Gray's Papaya

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Gray's Papaya is a hot dog restaurant with four locations on the West Side of Manhattan, open 24 hours a day year-round. The four locations of Gray's Papaya in Manhattan are: 539 Eighth Avenue at 37th Street, 402 Sixth Avenue at 8th Street, 2090 Broadway at 72nd Street. Somewhere between a street vendor and a fast food restaurant, Gray's Papaya is famous for its very inexpensive, high-quality hot dogs. The "papaya" in the name refers to the fruit drinks sold at the establishment, which include orange, grape, piña colada, coconut champagne (non-alcoholic), and banana daiquiri (non-alcoholic) in addition to papaya.

Contents 1 History 2 Popular culture 2.1 Incidental appearances 3 References

[edit] History

The chain was founded by a former partner of Papaya King in 1973.^[1]

In the August 1, 2006 issue of Time Out New York, Gray's Papaya's hot dog was ranked number one over its competitors Papaya King and Papaya Dog.^[2]

On March 3, 2008, The New York Times reported that Gray's Papaya had endorsed Democratic candidate Barack Obama in his campaign for the 2008 U.S. Presidential Election.^[3]

Anthony Bourdain featured Gray's Papaya on his show in the Travel Channel called No Reservations.

[edit] Popular culture

The cultural popularity of Gray's Papaya has exceeded its competitors, including its original predecessor, Papaya King:

In the 1988 film Crossing Delancey, Izzy (Amy Irving) has her "birthday dinner"—a Gray's hot dog—in the restaurant, complete with a street singer belting out "Some Enchanted Evening". Michael J. Fox and Gabrielle Anwar enjoy Gray's Papaya hot dogs while chatting about the piano player on the street corner from the window of the restaurant in 1993's For Love or Money. Matthew Perry's character in the 1997 movie Fools Rush In makes mention of his preference for Gray's Papaya hot dogs, and his wife special-orders them to Nevada. Gray's Papaya is also one of many late-night food destinations of several characters in the 2008 romantic comedy film Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist.

Gray's Papaya appeared in Sex and the City in the 2002 episode "Plus One is the Loneliest Number."^[4] In the episode "The Limo" of the sitcom How I Met Your Mother, Ted takes Robin to Gray's Papaya to ease her hunger on New Year's Eve. Gray's Papaya hot dogs are referenced at the beginning of an episode of Everwood titled "All the Lonely People"; they are referred to by main character Ephram as the best in the country.^[5]

80's/90's New York hardcore/punk band Bugout Society has a song called "Bum Rush at Gray's Papaya" which recalls a fantasy about having one's hot dogs stolen by homeless people hanging around the restaurant.

In the book series Fearless, main character Gaia Moore has a fetish for the hot dogs of Gray's Papaya. In William Gibson's 2007 novel, Spook Country, a whole chapter (#26) is dedicated to (and entitled after) Gray's Papaya, namely the one on 8^th Avenue; the Recession Special is also mentioned as the meal of the characters. It was also mentioned by Kramer in a Seinfeld episode.

[edit] Incidental appearances

The branch at West 72nd Street and Broadway is featured in several films (partially due to its prime location):

• the Baseball Furies sequence of 1979's The Warriors.
• behind Bruce Willis and Samuel L. Jackson prior to the subway sequence in the 1995 movie Die Hard with a Vengeance.
• the 1998 Tom Hanks–Meg Ryan movie You've Got Mail.^[6]
• the 2001 Chris Rock film Down to Earth.
• Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist (2008)

[edit] References