A lease has been signed for a "freedom"-themed cafe on Polk Street near Jackson, and the company’s CEO is an employee of tech entrepreneur and Trump supporter Eoghan McCabe, who also founded a local social club called the Freedom Club in 2024.

A new coffee shop planned for Polk Street appears to be closely connected to tech entrepreneur Eoghan McCabe, whose employee Katie Tolstedt is listed as the CEO, CFO, and secretary of the company behind the cafe, as the Chronicle reports. Freedom Coffee is planning to take over the retail space at 1850 Polk Street at Jackson Street, which was previously occupied by a Pilates gym.

While there’s little information about the new cafe — its website simply displays a white “FRDM” logo against a red background, the site's metadata and cached job listings describe the business as “bold, unapologetic, American” and indicate that it plans to use automation in its operations, according to the Chronicle. 

Tolstedt has worked for McCabe since 2021, first as his executive assistant and later as his chief of staff. She's also associated with the San Francisco Freedom Club, a social club founded by McCabe in 2024. The club describes itself as a place for people who embrace “freedom, America, technology, capitalism, humanity, merit and growth.”

McCabe, who co-founded Intercom and now serves as executive chairman of its AI customer-service spinoff Fin, has described himself as a centrist who favors less government, regulation, and law. The Chronicle reports that McCabe has also donated roughly $200,000 between 2021 and 2025 to the Republican National Committee, pro-Trump political action committees, and Republican candidates.

McCabe has drawn controversy for his political statements as well. Last year, following the fatal stabbing of Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska in North Carolina, he called for “rapid, public executions.” He and Tolstedt later helped organize murals honoring Zarutska in various cities, with Elon Musk and Andrew Tate each pledging $1 million to the campaign.

Despite Tolstedt’s role in both organizations, McCabe denied that the Freedom Club is connected to the coffee shop.

“The Freedom Club has no plans to ever open any kind of physical location,” he wrote in an email to the Chronicle.

Tolstedt is also reportedly listed as an officer of Soon Media, formerly known as Cool Tech News, another company backed by McCabe. McCabe previously described the company as an effort to build “Bloomberg for 2026” and pledged a $2 million investment. State filings this month list Tolstedt as Soon Media’s CEO, CFO, and secretary, with the company sharing its principal address with Freedom Coffee.

According to the Chronicle, Freedom’s archived job listings indicate plans for multiple locations and eventual national expansion, while a US Patent and Trademark Office filing seeks to trademark “FRDM Coffee” for coffee shops, beverages, and merchandise including hats and drinkware.

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