Klin Sritong has taken over the space previously inhabited by Rhythm’s Chicken & Waffles at 1136 Garnet Ave. turning it into Yum Zab! Thai street food.

“Yum Zab! is two Thai words combined,” said restaurateur Sritong, a Thai native whose family moved to San Diego in 2002. “Yum in Thailand is a word play on a mixture of ingredients. And Zab is a northeastern dialect in Thailand meaning delicious. We combined the two words to mean a combination of deliciousness.”

Characterizing Thai cuisine as “a little mixture of everything,” Sritong added, “It has more herbs and spices. It’s a combination of things, like curries derived from India. Thai cuisine is served hot. Street food is what we’re known for.”

Pointing out that Thailand is a “melting pot” of cultures and cuisines hailing from China, Indochina, Japan, and India, Sritong noted the noodles in Thai dishes come from China. “We adapt with what we have and Pad Thai is one of our noodle dishes,” he said, noting Thailand is right on the equator “so you can grow just about everything there. With Thai cuisine, it’s more – or less – about the sauces rather than the ingredients that go with it.”

Yum Zab!’s cuisine is a hybrid. “We wanted to highlight our really good fried chicken, which is quick and easy (to prepare),” noted Sritong. “The sauces are what makes it (cuisine) different and brings it all together in a bowl, which you can grab and go and carry around. That’s the concept that we started with, to be able to carry it (dish) with one hand and go wherever you want to with it.”

Noting his mother and older brother are both in the San Diego restaurant business, having opened an eatery in Rancho Bernardo, Sritong said he ended up in PB after finding out last April that Rhythm’s had not renewed their lease and had moved their operations out of the beach community. “We signed (a lease) in May,” he said.

Chicken & Waffles has reopened as Mom’s Chicken and Waffles in North Park.

Yum Zab! is a fast-casual restaurant focused on a unique and eclectic menu of Asian street food favorites, as well as other delicious cuisine. Menu choices at Yum Zab! involve a wide range of cuisines including:

• A rice bowl with spicy Korean fried chicken;
• Honey Aioli Crispy Shrimp;
• Thai Basil Fried Chicken Bowl;
• Vegan Poke Bowl;
• Korean Corn Dogs;
• Malaysian-inspired Pandan Kaya Toast;
• Japanese Wagyu Sando;
• Thai Tom Yum Goong Soup.

Sritong said most menu items are fried chicken rice bowls with different sauces and toppings. The casual restaurant, which has limited outdoor seating features a counter-service format. Customers can order their food via computer screen daily from 11:30 a.m. usually until 1 or 2 a.m.

Yum Zab! does both catering and delivery in the local area using delivery platforms like DoorDash, Uber Eats, and Grubhub.

YUM ZAB!

Where: 1136 Garnet Ave.

Contacto: eatyumzab.com, 619-384-0109.