Papaya King

Cool guys at 1:30 in the morning.
Green hot was ok.
Fried twinkee was pretty good! I guess it’s probably hard to imagine it not…
Fries Oreo were just too much. I couldn’t get over the amount of breading.
Didn’t really like the papaya or mango drinks.

Papaya King is no Nathan’s, but this particular location totally manages to make you feel like you’re chilling (or not) in Coney Island, even when it’s snowing outside. This place is a no-​fail when it comes to mediocre frankfurters with spongy processed buns and a wide array of traditional toppings. In short, Papaya King never disappoints your taste buds or your wallet.

Definitely hits the top list of the places I regret visiting during my stay in New York. I honestly don’t think there was anything very special about this place, yet the price suggests otherwise. I would have opted to go to one of the vendors on the streets or another hotdog place with better ratings/​reviews.
First, there isn’t anything about the bun. It is one of those buns from the bag that you get at the grocery store. No butter, not toasted, cold, crusty plain bun. The sausage is also really, really skinny. Apparently this place has been remodeled and the prices have been changed because according to one of our friends, they used to have these 1 foot long hotdogs that were really good for a cheap price. Honestly, the sausage was dry, definitely expected better for a hotdog I paid $ 5 for.
Save your money and look for other locally recommended hotdog places.

For a quick dog in the UES you gotta hit this place AND don’t forget the papaya drink! Cash only and small quarters so be prepared.

Amazing assortment of chili dogs and fries, no wait on an early saturday night. amazing food!

This place was cool, proud to say I’ve finally been here. I will say though, it’s nothing special. Here’s what my friend and I got, and a little summary of each thing:
Mango juice — soooo sweet! Too sweet for my liking. Also, a little warm. I’m not sure if it’s supposed to be like that. When eating a log of fried food, this drink really doesn’t really go very well.
Cheese fries — all their fries are curly. Didn’t really like that. The cheese was good! Warm, good. Nothing really awesome though.
Fried pickles — I love pickles. I love fried food. I didn’t love this. A little too greasy. The side of ranch paired very nicely.
Chicken sandwich — came with just breaded chicken and bread. Mind you my friend who eats at the other locations, normally gets this and he always gets lettuce and tomato with it. This time wasn’t given that. Bummer. The chicken does have great flavor.
Overall, nothing crazy. If you’re near one and are in the mood for some greasy food, try it. If not, don’t go out of your way for it. I will say though, I did love all the memorabilia on the walls. Also, this location has seating! So if you are interested in trying this place out, I highly recommend this location.

It’s a tradition for my boyfriend and I to come here whenever we are in the area. We got 4 «gourmet» hot dogs and split them to taste different things. While nothing really made me weep (as yummy food tends to do) they all hold a special place in my heart. We got the Hula Hula, Onion Crunch, Slaw Dog, and the Upper East Side. Paired with a Mango juice (don’t recommend) it came out to 19.00.
The cashier was pretty rude and it was way too hot in there. We ate outside and had a nice view of the street.
Overall this place is one of a kind and I totally recommend you eat here!

Any Papaya King = incredible hot dog. Numero One. Get three, light mustard, double ketchup, and a small papaya. Deliciosa!!!

Skip the dirty water dogs from the push cart vendors, that’s for the tourists. Those in the know go to Papaya King. Perfect every time — two grilled dogs with ‘kaut & mustard with a banana daiquiri or any of their juice drinks-​$ 5. They have corn dogs, curly fries and tater tits too for the cholesterol overload you might be looking for. Good size place with large projection TV. The quotes and sayings on the walls about the history of papaya and the area make for a good fun read too. And the huge windows make a great place to watch the people/​characters go by on St. Marks…

whatta a sausage fest! lol
this place is all about the WIENERS err hotdogs.
Papaya King is all neon-​ed out. it’s designed like an old school frankfurter joint with lots of modern touches. there’s seating down the center via a huge communal table and benches. there’s more seating front right by the window as well as tabling attached to the wall with some stools. old school video games to the left front. flush right is the counter and the fry/​grill stations. this place is pretty clean for the foot traffic on St Marks, the drunko fools, and there’s constant frying/​grilling.
the hotdogs are good, but the fry game is stellar because they have curly fries AND tater tots. T O Tzzz! you can order a normal or footlong dawwwwg with unlimited topping and wash it down with one of the tropical-​esque drinks or fountain sodas. i wouldn’t say this place is cheap but you can get a good value for under $ 9 bucks here. the curly fries and tots are yum. melty cheese and unlimited topping apply to the fries and tots as well. if you are topping your fries and hotdogs – i’d recommend eating at Papaya Kings so your food doesn’t get soggy bc who likes eating mush other than yo grandma who hates you! lol as a post drinking option or just a bite-​on-​the-​go – Papaya King rules St Marks.
also they have a projection tv which has movies or sports playing on it… so there’s visual distractions from your food… so you don’t inhale your eats in 10 seconds flat. PIG! lol
the staff. very chill. affable. and does their best to make your food baller by topping it with heaps of toppings. good guys. never a sour experience here.
there is no bathroom in this joint for customers, so you must do the pee dance somewhere else AND your butt gets no room to rest itself! seeWhatIdidThere. plop.
drops mic, so i can shovel tots and curly fries with both hands. AMBIGLUTTONOUS yo!
i out.
zzz,

I usually dont like hot dogs but im a sucker for unlimited toppings
I got the combo for like $ 7 – 8 — two hot dogs and a drink
You can add whatever you want for free (minus the bacon) so that was pretty cool. I also got the papaya drink and that was good.

It’s the cleanest and most colorful hotdog place you’ll find in town. And ever since the sad death of Gray’s Papaya they’ve got the funky clever signage game on lock. If you’re willing to brave hoards of undergrads then it’s a great place for a late night bite. Plenty of seating, football and arcade games, and mmmm corn dogs!

More like Papaya Peasant, amirite? The staffers here got straight up nasty with me when I arrived 2 minutes before the estimated window to pick up 2 really sloppy (that part’s expected) and weak dogs:
Pig in Da Blanket
Create Your Own Frank — Chili, Hula Hula, Mushrooms, Onion Crunch
Wasted a Seamless 15% code here because apparently they also have an NYU discount that could’ve scored the same mush at the same discount. Maybe stick with the The Original Combo$ 5.00 — Two franks with kraut and a 16 oz. drink.
FWIW They also continue to use NYC-​banned styrofoam post-​July 1.

2 hot dogs loaded with toppings, a cool Papaya drink and curly fries = $ 10? Not bad!
This Papaya King offers FREE unlimited toppings on their franks, which I recommend. Mushrooms, onions, onion rings, onion crunch, jalapenos, curly fries, the list goes on and on.
The actual hot dogs themselves have that crunch, but they are a bit skinny. The staff here are average, and you have to try the Coconut Champagne drink as well.
Open ultra late, so you can stop by after a night out and gorge yourself. It’s worth it.

I was lured by the sign with fried oreos, $ 3 for 4 pieces of fried oreos I just had to come and get my sweet tooth fix. I wasn’t a fan of the batter, but you really can’t go wrong with fried oreos. They have hotdogs with different toppings from cheese, onion rings, french fries… hmmm my mouth is salivating from the endless amount of tasty and greasy concoctions they have come up with. I took a mental note to come back here because after a night of drinking this would be the perfect spot to end it.

Hot dogs, how impressive can a hot dog be? Sometimes, you’re just in the mood for a hot dog. In this case after all of the hubbub and the sheer number of times I had heard Anthony Bourdain say, «Papaya King» in one single episode of The Layover, I figured I’d try it. He’s right, these hot dogs are good. If you’re looking for a cheap meal in the city, and you’re not near Prosperity Dumplings in Chinatown, or Halal Guys – this is a okay option.
The hot dogs are flavorful, juicy, and come with a multitude of topping options.
The onion rings are a fantastic companion. The combination options are a great deal to split.
The juice component is something that I don’t quite understand, but my boyfriend said that the Mango juice was «A-​Okay.»

Papay love. Papay yesterday. Hello loneliness. Hello emptiness. I feel like I could die. Papay baby papay.
I’m a bigger fan of Gray’s than I am of PK. There, I said it. PK to me means «penalty kick» in soccer or «p*nis king» in my personal life. What are you talking about, what am I talking about? What do you think I’m talking about?
Basically if you’ve been to Gray’s you know the story. These places are carbon copies of each other, except in quality. They both sell crazy tropical drinks that don’t always taste great and are heavy on the milky smoothie style ness. As in Loch Ness. They both sell skinny little embarrassingly not-​thick snappy sausages on sometimes congealed bread slathered in carmalized onions that passes for hot sauce in NYC. And they both taste pretty decent when not congealed. So now you know everything you need to know… oh, and they’re famous for dirt cheap prices. So when I was a kid, like, 16, I could wander the streets of NYC and get a drink and 2 dogs here for $ 2, or $ 2.50. You can’t get deals like that anymore, but they’re still pretty cheap.
So if you’re a tourist in town, or if you’ve never tried them, then for sure try Gray’s and PK. But if you want really amazing food, skip both. It’s just a novelty. And for god’s sake skip Shake Shack too.
And if you need to try «the best NYC hot dogs», skip PK and go to Gray’s because it’s less likely to be congealed and stale. And probably tastes a little better, depending on location. Also, in PK terms, the other PK is a bit better than this one. Both are 4 star though.
A least you don’t have to pa-​pa-​pa-​pay much. Sorry I have a stammering stuttering problem. Among other problems (my underwear keep ripping). Now I have to go, so I’m going to say Papay.

Its getting a 5 because of its price and the fact that it has 50 different style of hot dogs and also serves deep fried oreos and fried twinkies. place is awesome for cheap yummy eats.

Who HASN’T eaten at Papaya King? Especially after a long night of drinking? It’s basically the perfect place to stuff yourself when the drunchies can no longer be contained. Plus you can be satisfied for less than 10 $, which we all know is the real reason we’re eating there. Leaves us with more money to spend at the next bar we’re hopping to.
My favorite thing is that you can sit and wind down, unlike the 86^th St location which is TINY and tends to serve much crappier dogs. I just wish they had bathrooms, but there’s a reason for that, drunks. I’ve had a lot of drunk convos with strangers in this place, it’s remarkable. And fun. A big, drunk, happy family. I remember once convincing an employee to take a swig from my flask, not the best thing now that I think about it.
When I first started going to Papaya King I would order one of the premade dogs, then I got smarter. I realized I could just order a footlong and put whatever my heart desired on it. Bacon. Mushrooms. Chili. Onions. Cheese. Curly Fries. MORE chili. Yes, yes, yes, and YES. My face is always a mess afterwards, but I’m usually too content to care.

Ah yes. The quintessential NY hot dog from Papaya King. A must stop for my friends and I when roaming the city for yummy cheap eats.
I particularly love this location because it’s in the East Village. (I’m a Village gal.) With all the shopping, walking and pub crawling that can be had in the area, it’s nice to know you can count on Papaya King to be there for you in your drunken or sober state. Oh and they have a foosball table. Wanna play?
I always order the King’s Combo. You get two dogs and a regular drink. I never have room for the fries and don’t necessarily need them. So two dogs with a couple toppings and a drink is enough for me. Especially since their juices are on the thick side and slightly sweet. I’ve tried the papaya juice, mango and piña colada. All very tasty and refreshing.
The staff is really cool at this location. Very easy to talk to without any attitude whatsoever. See? Not everyone in NY is mean. :D