Who We Are

Freddie’s Noodle Shop is comprised of a small group of bipoc, queer, trans, and neurodivergent misfits created by Chef Will Wyatt in order to uphold the honor and memory of the late great
Freddie Whitney Mercury.

Why Pad Thai? Fundamentally we think that the culture of cutting corners leaves no room for good noodles. If you want something incredible, you need to take the time. After countless unsuccessful attempts to find the good Pad Thai in Seattle, we decided to bring it to the Emerald City ourselves.

Chef Will

For the last 15 years Chef Will has been dedicating his life to the culinary arts. His skills and dedication allowed him to travel all across the country while working under some of the most prestigious chefs. From Kittichai in NYC to Uchi in Austin, SF and Seattle; Chef Will has worked at some of the best restaurants in the country.

When he started cooking at Kittichai (located in the Thompson Hotel in SoHo), he had no idea his preconceived notions with food were about to be blown up. His experiences with Southeast Asian cuisine prior to this had been rather superficial. Growing up in the SF bay area he was no stranger, but lacked the experience to fully appreciate the “why” things are done the way they are.

It was there at Kittichai where he learned the Thai culinary concept of “Yum.” Cooked for Joan Rivers during a taping of Fashion Police where she shook his hand and said “the food was to die for.” And where he learned how to make incredible Thai food, including Pad Thai.

Queen Freddie Whitney Mercury

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And yet, in spite of his great successes, his path was clear towards self-destruction and he needed a big impact to alter the course of his life. That impact occurred February 20th, 2012 when Freddie Whitney Mercury arrived at his apartment in Brooklyn.

When Freddie arrived, the effect did not take hold immediately. No, it took a few years of unconditional love and tribulations to really teach Chef Will that not only did he need to work hard because Freddie deserved a better life, but he eventually discovered he deserved it too. She was the catalyst for that discovery and both ended up having an incredible 11 years of life together. Traveling all across the country, climbing mountains, and eating all the YUM!

Even if she crossed the rainbow bridge, her spirit is with him always. And it drives him to do the best he can to make her proud.

Our Future

Brick ‘n Mortar Dreams

We officially soft-launched with our first popup and on social media in February of 2023 and have since evolved our enterprise into what it is today. Sustainability, and product quality are always in the constant focus with each choice we make. We only do one thing: offer the BEST Pad Thai in Seattle.

Originally we followed a traditional brick & mortar business model which produced a lot of food waste, we’ve since transformed into a preorder model in 2024 and our food waste has all but been eliminated. Right now we are in the startup ‘Ghost/ Cloud kitchen’ phase. Popup dates are announced, time slots opened up, then you can preorder noodles for pickup on popup day at your preferred time slot.

The dream didn’t start just a couple years ago for soft launch. No, this is the culmination of an entire life’s work with TONS of help from people who believe in the dream and want to bring it to reality.
This includes YOU! Every preorder furthers our dream of finding a brick & mortar spot in Seattle to call Freddie’s Noodle Shop!

A Better Ordering Experience

Freddie’s Noodle Shop believes in moving away from the default expectation of asking for tips created by America’s tipping culture, which is ultimately rooted in racism, sexism, and ableism. We are structuring our operations outside of this norm: tipping is not a part of the ordering process.

When we do eventually grow to the point of hiring full-time staff, instead of expecting you, the customer, to pay for our employees, we will pay the wage that supports them. We hope you understand. We look forward to sharing more about what this looks like in the future.

We also understand that some of our customers might want to still give an additional monetary thanks for all the hard work we’ve put in to make you the BEST noodles you’ve ever had.
You can buy us coffee below:

Thank you so much for your support!

Sincerely,

Freddie’s Noodle Shop Team