Waves of latinos came to americas heartland and they worked in its factories, farms, and Service Industries and they turned chicagoland into chicagolandia. So im here to find out what kind of impact decades of latinx influence have had on the windy city. And im gonna have some amazing food, because you know that happens a lot on this show. Its right here in my contract. Feed john. [tracks clacking] [upbeat horndriven music] [trills] [upbeat music] im here on chicagos west side in la villita, or Little Village, where theres one of the largest Mexican American communities in the midwest. The mexicans who settled here came looking for work and ended up creating the secondbiggest economy in chicago right here on 26th street, the mexican magnificent mile. With over hundreds of shops, i needed a local guide, so im meeting up with hollywood legend and chicago native, michael pena. You might have seen him in his breakout role in crash. You talking about that bullet that came through your window . Or his huge hit antman. Yeah, this dude sounds like a badass, man. Michael went from the hood to hollywood, but he always comes back home. Michael, whats up . How you doing . Whats up, bro . Hows it going, dude . Im sorry im overdressed. No, no. I think youre the first person i ever seen with a suit here. In this town . No, not in this neighborhood, because theres a lot of quinceaneras here. Oh. So you thought i was going to a quinceanera . Yeah, yeah. [laughs] so this is your favorite spot, huh . Ive 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 justits always been a part of my life. And if i did something good, if i got an a on a test and got straight as, 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, like, cream. Thats when i was like, oh, this is it. And so for the last 40some odd years you switched over to torta and forget the taco. [laughter] whether you prefer tacos or tortas, his familyrun joint has been serving up Authentic Mexican food for decades and owner raul munoz has been working at atoto atotoatatatoto here since he was born. How you doing, buddy . Whats up, man . How you doing . Help me say the name of your place because i almost had an aneurysm trying to say it. Ill break it down for you. Ahtotonilco. Ahtoto. Both nilco. Atotonilco. Yeah, yeah. I grew up here, grew up upstairs. Right upstairs . In the neighborhood, right upstairs. The first one was right across the street. Uhhuh. Thats right. And it was way, way smaller. A little hole in the wall. Kind of mom and pop. Yeah. But this is very traditional. If you go to mexico, the same kind of food you get in mexico. Oh, so this is authentic to what part of mexico . Jalisco. Jalisco. Jalisco. My dad was born and raised in jalisco. Oh, there you go. Theres the connection. Yeah, yeah. So what are we eating . Well, we have tortas, which is michaels 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 dont put yeah, we put oil. You dont 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, its 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 equals a positive. A negative times a negative equals a positive. In the film, a teacher was like, talking about math and making it really cool. And i was like, i wanted to go to a good school. Something in you saw, ok, this education is everything. Because high schools around here, dude, are one building. And theyre small. And so when you go out there, like, dude, there was two football fields, a Cross Country field. Wow, of course. Their parents were like trial lawyers, senators, judges, and stuff. And they had wealth, you know . And howd you feel about that . I didnt feel like i fit in, thats for sure. Oh, you didnt . But it was great to have that life, to see like these kids, that changed my mentality a little. Its like, when you grow up in a place like this, right, sometimes, like, you dont think i can go to college and stuff. Right. Because thats, like, thinking outside the box. Gotcha, gotcha. Outside the box of the hood. You know what i mean . Mmhmm. I went to like the worst Public Schools in the world. Oh, my god. I mean, i had a great time. But i didnt learn a damn thing. Yeah. And thats the problem. I mean, were in geographic prisons in a way. You know, our neighborhoods have the worst schools. And youre not gonna go to the Great Schools because theyre in another neighborhood. Except you got out. Yeah, the beauty of i had like, you know, we were poor. But then when i said im gonna be an actor, and theyre like, try it. Youre better than this. Damn. Yeah. You got supportive parents. Yeah, youre like, must be nice to have such supportive parents. Im just gonna drink this because its my only solace in life. Hey, gentlemen. Here we go. Yo, bro, that was quick. That torta does look dope. Dude, we gotta break this down a little bit. You see they have the crema right there. What is crema . Crema just sour cream . Its mexican sour cream. But its mexican. Whats the difference . Its saltier. Saltier . Yes. Ok. Look at this, bro. Look at this. Thats beautiful, bro. For me, this is it. Thats food porn right there. [laughter] atotostyle. Easy now. Easy. Yo, calm down. Ive been coming here for so long that youre like, once you take your first bite, youre like. [snaps fingers] thats what it tastes like. Because you cant remember fully, fully. Right. And then youre like, mm. You bring your kids here to the neighborhood, too . Yeah, i bring my wife here. Keep that tradition going. Yeah, dude, screw it. To me, family is everything, man. Its what supported me, what kept me going, what keeps me going. Yeah. I know latin people, for some reason, family is everything to us. Yeah. Why is that, bro . It has to be probably due with the way that we were raised, right . Like i remember, we had like a twobedroom apartment. It was me and my brother, mom and dad, and then seven people with us. [laughs] you know what i mean . And thats the way i you know, thats the way i love to live my life. Thats amazing, man. Its gonna be a little bit of a surprise, but youre gonna get to meet a little bit of my family. Oh, i cant wait, man. I want to meet the whole pena clan. Yeah, thats right. Like my dad is straight up mexican and really, really proud of it. What does that mean . No, because im like youre not straight up mexican . Youre straight up mexican. But when i but heres the thing. When i first got to hollywood, i was told that if i changed my name, i would work much faster. You know, theres friends and brothers, you know, that they changed their name and it did help them, man. But my dad, hes like, [speaks spanish] hes like dont change the name, dont change the name. I was like, you know what . Im not gonna change it. Right. But yeah, youre a little overdressed though, so im like yeah, all right, thats not a good look. No, no. Fix me up, man. Yeah, yeah, so i got a spot. This is embarrassing. Now i feel embarrassed. No, we wouldnt want you to be embarrassed. And ill take this with me at the same time. Yeah, lets go. Thisll hide me. Ill hide behind this drink. But you used to play around here . This 26th street . Yeah, so we used to just come out here saturdays and sundays, just walking around. My mom was just like shopping, you know what i mean, basically looking at the just looking, looking. Just looking, thats shopping. And wanting, yeah. Yeah, thats basically shopping. All right, here we go. Oh, this is it right here. Is this where im going to get my transformation . I think that this is exactly correct. [laughs] oh, man, it smells mad leathery. My god, its a real bear. I love this shit. I love taxidermy. Does that make me sick . You can respect it and not feel in danger. It says. [speaks spanish] oh, sorry. So you used to come here as a kid or this is a brand new no, no, my dad did. My dad was wearing boots until i was like five years old. And then he started working in a factory. You dress me cause this is your fam. I dont know what your familys going to respect. Yeah, to be honest with you, these hats look awesome. They do, man, they look so badass. Yeah. I think, yeah, dude. Oh, this one fits me good. Oh, dude, look at that. I could be a cowboy. Why would all those like, people in brownface and all those eli wallach in the good, the bad, and the ugly. Dont die. Ill get you water. Dont die until later. Son of a yeah. He wasnt mexican. Well, because they wanted to be mexican. They wanted to oh, they wanted. They wanted that flavor. They were jonesing. Yeah, they yeah, dude. They wanted to appropriate. Because yeah, they were like, dude, that looks so damn cool. Yeah, damn, i gotta be one of them. [laughter] now you need a shirt, bro. Yeah, i do need a shirt. Look at this right here though, bro. Oh, thats nice. I like that. Oh, dude. Its not gucci or versace, its vasari. Yo, i want to wear this i want to wear this one. No. Come on. Hey, papi chulo if that aint me. Papi chulo for real. Would you look at that . Dude, what about one of these . Thats like papi likes math. Math with a couple of pencils here and a little protractor. What about this one right here . Oh, i like this sort of like referee, gucci. So when you guys play soccer, i can go, ok, you got a foul, fouled out, mike. Yeah. If theres a fight, and youre like, [imitates whistle] ok, guys, lets do that fight over again. Keep your hands to yourself. Keep yourhey, hey, stop fighting. Stop fighting. [chuckles] but neither one of us are tall enough. [both grunt] dude, its like highfiving an nba player. Youre like, whats up, man . Whats up, shaq . Whats up, shaq . [laughter] what do you think . Boots, too . Yeah, exactly. I think these bad boys will be absolutely perfect. Thats right, my brother man. What kind of leather is this, brother . Monster fish. Oh, yeah, i believe that. How comehow come youre not dressed up like that . Oh, no, no, i was talking about you. cause you were overdressed and i said, you know what and now im not overdressed . Now youre perfect. I want to blend in. Youre gonna blend in perfect with my family. Oh, i cant wait. Theyre gonna appreciate this. Why are you laughing so much . No, no, no, its just its just because youre funny. Youre a comedian. Is that what it is . Yeah, yeah, yeah. [laughter] when my doctor gave me breztri for my copd things changed for me. Breztri gave me better breathing, symptom improvement, and reduced flareups. Breztri wont replace a Rescue Inhaler for sudden breathing problems. It is not for asthma. Tell your doctor if you have a Heart Condition or high Blood Pressure before taking it. Dont take breztri more than prescribed. Breztri may increase your risk of thrush, pneumonia, and osteoporosis. Call your doctor if worsened breathing, chest pain, mouth or tongue swelling, problems urinating, vision changes, or eye pain occur. Ask your doctor about breztri. 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I cant wait to take part in michaels Traditional Mexican barbecue. And i hope they see that i put a little extra effort to honor their culture. Ladies and gentlemen, john leguizamo. [cheering] whats up . I feel chill. How are you . Whats up, dude . Thank you for having me. Dont even dont even worry about it. Hes just gonna blend in real quick, dude. [laughter] he told me i would blend in. Yeah, yeah. [laughter] oh, this is sylvia. She really wants to meet you. [speaking spanish] nice to meet you. Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey. Easy. How are you . Careful, sylvia. Welcome, john, to my home. Thank you. What a beautiful home you got. Yeah. These are the gamblers right here. Well, this is my son. Yeah, yeah. [laughter] this is everybody else, the gamblers. These are the gamblers . Oh, yeah. The domino players. Thats your pops . Yeah. [all speaking spanish] you got a very talented son. Thats what you do like, normally here, when you come home . Basically, the same people just show up. I mean, weve been doing this for i dont know, forever. A couple of decades . Yeah. Shall we eat, man . Yeah, lets eat some of this. Ok, everybody, i know you guys aint shy. Come on. [all speaking spanish] what is it . [laughs] i notice that im standing out a little bit. Is it because of that shirt . Im a buffet of bad taste. [laughter] wheres mikes at . [laughter] [laughter] i politely declined. Your outfit is great. But thats not us. [laughter] all jokes aside, growing up as an immigrant in new york city, it was tough figuring out how i fit in and i wondered how these guys handled that same struggle here in the midwest. How do you keep your mexican culture, if you are keeping it alive . So when our family moved here, it was like we had to adapt, right . It was like more americanizing us. Right. So we can be accepted. Right, right. Were mexicanish. Were not into traditional that much. But when i went to the canelo fight and theyre singing the Mexican National anthem, im like, what the hell is this song that everybodys singing . I dont know what nobodys singing. All of a sudden, i was listening to the whole crowd. Im like, damn, im not mexican. [laughter] right, right. Im missing all this culture. Yeah, yeah. Because im from the south side of chicago, but im like, you know, im not like into the culture every day. So i was like, damn. And i felt that pride. Right, right. Even though like i say, you notice that people from mexico dont really like mexicans from america. So whats the beef . Whats the hate . Because were mexican but were not mexican. And then americans dont hate americans dont like mexicans because were not americans. So its like were in the middle. No, i felt that too. I feel that too being a latin colombian guy. I was always kind of feeling like i was in between, between worlds. You know, i wasnt really latin enough. And i wasnt really accepted by americans. I was always, like, trapped somewhere in the middle. Here in chicago, its like the higher numbers you grow up, its like the better area youre in. So if you go from, like, Little Village, which is like 26th street, to the higher numbers, like were in the 60s right now, its like youre doing better in life. Yeah. Youre doing better in life. Climbing up, yeah. So in the 80s, we got to 47th street, and we were one of the only mexicano families in the whole neighborhood, in the whole neighborhood. For miles, yeah. We werent accepted. We were not accepted. How did they show that you werent accepted . They burned down our garage. Oh, snap. They graffitied our house. When we first moved here, i think it was i was 11, so like mid80s or whatever, and we went to the park, marquette park, and thats the first time that i ever heard spic and wetback. Yeah, exactly. And razor, go back to your country. I was in seventh grade, dude. Like, you dont want to hear that when youre in seventh grade. Like, that hurts, dude. Yeah. And i would get into fights, you know . But when i met these guys, i was like. High school years. 16, 17. We just became boys. So what made you become friends . We were kind of like the two, you know, we were nerdy or whatever. And then i met his mom, you know, sylvia. Oh, sylvias your mom . Yeah, and shes like my second mom. She always pushed school. She was the first one in the whole family with a bachelors degree. My parents, you know, they came from mexico. Shes, you know, second generation. But her sphere of influence is like crazy, dude. You know, like its really affected everyone. Like, i would have never thought to be an actor. You know, i never dreamt that big. Shes the one who told him to go on his first audition. Incredible. But hes always been a hard worker, dude. Yeah. Even if he didnt succeed in acting, whatever else he would have done, he would have been he would have been great at it, dude, period. Thats it. Yeah, there, you got it. You go it. There you go, look at that. Thats my best friend. Is that right . Hes gonna put a poster, michael pena for president. It sounds like you always had a work ethic and you always had a sense of keeping at something till you got good at it, like you were driven. Yeah, and i learned it from that guy, from my dad. Which guy . From that guy. [laughter] he had a fulltime job. And then he had a job at night and then he had a job on the weekends. Right. To put me through prep school. Prep school was it was expensive. Yeah