The Heartland Cafe is a restaurant in the Rogers Park neighborhood of Chicago. Originally opened in 1976 by two activists as the "Sweet Home Chicago Heartland Café," it has become a cultural icon for the diverse neighborhood,[1] known as much for its hippie ambience and left-leaning politics as for its largely (but not exclusively) vegetarian food.[2][3]
Part of a complex of buildings that also contains a theatre studio, an adjoining music venue, and a newsstand and general store within the restaurant itself, the restaurant is routinely referred to as an "institution" and a social and political center of the neighborhood.[4][5][6] Politicians ranging from local candidates to Barack Obama have held rallies and events at the Heartland. On Saturdays, radio station WLUW broadcasts a show called "Live from the Heartland".[7]