Papaya King Inc.

February Roundup of Restaurant Openings and Closings

February was a big month for restaurant openings: Umami Burger continued to grow its empire with a $20 million dollar acquisition and a 14th location in Pasadena. On a smaller scale, Josh Gil and Daniel Snukal opened Tacos Punta Cabras in Santa Monica. The tiny taqueria replaces Utopia Cafe. After ... More >>

Prince - The Sayers Club - October 25, 2012

Prince The Sayers Club 25-Oct-12 Better than...almost anything else. For the second time this week, eccentric and elusive music legend Prince showed up to play a very late night set in Hollywood. Tucked away behind a Papaya King, The Sayers Club has a speakeasy vibe, and Prince and the New Power ... More >>

Your 4th of July Dining Deal Round-Up: Cobbler, Korean BBQ Sliders Beer Pong

Beer Belly's Backyard Boogie: The Filipino grillmasters at the The Park's Finest are joining forces with Beer Belly to host their 2nd annual "Backyard Boogie," an afternoon stocked with plenty of BBQ and beer. From 12 p.m. to 5 p.m., you can enjoy smoky pulled pork, hot links, coconut beef, bibingka ... More >>

In Search of Curly Fries, Like They Have in Missouri

Anne Fishbeinthe invisible restaurant critic​Dear Mr. Gold: I have a hankering for some grease. I would like it to come in the form of a "brick" of Susie-Q french fries. I don't want any of these wimpy curly fries people talk about, looking like lost potato eyelashes on the plate. None of this ... More >>

Arnold Palmer Drink Fight: Skooby's vs. Clementine

As the story goes, it was sometime in the 1960s and golf master Arnold Palmer was thirsty after a day of designing a golf course in Palm Springs. As The King himself tells it, he asked the clubhouse bartender to make him a drink he often made at home: iced tea with lemonade. Someone -- a woman -- ... More >>

30 Scoops in 30 Days: Carvel 90210 (Day 16)

It has to be the most déclassé shop on Rodeo Drive, but there it is, amid David Yurman tennis bracelets and Christian Dior handbags, buried in the parking structure of an office building dedicated to aesthetic self-improvement and expensive housewares: Carvel.

Food Truck Friday: The Greasy Wiener (No, Not Anthony)

New York congressional rep Anthony isn't the only wiener grabbing headlines these days, though he may be the greasiest. There's the New Jersey fried hot dog, something The Greasy Wiener truck (@thegreasywiener) claims as its specialty. The long thin dogs, reminiscent of the ones at LA's newly open ... More >>

Short Attention Span Dinner Theater: Your Week in Food, 6/6-6/10

Flickr/Lauren Manning​ In which we highlight the past week in food, either at home or abroad. "And try not to slug the cop who is in the process of ticketing your car. That sort of thing is frowned upon in California." First Bite: Papaya King Brings Late-night Hot Dogging to Hollywood. "No ... More >>

Jonathan Gold Reviews Papaya King

First Bite: Papaya King Papaya King Brings Late-night Hot Dogging to Hollywood

F. FriesemaJonagold apples​ When America's hot dog traditions are discussed, the Talmudic parsing of the Chicago dog and the Detroit coney and the Rochester white-hot, somebody will inevitably bring up the New York hot dog, as if it were an entity conforming to a single, Platonic ideal. And wh ... More >>

May Roundup of Restaurant Openings and Closures Free Food Alert

Farewell to Bastide​During a restaurant's fragile opening days it's safe to expect a bit of chaos. That's why it's either free or discounted for a narrow window of time. While some restaurants can only afford one soft-opening, others can sacrifice more to train their staff. In honor of an upco ... More >>

Papaya King Begins Official Reign in Hollywood

K. RobbinsPapaya King slawdog and papaya juice​ After a sausage tease last week, Papaya King, the popular New York hot dog and tropical juice chain finally lifted the draw bridge on its first West Coast outpost at 1645 Wilcox, just south of Hollywood this morning. New York transplants already ... More >>

Waiting for Hollywood's Papaya King

Flickr/digitaldefection​ It may feel like New York in Los Angeles today, but for hot dog and tropical fruit juice fans, it sadly doesn't taste like it. Not quite yet. The opening of the first West Coast branch of New York hot dog institution Papaya King, which had reportedly been slated for to ... More >>

Food Truck Friday: Papaya King Truck

The Papaya King truck (@papayakingla) is a temporal thing, existing only until the storefront at the corner of Hollywood and Wilcox opens on May 18th. But, as promised a couple weeks ago, we wanted to take a look at both ends of the NY/LA hot dog/ice cream exchange. Roaming town in a bright yellow ... More >>

Short Attention Span Dinner Theater: Your Week in Food, 5/2-5/6

Flickr/Lauren Manning​ In which we highlight the past week in food, either at home or abroad. "This is the South. You have to have liquor. This is not California." Q & A With Amber Huffman: Bourbon Blunders, Derby Cocktails Cooking For Jess Jackson At His Kentucky Racehorse Farm. "Can 79 ... More >>

April Roundup of Restaurant Openings and Closures

L. BallaFive Guys​ In recent weeks, two popular out-of-state chains have announced their L.A. debuts: Five Guys opened last week and Papaya King is opening on May 18. But was the frantic blog surfing and twitter tracking worth it? After reading about the opening online, an L.A. secretary, who ... More >>

Food Truck Friday: Coolhaus Ice Cream Sandwiches

With news that Coolhaus will launch a truck in New York (and open a storefront in Culver City), while Papaya King rolls out a Los Angeles truck (@papayakingla) on Monday (and will open a brick-and-mortar location in Hollywood), it's time to see whether it's a fair cultural exchange. Who's getting ... More >>

Top 9 Now-Defunct L.A. Fast Food Restaurant Chains The Return of #3

Del Taco Corp.​With the further expansion of Chick-fil-A in Los Angeles, the recent announcement of Papaya King coming to Hollywood and the arrival of Australia's Oporto to the Southland, we at Squid Ink thought it was an opportune time for a trip down memory lane. Here, in no particular orde ... More >>

Papaya King Comes to Hollywood: New York Transplants Rejoice

Flickr/churlPapaya King dog with kraut, onions, and a tropical beverage​Papaya King, the extremely popular chain of stand-up hot dog restaurants in New York City, is coming to Los Angeles. New York has many imitators -- like Gray's Papaya -- but Papaya King is the original, selling quick-servi ... More >>