Building permits filed with the city of San Francisco indicate that a person tied to a prominent tech entrepreneur has plans to open a “freedom”-themed coffee shop in the Polk Gulch neighborhood.
A jobs page for Freedom Coffee suggests that its café will be located at 1850 Polk St. Freedom Coffee’s website does not display any information about the company, only a white stylized wordmark spelling “FRDM” over a red background. The website’s meta description bills it as “bold, unapologetic, American. Brewed in the USA.”
City permits show plans to turn the retail space at that address, previously leased to a Pilates gym, into a café. California business records list Katie Tolstedt as the CEO, CFO and secretary of Freedom Coffee.
Tolstedt is also involved with the San Francisco Freedom Club, where she is credited simply with “operations.” The social club, founded by tech entrepreneur Eoghan McCabe, describes itself as “existing solely for the purpose of throwing epic parties for people who love freedom, America, technology, capitalism, humanity, merit and growth.” Announcing the club on X in 2024, McCabe said that its mission was to “celebrate the values that made the US so great” but that it “was not explicitly partisan.” Its last event appears to have been held in March 2025.
McCabe, born in Ireland, is the executive chairman and co-founder of Fin (previously Intercom), a company that offers AI customer service tools for businesses; Salesforce struck an agreement in June to acquire it for approximately $3.6 billion, with the purchase expected to close in late 2027.
McCabe describes himself on his website as “very much a centrist” who believes that “humanity would achieve its highest degrees of wellness with less laws, less regulation, less government.” Public filings show that between 2021 and 2025, McCabe donated about $200,000 to the Republican National Committee, political action committees in support of current U.S. president Donald Trump and the election campaigns of various Republican politicians. He has in the past shared posts from controversial right-wing figures, such as Tucker Carlson. Last year, McCabe sparked controversy when he called for “rapid, public executions” following the fatal stabbing of a Ukrainian refugee in North Carolina. More recently, he has posted in support of Restore Britain, a far-right political party endorsed by Elon Musk, and he has repeatedly echoed far-right talking points regarding immigration in Europe.
Tech entrepreneur Eoghan McCabe speaks during a “The Future Isn’t Autonomous, It’s Agentic” panel at the HumanX Conference San Francisco in 2016. Permits for a new San Francisco coffee shop are linked to a person who has worked for McCabe. (Big Event Media/Getty Images for HumanX Conferen)
McCabe denied a connection between the San Francisco Freedom Club and Freedom Coffee in an email to the Chronicle. “The Freedom Club has no plans to ever open any kind of physical location,” he wrote. Tolstedt did not respond to requests for comment.
Tolstedt’s LinkedIn profile states that she has worked for McCabe since 2021, initially as his executive assistant, then as his chief of staff since 2023. Tolstedt was also, according to paperwork filed with the state of California in 2025, a corporate officer for Cool Tech News, which McCabe described as “building ‘Bloomberg for 2026′” in a post pledging a $2 million investment in the company. Now known as Soon Media, the company lists Tolstedt as its CEO, CFO and secretary, and shares its principal address with Freedom Coffee, according to records both companies filed with the state of California earlier this month.
Snippets from listings for a “general manager” for Freedom Coffee on multiple job sites that have been removed but indexed by search engines indicate that automation will play some role in the café’s operations, and that there are plans for multiple locations and national expansion. A filing with the United States Patent Office also seeks to trademark “FRDM Coffee” for use on merchandise, such as hats and drinkware, in addition to coffee shops and coffee beverages.
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This article originally published at S.F. appears to be getting a ‘freedom’-themed coffee shop.