How to Design an Iconic NY Fast Food Joint
The best hot dog in New York? That’s a no-brainer: Papaya King. Even Julia Child said so. “Tastier than filet mignon,” is the mantra at its iconic Eighty-sixth Street storefront, a neon-decked, mustard-yellow institution since the 1930s. In a few short weeks, this signature New York establishment will be coming downtown for the first time, to a storefront on St. Mark’s Place.
How do you design an outpost of a legendary fast-food joint without losing its character? For that matter, what are the design challenges inherent in the design of any quick-turnaround restaurant? Papaya King’s architect, Andrew Bernheimer, took a rather analytical approach to these problems. Reproduced in the following slideshow are diagrams made by his office after careful examination of a series of New York dining institutions and other fast-food restaurants, from Katz’s to Shake Shack to Joe’s Pizza. Following the slideshow is an interview with Bernheimer, in which he discusses what, exactly, they learned from this exercise.
