Gray's Papaya

New York -- This, my friends, is Hot Dog Heaven. Bliss on a Bun. For 75 cents you, yes you, can have a hot dog onto which a sweaty man in white will pile endless sauerkraut -- for no additional charge. The line stretches down the street as starving Greenwich Villagers, wallets empty from paying their $2,000 rents, wait for a little bit o' Heaven slathered with spicy mustard. But you don't just go to Gray's Papaya to get a hot dog for 50 cents less than you'd pay anywhere else in the city, you go to get, that's right, papaya juice. It's one of several exotic fruity delights they have; pina colada and orange juice are there, among others. The dogs are even better than the ones launched at you by Der Wiener Schlinger in Lincoln, Nebraska's Memorial Stadium. Yes, that good.

Gray's Papaya | 402 Sixth Avenue at 8th Street | Greenwich Village, Manhattan, New York City

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This piece is excerpted from an article that originally appeared August 15, 2000, in Nebraska StatePaper. You can see the original article here on StatePaper.