but you know what chicago is not known for? latinos. cause when you think mexican, you think what? texas or cali? and puerto ricans, you think new york city immediately. but nope, they re right here in chi town. that s right, chicago has the second-largest mexican population of any u.s. city and a very, very large, thriving puerto rican community. latinos have been here longer than wrigley field, and they ve brought their amazing culture with them. i m talking food from michoacán and salsa from san juan. waves of latinos came to america s heartland and they worked in its factories, farms, and service industries and they turned chicagoland into chicagolandia. so i m here to find out what kind of impact decades of latinx influence have had on the windy city. and i m gonna have some amazing food, because you know that happens a lot on this show. it s right here in my contract. feed john. [tracks clacking] [upbeat horn-driven music] - [trills] [upbeat music] i m h
biggest economy in chicago, right here on 26th street, the mexican magnificent mile. with over one hundreds of shops, i needed a local guy, so i m meeting up a hollywood legend and chicago native michael pena. you might have seen him and his breakout role in crash. i tell you what that bullet who came to my window. or associate, and man. and this dude sounds like a bass man. michael went from the hood to hollywood. but he always comes back home. e. of quinceañeras here. - oh. - so you thought i was going to a quinceañera? - yeah, yeah. - [laughs] so this is your favorite spot, huh? - i ve been coming to this spot since i was four, you know? - wow. - my dad every time before and after soccer games, we would come here. it just it s always been a part of my life. and if i did something good, if i got an a on a test and got straight a s, like, my dad would bring me here. you know what i mean? - yeah, yeah. - when i was like six, i had the torta for the first time. and it had, lik