but everybody just calls it the bean. 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]
ok, i know it s really called cloud gate, but everybody just calls it the bean. 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. [t
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 here on chicago s west side in la villita, or little village, where there s one of the largest mexican american communities in the midwest. the mexicans who settled here came looking for work and ended up creating the second-biggest economy in chicago right here on 26th street, the mexican magnificent mile. with over hundreds of shops, i needed a local guide, so i m meeting up with hollywood legend and chicago native, michael peña. you might have seen him in his breakout role in crash. - you talking about
- well, we have tortas, which is michael s favorite. - yo, how do you guys make the torta? you tell me. - dude, we start off with the bun. we put it on the grill. we put a little bit of oil on there. - oh, you put oil, but you don t put - yeah, we put oil. - you don t put butter? - no, no butter. - no, no butter. - ah. - no extra cholesterol. - no, no, no, no, more cholesterol because they put they use the animal fat, no? - actually, it s soy. - oh, soy. - no. dude, what? - are you ok? are you all right? - what? what? [laughter] [upbeat music] so you grew up here, man. - yeah. - this is where you came from. and you keep coming back to it. i love it. - yeah, i keep coming back. but i went to prep school, which is 100 blocks away. - you grew up in the hood. - i grew up in the hood. - but you went to a prep school? - you know, a lot of it was like, i saw this movie stand and deliver. - a negative time times a negative equals a positive. say it. all: a negative times a negative equal
And i remember i slept like three, four hours a night because it was two eight-hour shifts. - sí. - yeah, yeah. - balancing multiple cultures for first-generation latinos is never easy, especially if they re made to feel like outsiders in their new home. sometimes friends who feel like family can provide that extra support. and in michael s case, it was his godmother sylvia. so i want to hear how you inspired all these young fellows into being who they are today. - well, i had the high school across the street from my house, so these guys were always hanging out. my son always was bringing somebody home. but mike was full of energy. and i said he s gotta do something with his energy. i think he would be good as an actor. - you re like a skilled placements person. - yeah, i saw the skills that he had. - yeah, yeah, yeah. - i mean, i m so proud of him.