Gray's Papaya
Encyclopedia
Hot dog
A hot dog is a sausage served in a sliced bun. It is very often garnished with mustard, ketchup, onions, mayonnaise, relish and/or sauerkraut.-History:...
restaurant with two locations on the West Side
West Side (Manhattan)
The West Side of Manhattan refers to the side of Manhattan Island which abuts the Hudson River and faces New Jersey. Fifth Avenue, Central Park, and lower Broadway separate it from the East Side. The major neighborhoods on the West Side are West Harlem, Morningside Heights, Manhattan Valley, Upper...
of Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
, open 24 hours a day year-round. The two locations of Gray's Papaya in Manhattan are:
- 402 Sixth AvenueSixth Avenue (Manhattan)Sixth Avenue – officially Avenue of the Americas, although this name is seldom used by New Yorkers – is a major thoroughfare in New York City's borough of Manhattan, on which traffic runs northbound, or "uptown"...
at 8th Street and - 2090 BroadwayBroadway (New York City)Broadway is a prominent avenue in New York City, United States, which runs through the full length of the borough of Manhattan and continues northward through the Bronx borough before terminating in Westchester County, New York. It is the oldest north–south main thoroughfare in the city, dating to...
at 72nd Street72nd Street (Manhattan)72nd Street is one of the major bi-directional crosstown streets in the New York City borough of Manhattan. Where the west end of 72nd Street curves into the south end of Riverside Drive, the memorial to Eleanor Roosevelt stands in Riverside Park. At this end of the street is the landmarked...
.
(The 539 Eighth Avenue
Eighth Avenue (Manhattan)
Eighth Avenue is a north-south avenue on the West Side of Manhattan in New York City, carrying northbound traffic. Eighth Avenue begins in the West Village neighborhood at Abingdon Square and runs north for 44 blocks through Chelsea, the Garment District, Hell's Kitchen's east end, Midtown and the...
at 37th Street location is no longer in operation.) Gray's Papaya is famous for its inexpensive, high-quality hot dogs. The "papaya
Papaya
The papaya , papaw, or pawpaw is the fruit of the plant Carica papaya, the sole species in the genus Carica of the plant family Caricaceae...
" in the name refers to the papaya fruit drink sold at the establishment. They also sell orange, grape, piña colada
Piña Colada
The piña colada is a sweet, rum-based cocktail made with rum, cream of coconut, and pineapple juice, usually served either blended or shaken with ice. It may be garnished with a pineapple wedge or a maraschino cherry or both...
, coconut champagne (non-alcoholic), and banana daiquiri (non-alcoholic) fruit drinks.
History
The chain was founded by a former partner of Papaya KingPapaya 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...
in 1973.
In the June 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.
On March 3, 2008, The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
reported that Gray's Papaya had endorsed Democratic candidate Barack Obama
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
in his campaign for the 2008 U.S. Presidential Election.
Anthony Bourdain featured Gray's Papaya on his Travel Channel show No Reservations.
In popular culture
Michael J. FoxMichael J. Fox
Michael J. Fox, OC is a Canadian American actor, author, producer, activist and voice-over artist. With a film and television career spanning from the late 1970s, Fox's roles have included Marty McFly from the Back to the Future trilogy ; Alex P...
and Gabrielle Anwar
Gabrielle Anwar
Gabrielle Anwar is an English actress. She is known for her role as Margaret Tudor on The Tudors, for dancing the tango with Al Pacino in Scent of a Woman and for her current role as Fiona Glenanne on USA's Burn Notice.- Early life :...
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
Matthew Perry (actor)
Matthew Langford Perry is a Canadian-American actor and comedian, best known for his Emmy-nominated role as Chandler Bing on the popular, long-running NBC television sitcom Friends...
'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
Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist
Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist is a 2008 romantic comedy film directed by Peter Sollett and starring Michael Cera and Kat Dennings. Written by Lorene Scafaria and based on the novel of the same name by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan, the story tells of teenagers Nick and Norah , who meet when...
. Gray's Papaya also features in the 1998 romantic comedy film You've Got Mail
You've Got Mail
You've Got Mail is a 1998 American romantic comedy film directed by Nora Ephron, starring Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan. It was written by Nora and Delia Ephron based on the play Parfumerie by Miklós László. The film is about two letter-writing lovers who are completely unaware that their sweetheart is in...
.
Gray's Papaya appeared in Sex and the City
Sex and the City
Sex and the City is an American television comedy-drama series created by Darren Star and produced by HBO. Broadcast from 1998 until 2004, the original run of the show had a total of ninety-four episodes...
in the 2002 episode "Plus One is the Loneliest Number." In the episode "The Limo" of the sitcom How I Met Your Mother
How I Met Your Mother
How I Met Your Mother is an American sitcom that premiered on CBS on September 19, 2005, created by Craig Thomas and Carter Bays.As a framing device, the main character, Ted Mosby with narration by Bob Saget, in the year 2030 recounts to his son and daughter the events that led to his meeting...
, Ted takes Robin to Gray's Papaya to ease her hunger on New Year's Eve; in the episode "Desperation Day
Desperation Day
"Desperation Day" is the sixteenth episode of the sixth season of the CBS sitcom How I Met Your Mother and the 128th episode overall. It aired on February 14, 2011.-Plot:...
", two of Robin's colleagues leave McLarens because some guys offer them hot dogs at Gray's Papaya. Gray's Papaya hot dogs are referenced at the beginning of an episode of Everwood
Everwood
Everwood is an American drama television series that initially aired in the United States on The WB. The series is set in the fictional small town of Everwood, Colorado, and was filmed in Ogden, South Salt Lake, and Draper, Utah, except the series pilot which was filmed in Canmore, Alberta,...
titled "All the Lonely People"; they are referred to by main character Ephram as the best in the country.
The 1980s/1990s New York hardcore
New York hardcore
New York hardcore refers to hardcore punk and metalcore music created in New York City and to the subculture associated with that music. New York hardcore grew out of the hardcore scene established in Washington, D.C., by bands such as Bad Brains and Minor Threat. Hardcore '81 is an album by the...
/punk
Punk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
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 Hardy Boys' Pushed, the brothers, while in New York for the first time since they were little kids, mention that they've "been thinking about those Gray's Papaya hot dogs since we got here". Later in the book, it's mentioned that they were "stuffed with Gray's Papaya hot dogs".
In the book series Fearless
Fearless (book series)
Fearless is a series of teen novels written by Francine Pascal, creator of the Sweet Valley High franchise. The series deals with many different themes, such as violence, romance, philosophy and solitude...
, main character Gaia Moore has a fetish for the hot dogs of Gray's Papaya. In William Gibson
William Gibson
William Gibson is an American-Canadian science fiction author.William Gibson may also refer to:-Association football:*Will Gibson , Scottish footballer...
's 2007 novel Spook Country
Spook Country
Spook Country is a 2007 novel by speculative fiction author William Gibson. A political thriller set in contemporary North America, it followed on from the author's previous novel, Pattern Recognition , and was succeeded in 2010 by Zero History, which featured much of its core cast of characters...
, chapter 26 is dedicated to (and titled after) the Gray's Papaya, on 8th Avenue; the Recession Special is also mentioned as a meal of the characters'.
Anthony Bourdain
Anthony Bourdain
Anthony Michael "Tony" Bourdain is an American chef, author and television personality. He is well known for his 2000 book Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly, and is the host of Travel Channel's culinary and cultural adventure program Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations.A...
featured his local Gray's Papaya in Season 3, episode 9 of No Reservations.
In the 2010 film The Back-up Plan
The Back-Up Plan
The Back-up Plan is a 2010 romantic comedy film, starring Jennifer Lopez and Alex O'Loughlin. It was released theatrically in the U.S. on April 23, 2010, and later in other regions...
, Stan and Zoe have their "first date" there by Stan and Zoe picking up takeout.
Incidental appearances
The branch at West 72nd Street72nd Street (Manhattan)
72nd Street is one of the major bi-directional crosstown streets in the New York City borough of Manhattan. Where the west end of 72nd Street curves into the south end of Riverside Drive, the memorial to Eleanor Roosevelt stands in Riverside Park. At this end of the street is the landmarked...
and Broadway
Broadway (New York City)
Broadway is a prominent avenue in New York City, United States, which runs through the full length of the borough of Manhattan and continues northward through the Bronx borough before terminating in Westchester County, New York. It is the oldest north–south main thoroughfare in the city, dating to...
is featured in several films:
- the Baseball Furies sequence of 1979's The Warriors.
- behind Bruce WillisBruce WillisWalter Bruce Willis , better known as Bruce Willis, is an American actor, producer, and musician. His career began in television in the 1980s and has continued both in television and film since, including comedic, dramatic, and action roles...
and Samuel L. JacksonSamuel L. JacksonSamuel Leroy Jackson is an American film and television actor and film producer. After becoming involved with the Civil Rights Movement, he moved on to acting in theater at Morehouse College, and then films. He had several small roles such as in the film Goodfellas before meeting his mentor,...
prior to the subway sequence in the 1995 movie Die Hard with a Vengeance. - the 1998 Tom Hanks–Meg Ryan movie You've Got MailYou've Got MailYou've Got Mail is a 1998 American romantic comedy film directed by Nora Ephron, starring Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan. It was written by Nora and Delia Ephron based on the play Parfumerie by Miklós László. The film is about two letter-writing lovers who are completely unaware that their sweetheart is in...
. - the 2001 Chris Rock film Down to EarthDown to Earth (2001 film)Down to Earth is a 2001 comedy film directed by Chris and Paul Weitz. It is the third film adaptation based on Harry Segall's stageplay Heaven Can Wait, preceded by Here Comes Mr. Jordan and Heaven Can Wait . The film stars Chris Rock as Lance Barton, a comedian who is killed before his time on...
. - Fools Rush In starring Matthew PerryMatthew PerryMatthew Perry is Canadian-American television and film actor.Matthew Perry or Matt Perry may also refer to:*Matthew C. Perry , American naval officer who forcibly opened Japan to trade with the West...
, Salma HayekSalma HayekSalma Valgarma Hayek Jiménez de Pinault is a Mexican film actress, director and producer. She received an Oscar nomination for Best Actress for her role as Frida Kahlo in the film Frida.-Early life:... - The Back-up PlanThe Back-Up PlanThe Back-up Plan is a 2010 romantic comedy film, starring Jennifer Lopez and Alex O'Loughlin. It was released theatrically in the U.S. on April 23, 2010, and later in other regions...
starring Jennifer LopezJennifer LopezJennifer Lynn Lopez is an American actress, singer, record producer, dancer, television personality, and fashion designer. Lopez began her career as a dancer on the television comedy program In Living Color. Subsequently venturing into acting, she gained recognition in the 1995 action-thriller... - Nick and Norah's Infinite PlaylistNick and Norah's Infinite PlaylistNick & Norah's Infinite Playlist is a 2008 romantic comedy film directed by Peter Sollett and starring Michael Cera and Kat Dennings. Written by Lorene Scafaria and based on the novel of the same name by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan, the story tells of teenagers Nick and Norah , who meet when...