Papaya King

Papaya King is a chain of fast-food take-out restaurants in New York City. The original "Papaya King" was opened in 1931 on the corner of 86th St. and Third Ave. on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. [http://www.papayaking.com/html/history.htm] 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. [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D0CE2DB1331F932A1575BC0A967958260] It now also serves crispy Cajun curly fries with or without cheese.

Over the years, the chain has had numerous competitors, including (Gray's Papaya and Papaya Dog) open around the city.

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 3rd Avenue. [http://www.papayaking.com/html/Secondary/nrn.htm] During the 1970s, the Pouloses attempted to franchise the restaurant, and one franchise briefly opened up in midtown before closing shortly. A company-owned store opened in the 1980s at 59th Street and Third Avenue, and in 2001, another company-owned store opened in Philadelphia, this time on the campus of the University of Pennsylvania at 40th and Locust Streets. There apparently had been a store in Upper Darby, PA in the 1930s as well. The Philadelphia store closed in 2004. [http://www.roadfood.com/Forums/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=17722] In 1976, Nathan's 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 [http://www.nypost.com/seven/03222007/news/regionalnews/rats_shut_down_fabled_dog_joint_regionalnews_carl_campanile.htm] . They reopened six days later.

Papaya King recently opened another store in Clifton, New Jersey, its only active store not in New York City. [http://www.papayaking.com/html/locations.htm]

Papaya King also now has a stand at JFK International Airport - Terminal 6 (JetBlue) Queens N.Y.

Papaya King in Popular Culture

*In the "Seinfeld" episode "The Movie", Kramer leaves the 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.

External links

* [http://www.papayaking.com The Official Papaya King website]