu on the wall. There were "frankfurters" and that was about it. They had a "Recession Special" that consisted of two hot dogs and a small drink for $3.50. For years, the Recession Special was $2.75, but Gray's was forced to raise it to $3.50 last year. Their hot dogs were $.95 each before they had to go up to $1.25 at the same time.
OK, what the hell. I'll take the Recession Special and a small Papaya drink. I may as well live like the New Yorkers. I got mine with mustard and onions. With no place to sit in the colorful restaurant, I ate the dogs standing up at a counter by the window.
I have to say the Gray's Papaya hot dogs were very similar in taste and texture to George's Hot Dog Shoppe in Sioux City, IA. And just like George's, Gray's cooks the hot dogs on a metal grill, rolling them manually to cook evenly. They had a good flavor with a little "snap" when I bit into them. Eating them with the fruity Papaya drink was interesting, it was more like drinking a very sweet pineapple juice. Can't say I really liked the drink all that much, though.
As I said before, the Gray's Papaya dogs weren't large, which was a perfect snack. We were going to eat New York pizza after we got everything crated up back at the convention center and we figured that would be well after 9 p.m.
OK, Gray's Papaya was good, not great. I'll probably go back again, but I would like to try Papaya King, as well, to see if Gray's claim that his frankfurters are the best in town really holds up.
(Update - I found out on a trip to New York in the fall of 2011 that this particular Gray's Papaya location is now closed. The other two Gray's Papaya locations - the one at 6th Ave. and 8th St. in lower Manhattan; and the one on the Upper West Side at Broadway and 72nd St. - are still open.)
Comments