Papaya King
Papaya King is a chain of fast food take-out restaurants based in New York City.
The original Papaya King was opened in 1932 on the corner of 86th St. and Third Ave. on the Upper East Side of Manhattan.[1] Although the restaurant originally only served drinks made from fresh tropical fruits, it soon expanded to serving hot dogs due to the influence of its neighborhood, which at the time was populated predominantly by German-American immigrants.[2] It now also serves crispy Cajun curly fries with or without cheese.
Other Papaya King locations include 121 W. 125th St., and in Clifton, New Jersey. A Papaya King opened January 2009 in Portland, Maine.[3][4] (A location at 14th St. and 7th Ave. closed in 2009.) In May 2011, Papaya King opened a restaurant in Los Angeles.[5]
Papaya King was founded and run for many years by the late Gus Poulos, and later on his son Peter, who first managed their second store (with seating) at 87th Street and Third Avenue.[6] In the 1930s, there was also a store in Upper Darby, Pennsylvania. During the 1970s, the Pouloses attempted to franchise the restaurant, and one franchise briefly opened in midtown. A company-owned store opened (and closed) in the 1980s at 59th Street and Third Avenue. In 2001, another company-owned store opened in Philadelphia, this time on the campus of the University of Pennsylvania at 40th and Locust Streets; it closed in 2004.[7] In 2006, another attempted franchise opened briefly in the food court at Roosevelt Field Mall on Long Island, in Garden City, New York.
Over the years, the chain has had numerous competitors, including Gray's Papaya and Papaya Dog, open around the city. In 1976, Nathan's Famous set up shop next door to Papaya King, and a "hot dog war" ensued. Nathan's cut the price of its hot dogs to 35 cents (normal was 50 cents), while Papaya King sold its hotdogs for a quarter. Six months later, Nathan's capitulated and left the block.
On March 22, 2007, the E. 86th St. location of Papaya King was shut down after the news program Inside Edition aired a video of rats inside the building.[8] They reopened six days later.
[edit] In popular culture
- In the Seinfeld episode "The Movie", Kramer leaves the movie ticket line, where he was saving spots for Jerry, Elaine, and George, to get a hot dog from Papaya King.
- In the How I Met Your Mother episode "I Heart NJ," Ted cites Papaya King as one of the great things about New York (having patronized Gray's Papaya earlier in the series).
- In the 1988 film Crossing Delancey, Izzy goes to Papaya King for her birthday dinner.[9]
- In the 1997 Hugo Award-nominated novella Loose Ends by Paul Levinson, time traveler Jeff Harris buys two papaya drinks from Papaya King, and says the drink is "delicious."
- Jonathan Lethem's novels Motherless Brooklyn and Chronic City both mention hot dogs from "Papaya Czar"; in the latter, this is in its actual location on 86th Street and 3rd Avenue.
- In the film Down to Earth, Chris Rock gets laid out in a Papaya King near Columbus Circle.
- In the film The Back-up Plan, Zoe and Stan go to Papaya King. She claims that they are good and fast.
[edit] References
- ^ [1][dead link]
- ^ Kleiman, Dena (August 21, 1991). "New York Puts Its Papaya Where Its Hot Dogs Are". The New York Times. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D0CE2DB1331F932A1575BC0A967958260. Retrieved April 30, 2011.
- ^ "papayakingme.com". papayakingme.com. http://www.papayakingme.com/. Retrieved April 30, 2011.
- ^ [2][dead link]
- ^ Nagourney, Adam (May 31, 2011). "New York's Papaya King Makes Its Hollywood Debut". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/01/us/01papayaking.html?hp.
- ^ [3][dead link]
- ^ [4]
- ^ Campanile, Carl (March 22, 2007). "RATS SHUT DOWN FABLED 'DOG JOINT". New York Post. http://www.nypost.com/seven/03222007/news/regionalnews/rats_shut_down_fabled_dog_joint_regionalnews_carl_campanile.htm.
- ^ "Crossing Delancey: Songs for Izzy's Birthday (HD)". YouTube. December 18, 2008. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jF6gr3tdbmM. Retrieved April 30, 2011.
[edit] External links
