Papaya Dog

Very solid option for late night, cheap, tasty food. Very standard hot dogs, burgers, mozzarella sticks, etc. This one is really no different from the others in the city so you kind of know what you are getting into when you walk in the door.

Used to be better, but I think I went to a different location last time. Still solid hot dogs. You can get 2 hotdogs and a drink for $ 4.50 and I’m sure that’s cheaper than the dirty water dogs on the street. If you’re looking for a meal cheap and quick in the city it’s a decent choice. Skip the knish! Old and chewy.

Basically, a place where you would grab-​and-​go. It’s most certainly NOT a place to go to relax, but more like somewhere you’d go for a quick bite after drinking a lot at a bar w/​some buddies. The hot dogs tastes better than street carts, but not stellar by any means, and the interior looks very old and cliché, almost like a pizza place (but no pizza). Every bit of this store makes my want to scream Gray’s Papaya ever since it closed down, but it sadly can’t match it. The staff was fast and fair and equipment looks somewhat old. I got the turkey dog and a cheese dog. The dogs were fair but the buns were horribly stale and flavorless. For a $ 3 cheese dog, i’d expect them to warm up the cheese, but instead they just took the melted room temp cheese and slapped it onto the hot dog, much to my disappointment. All in all, not a bad place, but it could’ve been so much better. If it wasn’t late night, i’d much rather go buy a $ 1 hot dog from a street cart and enjoy it more comfortably at a park or something.

Best drunk people food ever!!!
They are cheap &* 24 hours
99 cent fries are so yummy
I cant complain bout anything here

I came here tonight to try Papaya Dog for the first time. Their hot dogs are simple and tasty, but the fries were absolutely terrible. They were clearly dry and stale, or otherwise sitting out for too long.
I am giving them one star because:
1) Their food, though the dogs were tasty, doesn’t live up to the hype or their menu prices in any way, and
2) The employee there is just incredibly, incredibly rude. When my partner and I took turns placing our orders, the man at the counter raised his voice in a very rude and annoyed voice to demand how many hot dogs we planned to order. His tone of voice clearly implied he just didn’t give a ****.
We all have lousy days on the job, and I’m not asking anyone to plaster a fake smile for us. But the simplest rule of customer service requires a basic level of courtesy, which this branch of Papaya Dog completely fails on. We will never go back there again, and if the franchise hopes to continue its success, it better clean up its act, beginning with staff training on basic customer service. It seems that other Unilocal reviews also reinforce the terrible quality of staff management here.
I’ve worked in the food industry, too, and it’s very simple: take someone’s order; don’t act like an asshole.

On our way home from a bar hopping night we stopped into Papaya Dog to get quick take out. It didn’t look especially good from the outside but it was cheap, convenient, quick, and the type of food we wanted at that moment. Purchased a beef dog, a turkey dog, and cheese fries. It hit the spot in terms of what we wanted right then. Very simple and unhealthy as expected. I’d come back if in the same situation but wouldn’t go out of my way to go here.

Combine the cheapest wiener and the cheapest buns you can find and you’ll have yourself a papaya dog. I’d choose a Costco hotdog over a papaya dog any day of the week.
The papaya juice tastes artificial and it contains very little, if any, papaya juice.
The place is conveniently located next to the subway station.

Cheap prices for mediocre food. Their hotdogs are basic and their fries are always soggy and mushy.

Ordered a corn dog. It was lukewarm on the outside and cold on the inside. For shame!

In and out. Dogs aren’t the best. Fries were a lil cold and wrinkled.
Good for the go.
Mostly inhabited by laborers and folks looking for a post brew bite.
In many ways, a true NY experience.
High hopes? Not necessary. Quick fill? Yep.

Basically an alternative to the McDonalds across the street in terms of quality, but they’ve got hot dogs.

Much like some of my recent dates, this place is affordable, yet a little greasy.
I had a corn dog and fries and although they were good at the time, I regretted it later.
However, for just a few bucks you can consume a large volume of food here.
The workers there have to put up with a lot so I give them some slack, but I didn’t like how the one guy who was taking the cash constantly yelled at the other guy and would ask you what you wanted after you already told the guy and then yell at the other guy to get it.

This place is great! Cheap, so you should know not to expect much (they have yet to disappoint me).
I’ve only ever had the Philly Cheesesteak, fries, and 16 oz drink combo but for $ 5 even I don’t really need to try anything else.
I had lemonade as my drink: super sugary but that’s just how I like it
Sandwich: pretty good, I always feel super stuffed and greasy after eating it which can be a good thing if you have major munchies ;)
Fries: my portion size in the photo was all right but I have been given more than that before
Only con is that the lines get a little confusing when there’s a lot of people but other than that it’s a great place to satisfy your cravings.
I will definitely come back!

Get the papaya juice! Its my favorite. It is just so good that you have to share it with others. The hotdogs are delicious too, but usually I would just go to artichoke get a few slices and then go here to get a 21oz papaya juice and oh man does that combo get me going.
I love coming here, because my parents have brought me to Papaya Dog since i was around 5 years old, so it holds some sentimental value knowing that this place is still up and still making that glorious papaya juice.

This place gets really busy around 3PM (when high schools get out). It’s better to go at night — perfect for when you want a late night snack. Everybody in my apartment gets it, especially when we are up studying late. The prices are cheap and the food isn’t bad. We also aren’t intoxicated like most of the other patrons at the late hour so we can vouch for how good the food actually is.
They spray windex on the windows while they are grilling food right under it. Kinda gross so I wouldn’t recommend getting anything like a burger or a Philly cheesesteak. Stick with the hot dog, chili cheese dog, corn dog, and fries. The chicken sandwich isn’t bad, but it will take a while to make because they make it right in front of you.

no, it’s not the «original» Gray’s Papaya, but YES it is pretty much the same thing
don’t expect amazing food BUT cheap prices & late hours = a wonderful DRUNCHIES option… not sure if i would come here during the day
–Hot Dog: $ 1.50! definitely not a bad option at the end of the night and they dress it with ketchup & mustard for you
–Cheese fries: the cheese fries really hit the spot after a night on the town!
the burgers on display in the window do NOT look tasty … i’ll stick to the hot dogs & fries

Their special is 2 hotdogs and a drink for $ 4.95 — a pretty good deal ITTET. They’ll add condiments for you, if don’t want to do it yourself. Tasty even when not post-​partying, lol. Wished could have tried their breakfast special. Next visit, yeah.
Opens 24-​hours. If staying around Chelsea/​East Village, I don’t see why this can’t be part of the late night eats rotation. Recommended for taste, value and menu variety.
Props to RodneyH for the location correction, my bad, hah!
Milestone: The 14,000^th compliment’s review.

Now I did the breakfast at Papaya Dog’s and they made just what I wanted. Chopped up hotdogs with fried egg and cheese. It was really Yummy.

Compared to its city wide competition, Papaya Dog falls somewhere in between Papaya King and Gray’s Papaya. The premise is always the same: late night hot dogs dressed to drunken perfection, at recession special prices. After awhile, they almost all begin to start looking the same.
When the clock strikes 4am and beyond, this Papaya Dog is one of the only places open on the entire block. For all intents and purposes, it is 1000x better than its cross street neighbor Hot & Crusty (
) and does so with doors that seemingly never close (literally, the doors are always wide open, rain or shine).
The hot dogs are not going to blow anyone’s minds away. Beware of the watery kraut or excessive relish, as the buns easily denigrate into a nasty oblivion that might be best left for the birds. Two dogs and a drink is a cool $ 4.75, which is a nice price bump from the last few years of $ 4.00 and when I first had them $ 3.00. At least the service is quick.
If you can’t stand the hot dogs, shoot for the overly battered and pricey corn dog. Yes, it’s tasty with its fried corny exterior, but at $ 3 for a stunted version, it can be as disappointing as their subpar Philly cheesesteak. Their saving grace is the always available sugary drinks. Lemonade never tasted so diabetic.

Sure, it’s no Crif Dogs… but Papaya Dog is as much a staple of NYC as just about any other eatery in town. They’re not reinventing the wheel by any means, but what they do so very well is a decent hot dog for a decent price with extremely friendly customer service. In a pinch for a bite of food and have only $ 2.00 to your name? They’ve got your back.
One side note worth mentioning is that these cats braved the conditions of Hurricane Sandy and didn’t close their operation until ConEd pulled the plug on power everywhere below 34^th street. Even with 90 MPH wind gusts and frequent downpours… they rode that ship until the bitter end, much like the house band aboard the Titanic. That kind of dedication might look irresponsible to most, but for me, I have to tip a cap to those working the front lines to make sure passersby can still get their hands on a hot meal before resorting to dry foods in the event of a major catastrophe.
Gray’s, you OK in my book.