Why a local chef says the Super Bowl is ‘time to be more Puerto Rican than ever’
Things feel different lately. Maybe it’s the machine gun pace of breaking news stories. Phrases like “bomb cyclone” and “deadly protest” slip into our daily conversations like it’s perfectly normal. Prepper videos clog my feeds, gentle reminders that if society collapses and I have to live off the land, I won’t last a week.
There’s also a quieter shift. People are watching their step, watching their words. If you’re Latino, like me, you’re putting your passport in your bag before you step out the door. Making plans and then considering the likelihood of something traumatic happening. Changing plans and staying in.
Hector Santiago, the chef and owner of El Super Pan, one of the few Puerto Rican restaurateurs in Altanta, thinks it’s the perfect time to have some fun.
“This is a moment for us to shine bright, not to be afraid,” he said
On Super Bowl Sunday, he is throwing what he insists is not a Super Bowl Party. It’s a Bad Bunny party. The game will be on, sure, but the game is not the point.
“I’m not much of a football fan,” Santiago admitted. “I’m rooting for the Seahawks because they have a Puerto Rican player.”
I smile. As a fellow Boricua, I’m also rooting for the Seahawks because of Federico Maranges, their rookie offensive lineman.
Santiago has been cooking in this city for 30 years. Long enough to watch quaint neighborhoods morph into city blocks. He’s seen Atlanta embrace many Latin American cuisines: Brazilian, Cuban, Mexican. Puerto Rican food, on the other hand, was not greeted with open arms. At least not at first.
“When we first opened, Puerto Rican food had to take a backseat to other Latino cultures. We had to focus more on Spanish and Caribbean food to get people in the door. It took me eight to 10 years to sell an order of morcilla,” he said, referring to the beloved traditional blood sausage that is a staple of the island’s holiday celebrations. “I had to give it away for years before people started ordering it.”
Things have shifted in the last few years. People are more curious. Santiago can position Puerto Rican food front and center on his menu. He credits the rise of Puerto Rican culture in the mainstream and doesn’t hesitate to name Bad Bunny as part of that shift.
Santiago is not alone. Boricuas all over the world are obsessed with the artist they affectionately call Benito. His 2025 record-breaking album DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS is a deeply patriotic, multigenerational homage to Puerto Rican culture. It speaks to the frustration of living in a colony where the power flickers off daily, where the economy is broken and roughly 40% of the population lives beneath the poverty line.
For many of us, Bad Bunny taking space on the most mainstream stage in the world, full of Latino pride, at a time when many Latinos are making themselves smaller, feels personal. It is a rare win in a year full of anxiety and one of the few, uncomplicated joys of the last few months.
Not everyone agrees, of course. Some people even canceled reservations at Super Pan because of the Bad Bunny theme. Santiago shrugs it off.
“I try not to get into politics,” he said. “I go with culture. The only step forward is to show people how well you can do. Like Benito said, don’t fight them. Show them love,” referring to Bad Bunny’s acceptance speech during his recent Grammy win for Album of the Year.
And that’s exactly what Santiago is doing.
“On Sunday, we will even have live music, pleneros,” he said, referring to a type of band known for playing call-and-response songs deeply rooted in Afro-Puerto Rican culture. “We’ll be passing out Puerto Rican food until people can’t eat anymore: chicharron, arroz con gandules, empanadas, like 70% of our menu. No matter who scores, the music will start,” Santiago said with a laugh.
The point, he insists, is showing up.
“It’s time to be more Puerto Rican than ever.”
Santiago said this moment feels different; it’s a moment that makes him feel proud. Proud that Puerto Rican culture is being celebrated rather than sidelined. Proud that he gets to put his flag up bigger and better than ever before. Proud to have Latinos from all over the world at his restaurant: Dominicans, Colombians, Mexicans. Everyone who walks through the door will feel at home because that’s what Puerto Rican culture does. It makes room for you at the table.
Sunday, every Puerto Rican you know will be watching the halftime show, and in Atlanta, many of them will be at El Super Pan. Others will be at El Ponce, El Sótano, Urban Pie, Reverb, and the AJC will also cover the party at La Alterna.
Granted, a Bad Bunny Super Bowl party won’t fix the problems our country is experiencing. It won’t slow the news cycle or quiet the low-grade unease every Latino is living with right now. But for a few hours, it creates a version of America that still feels within reach. The version that refuses to shrink.
Monti Carlo is the senior editor for food and dining at The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. From the Food Desk is an occasional column written by members of the AJC’s dining team.
About the Author
Monti Carlo is the Atlanta Journal-Constitution's Senior Editor of Food & Dining and a Telly Award-winning TV host, cookbook author and special events chef. She covers culinary culture, spotlighting the communities redefining Southern food today. Her cookbook, Spanglish, a loveletter to bicultural Puerto Rican cooking, publishes May 19, 2026.
