Gray's Papaya
- 2090 Broadway, Manhattan, NY 10023
(Btwn 71st and 72nd St)
- Tel: (212) 799-0243
- Web: www.grayspapaya.com
- Hours: Daily: 24 hours
- Area: Upper West Side
- Food: Hot Dogs.
Posted Sep, 14, 2009 - member since Sep, 14, 2009
Mmm. What can be said about Gray's that hasn't already been said before? I know someone who broke up with their boyfriend because they wouldn't go to Gray's Papaya (hopefully suplimentary to other relationship problems. I wouldn't want to think the sweet, sweet, call of Gray's was totally responsiable) and others who drive in to NYC from Jersey at 2 am because of a hotdog craving. While I remember when the Recession special was (WAY) cheaper, it's still a good deal since hotdogs on the street are still around $1.50 each, with no drink and chintsy toppings.
As far as flavor. They're hot dogs. They're good hot dogs. While I think their legend looms a little larger then it would without a healthy dose of nostalgia to keep it alive, they have a nice snap, good topping and the drinks (which I tend to find fairly saccharine on their own) pair freakishly well with the dogs.
The atmosphere for me is usually grabbing a recession special and eating it out of the brown paper bag while walking to the park, but the inside has its own charm, if an occasionally disproportinate amount of homeless. Although maybe that's part of its charm; watching bankers, students and homeless dudes standing shoulder to shoulder, chowing down on Recession specials.
And like Anna said, NO KETCHUP. Don't do it. Really.
Classic Recession Special Saves the Day
Posted Sep, 7, 2009 - member since Sep, 7, 2009
I'm an all American girl so naturally there's nothing I love more than baseball and of course, HOT DOTS! But any plain old dirty water dog won't do the trick for me. It has to be a Gray's Papaya dog. I don't know if it's the snappy hot dog casings, the crazy interior decoration or the price of the Recession Special that gets me (2 dogs and a drink $4.45 total!) but I can't resist going to Gray's at least once a weak. This time around, I got 2 dogs (1 plain and 1 with sauerkraut/mustard) with a papaya drink. No ketchup under any circumstances unless you're a 3 year old boy. As always, the dogs were perfect and the atmosphere was something you can't get anywhere else in NYC or the entire hot dog loving world. That's why New Yorkers and tourists alike flock to this Manhattan classic making it a must in my cheap eats arsenal.
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