Place: Papaya King
Lunch: C&C Dog, King's Tots, Strawberry Fields (tropical drink)
A New York City staple since the 1930's, Papaya King is a combination hot dog stand and papaya juice/smoothie stand. The original store is still there, supplemented by two more locations in NYC and Brooklyn. The fourth? Right here in Las Vegas, which has quite the growing collection of out-of-market outposts of hot dog chains. Still need a Skyline Chili, though. Sure it's not making the headlines the Vegas debut of Chick-Fil-A is which, bizarrely, will probably go down as the biggest business debut in the valley this year. The first two locations opened a couple of weeks ago and are just printing money.
The official address is 4503 Paradise Rd, but it's not really on Paradise. It's in a shopping center at the corner of Paradise and Harmon, and Papaya King fronts Harmon a good half block from Paradise. It's right across the street from the Hard Rock, right where KISS Mini Golf used to be before it moved to the old Village Seafood Buffet space at Rio. You wanted the best, you got the best. The hottest dog in the world, Papaya KIIIIING!!!.
Anyway, it's right down the street from where I stay when in town, and right on the route to the Pinball Hall of Fame. SO convenient.
They've been open since November, but everything today looks like a grand opening, which they're referring to as some sort of customer royalty thingy. The staff is SUPER friendly, maybe because this is all new and they're not jaded yet. Balloons throughout the dining room and a live DJ in the parking lot. Smiling Counter Guy talked me through the special, which was something to do with buy two dogs get one free, I think. I sort of got brain locked. So I said "I'm going to go with what I read on the website menu." I ordered what I had intended, but got upsized on the drink because they were selling the 32oz for 32 cents. I suck at being a diabetic.
The "C&C" in the C&C dog is Chili and Cheddar sauce. Perfectly decent dog. The chili is a bean chili, which really shouldn't be used as a hot dog topping. A thick beanless chili topping always works better. Same on the King's Tots, which are tater tots topped with the same chili and cheese sauce as well as fried onion petals. Good tots, same complaint about the chili.
The Strawberry Fields drink tastes kind of like Strawberry Quik but juicy, not milky. I'd have it again.
I'm sure I'll be a regular visitor when in town. The people are too nice and it's too convenient not to go there.
Saw The Lego Batman Movie afterward and played some pinball. Going to the live Night Vale show tonight.
Pretty good Vegas day overall.
