Gray's Papaya
Average user Rating: 85
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New Yorkers aplenty stop in for the cheap hot dogs and tropical drinks. The franks are thin and snappy, slightly grilled and ready fast. Media exposure of Gray's has led to the three locations being somewhat of a tourist draw as well.
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85
Gray's Papaya (New York, NY)
1/7/2009
After having my fill at Papaya King, it was time to try out its closest competitor: Gray's Papaya. Gray's has three locations in Manhattan, with the one on 6th Ave being the original I'm told. The original Gray's Papaya was started by Papaya King partner Nicholas Gray as a copy of the King in 1972.
Gray's Papaya is most well-known for its "Recession Special" [$4.45], consisting of two frankfurters and a drink. The combo was priced at $1.95 throughout most of the 1990's, but increased in cost in 2002 and 2006. In any case, as with Papaya King, Gray's also uses a Sabrett-sourced dog, and thus unsurprisingly, the frankfurter was similar to the King's in flavor, though the casing didn't have as much snap. In terms of cooking, the two places seem to use a similar method, and I didn't notice much difference in the sauerkraut or the mustard toppings. And as with Papaya King, the bun wasn't as grilled as much as I would've liked.
In terms of drinks, Gray's has a similar flavor variety to Papaya King--Orange, Grape, Piña Colada, Coconut Champagne, and Banana Daiquiri--but again, we decided to go with papaya to have a common basis for comparison. The taste was rather similar between the two, but the drink here was much thinner in consistency and not as rich or creamy, but with perhaps a bit more fruit. We preferred the King's.
So in this Papaya battle, I'd have to cede victory to the King, due to its snappier hot dog casing and creamier drink. However, given that there are multiple locations of each restaurant, and further day-to-day variations amongst those, the Papaya *war* is far from over. And given more time and more stomach capacity, I would've liked to have thrown Papaya Dog into the mix as well, or even Nathan's. The issue of who's top dog is still under contention.
Full review with photos:
http://www.kevinea ts.com/2008/12/grays-papaya -new-york-ny.htm
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