st. and 3rd ave 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 . 1 although the restaurant originally only served drinks made from fresh tropical fruits it soon expanded to serving hot dogs due to the influence of its neighborhood which at the time was populated predominantly by german american immigrants . 2 it now also serves crispy cajun curly fries onion rings fried pickles fried oreos fried twinkies tater tots knishes cheese steaks and corn dogs . papaya king was founded and run for many years by the late gus poulos and later by his son peter who first managed their second store with seating at 87th street and third avenue . in the 1930s there was also a store in upper darby pennsylvania . during the 1970s the pouloses attempted to franchise the restaurant and one franchise briefly opened in midtown . a company owned store opened and closed in the 1980s at 59th street and third avenue . in 2001 another company owned store opened in philadelphia this time on the campus of the university of pennsylvania at 40th and locust streets ; it closed in 2004 . 3 in 2006 another attempted franchise opened briefly in the food court at roosevelt field mall on long island in garden city new york . the poulos family sold the business in the early 2000s . in may 2013 papaya king opened a concept store on st. marks place a historical and cultural crossroads in new york city s east village neighborhood . the store features a recessed patio area in front widely referred to as the stoop 4 where customers and locals gather . the store features many of the classic elements that characterize the 86th street location with additional experience elements such as vintage arcade games a projector screen sound system and brand merchandise . during the summer of 2014 papaya king opened its first food truck that is parked throughout manhattan and brooklyn . in may 2016 papaya king expanded to brooklyn and opened their third restaurant on the corner of nevins street and flatbush avenue in downtown brooklyn . this location mirrors the look of the original location on the upper east side . over the years the chain has had numerous competitors including gray s papaya and papaya dog open around the city . in 1976 nathan s famous set up shop next door to papaya king and a hot dog war ensued . nathan s cut the price of its hot dogs to 35 cents normal was 50 cents while papaya king sold its hotdogs for a quarter . six months later nathan s capitulated and left the block . in popular culture edit in the seinfeld episode the movie kramer leaves the movie ticket line where he was saving spots for jerry elaine and george to get a hot dog from papaya king . in the how i met your mother episode i heart nj ted cites papaya king as one of the great things about new york having patronized gray s papaya earlier in the series . later in the episode stella incorrectly says that she was in front of papaya king on 86th and lex not 3rd . in the 1988 film crossing delancey izzy goes to papaya king for her birthday dinner . 5 in the 1997 hugo award nominated novella loose ends by paul levinson time traveler jeff harris buys two papaya drinks from papaya king and says the drink is delicious . jonathan lethem s novels motherless brooklyn and chronic city both mention hot dogs from papaya czar ; in the latter novel this is in the actual location of a papaya king on 86th street and 3rd avenue . references edit about papaya king . papayaking.com . retrieved 19 may 2015 . kleiman dena august 21 1991 . new york puts its papaya where its hot dogs are . the new york times . retrieved april 30 2011 . campus buzz . upenn.edu . retrieved 19 may 2015 . the approval matrix week of june 3 2013 new york magazine . nymag.com . retrieved 19 may 2015 . crossing delancey songs for izzy s birthday hd . youtube . december 18 2008 . retrieved april 30 2011 . external links edit official website coordinates 40 37 25 n 74 01 51 w 40.62354 n 74.03086 w 40.62354 ; 74.03086 retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title papaya king & oldid 728322866 categories restaurants in manhattanhot dog restaurantsrestaurants established in 19321932 establishments in new yorkhidden categories coordinates on wikidata navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate accountlog in namespaces article talk variants views read edit view history more search navigation main pagecontentsfeatured contentcurrent eventsrandom articledonate to wikipediawikipedia store interaction helpabout wikipediacommunity portalrecent changescontact page tools what links hererelated changesupload filespecial pagespermanent linkpage informationwikidata itemcite this page print export create a bookdownload as pdfprintable version languages add links this page was last modified on 4 july 2016 at 17 00 . text is available under the creative commons attribution sharealike license ; additional terms may apply . by using this site you agree to the terms of use and privacy policy . wikipedia is a registered trademark of the wikimedia foundation inc. a non profit organization . privacy policy about wikipedia disclaimers contact wikipedia developers cookie statement mobile view