Little Uncle Is Going Up for Sale

Little Uncle's dom yum wun sen isn't long for this world.
Image: Sara Marie D'Eugenio
Little Uncle owners Wiley and PK Frank put the word out today that they’re planning to move on from their phenomenal Thai restaurant on Madison. There’s a bit of a twist: The couple have put the restaurant on the market but don’t yet have a buyer. So while the end of Little Uncle is drawing nigh, it’s still not clear when. The couple plans to serve their dungeness fried rice and pad thai until further notice.
“After almost 9 years, we have decided to move on to do other things with our lives,” according to the note from the couple. PK has been pursuing carpentry training (which, badass) and will likely turn her attention toward carpentry and construction. Wiley, who was sous chef at Lark before this pop-up-turned-restaurant became his focus, will stay in food.
It seems so standard now, but Little Uncle was part of a nascent generation of establishments who found nontraditional ways to build a following before they opened an actual restaurant. It popped up at the former Licorous and La Bête, and existed in restaurant form in Pioneer Square before finding its current little triangle of a home on Capitol Hill (and, for a while, a nearby takeout counter in the current home of Westman’s). All the fits and starts were a function of the Franks wanting to live within their restaurant means, and while Little Uncle is by no means fancy, it’s always felt genuine in the extreme.
To reiterate, no clear idea when Little Uncle’s storied run will end, exactly. So get in there for some khao soi gai, stat.