NORTH CENTER — Puerto Rican restaurants across the city had a rush of orders ahead of Bad Bunny’s halftime performance Sunday, with one restaurant owner calling the upswing in business a “madhouse.”
People across Chicago tuned in to watch and the famed Puerto Rican artist with bacalaítos, tostones and other classics from the island. The flood of orders was a boon for restaurants that typically see business slow in the winter, with owners saying some customers were brand new to Puerto Rican cuisine while others were Boricuas looking to celebrate their culture.
North Center’s Borinquen, 3811 N. Western Ave., received takeout orders on par with major holiday rushes like on Christmas and New Year’s, co-owner Gaby Figueroa said.
“The day of it, it was just a madhouse. We, at some point, had to completely turn off our delivery platforms,” Figueroa said. “At some point I think we were at about a 30-minute delay on most pickup orders. Which, considering how many orders we had, I think my team did a really, really great job.”
Borinquen had received catering orders earlier in the week for Sunday. But the day of the Super Bowl, its phone constantly rang with people placing last-minute orders for appetizers like alcapurrias, pastelillos and other finger foods, Figueroa said.
“And I can’t tell you how many trays of rice. It was a lot of rice. We were cooking all day long,” Figueroa said. “I have a total of five cooks that I rotate in the kitchen. And we were all hands on deck Sunday. And even … with everyone coming in a little bit early to help, it was absolutely insane.”
Bad Bunny’s performance was itself a celebration of all things Puerto Rico, and it included a real wedding and appearances by celebrities, including Chicago classical conductor Giancarlo Guerrero, Lady Gaga, Pedro Pascal and Cardi B. An estimated 135 million people watched the halftime show worldwide, making it the all-time most-watched midgame performance, according to CBS News.
Some of those fans were watching on a big screen at Bridgeport’s Ramova Theatre, 3520 S. Halsted St., at an event put on by Chicago Bears tailgating group Da Crew, said group founder Edgar Latorre. About 400 people showed up to the watch party.
Latorre, who is Puerto Rican and Mexican, grew up in Humboldt Park and wanted to make the event feel like going through Division Street in the summer for the Puerto Rican parade, he said. He invited the Windy City Jeep Club to post up outside the venue with their Puerto Rican flags raised high, and he had La Palma Express Restaurant, 7020 W. Grand Ave., cater alongside other local vendors.
“It was more than just the basics, right? I wanted to show them the true experience of how it is to be Puerto Rican,” Latorre said. “We were happy to see someone like us on the big screen. It was amazing. It was electric.”
At one point, La Bomba, 3221 W. Armitage Ave., had about 70 people waiting for takeout orders, said owner Kato Tores.
In Puerto Rico, it’s common to grab various dishes from food stands and turn the spread into a meal, and many of La Bomba’s customers did the same for the Super Bowl, ordering platters of appetizers so they could try a variety of foods, Tores said.
“I had a couple from the suburbs that called asking, ‘Hey, we never tried Puerto Rican food. What you recommend?’” Tores said. “Watching this Super Bowl, everybody was happy with Benito. So why bring wings and pizza if we could keep it with the whole culture and bring Puerto Rican food instead?
“And it was a good boost for the Puerto Rican community, especially in Chicago because there are a lot of Puerto Ricans here.”
From the moment Logan Square’s Jibaritos y Más, 3400 W. Fullerton Ave., opened Sunday, orders came in non-stop, with the line nearly around the block at one point, owner Cynthia Pereira said.
“We were expecting the restaurant to be a little busy. Yes, of course. But we weren’t expecting it to be the way it was. It was something that we’ve never experienced before,” she said. “Usually for this day, it’s actually a little bit of a slow day for us. But Sunday, from the moment that we open all the way to when pretty much we closed down, it was completely packed.”
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