The Heartland Café
For all of you organic lovers out there, I found the perfect little place for you! The Heartland Café is a small café off of the Morse stop (just one stop north on the red line from Loyola) that specializes in all-organic and locally grown foods! I have a friend who is a health nut and vegetarian, so we decided to check it out one night for dinner! In this post, I’ll tell you a little bit about this unique place.
The outside of this little café matches the rustic feel of the inside. The building is old, probably from the early 1900’s, and is decorated to establish some of the history into the modern business! Upon sitting down, we were handed a unique menu that offered many different types of foods, such as gourmet sandwiches, entrees, salads, and sides—all organic! One of my friends and I decided to try the buttermilk chicken with vegetables and veggie mash (mashed potatoes with vegetables in them!) It was absolutely delicious. My other friend ordered the vegetable gratin, which seemed to be a mixture of vegetables all together on top of potatoes of some sort! I didn’t try any of it, but it looked and smelled delicious! We also ordered pink lemonade, and were pleasantly surprised to find that it was also organic. The lemonade tasted extremely fresh, and was nothing like the bottled sugary pink lemonade we were used to! We also decided to try dessert. We all ordered our own slice of vegan chocolate cake, and it was so amazing! At first I wasn’t sure what to expect of it, because how can you make a cake with no eggs or milk, right? Also, the cake seemed hard until you actually bite into it and find it to be extremely soft! Needless to say, I was skeptical at first but found that I loved the vegan chocolate cake! It’s definitely a must try.
Once we were full, we decided to take a look around the shop part of the café. Here, there were many different organic items available for purchase ranging from foods to household items and cleaning supplies. It was really cool to see all of the items that I normally buy regular in vegan form. I know it’s healthier, but sometimes more expensive. However, I’d love to give some of that stuff a try sometime!
All in all, if you are ever in the mood for some delicious food, I definitely recommend The Heartland Café. For vegans and non-vegans alike, the food is delicious, the people are kind, and the atmosphere is great! Pop in and order some delicious healthy food sometime!