During a time when comfort food became a go-to lockdown coping method for many, the arrival of Yums! Chicken’s flagship Woolloongabba restaurant in November 2020 helped cement fried chicken as one of the most in-demand comfort foods around. Though they had set goals and benchmarks from the outset, Yums! owners Chukwuemeka ‘Julius’ Azubuike and Alison Reid were blown away by the local response to their cluckin’ good chook and shake joint. Buoyed by this rapturous reception, the duo began scouting for an expansion location in February 2021, quickly hitting gold with a vacant space at Rosalie Village (the former home of gastropub The Brass Barrel). Yums! Chicken’s Paddington expansion opened officially in late June, with its entire menu of eats (including crispy buttermilk chicken burgers, half- and full-kilo serves of chicken wings, spicy chicken tenders and decadent thick-shakes) available. The site is be larger than its Woolloongabba sibling, with an outdoor space giving locals a breezy spot for casual snacking.