Chicago restaurant owned by former SDS members closed by health department

The Heartland Café, a North Side Chicago restaurant owned by two former SDS radicals was closed by the City of Chicago Health Department this morning.

The SDS, short for Students for a Democratic Society, was a far-left 1960s radical group that dissolved at the end of that decade, a splinter group formed the terror organization Weather Underground.

Michael James and Katy Hogan are the owners of Heartland, and their politics have only moderated slightly since the '60s--there's a missile split in two on top of the roof of the cafe. It's there to broadcast their pacifism.

But if you visit the Heartland Café's web site, you'll see it's closed for "renovations." You'll also learn that it has a vision to serve "Good Wholesome Food for the Mind and Body."

Tom Mannis of the Chicago News Bench has been keeping an eye on the Heartland Café for years, and he says it is "dirty, filthy and vermin infested."

Mouse droppings, which my grandfather lovingly called "mouse-arinos" were found throughout the restaurant by city inspectors, food was stored at improper temperatures, and mold was discovered in an ice machine.

Lorraine Swanson, who I met last month at the Chicago Tea Party, has more, as does the Chicago Sun-Times.

Hogan and James are politically close to Alderman Joe Moore of the 49th Ward. In my opinion the pair should forget pacifism and make a pledge to kill mice once their "renovations" are completed.

Yummy!

Related post:

SDS' 1968 Tragical History Tour

Technorati tags: 60s sds Chicago radicals history Weather Underground Obama politics Election Democrats Politics Bernardine Dohrn Joe Moore food restaurants