Chef Héctor Santiago

Serving Puerto Rico, One Plate at a Time

By Daniela Cintron

Published May 22, 2025
Last Updated May 23, 2025

When chef Hector Santiago first flew over Atlanta in 1995, the city’s sprawling green canopy made an unexpected impression. “You couldn’t see almost any buildings,” he remembers. “I was like, man, I don’t know, I like it.” That instinct brought him from San Juan, Puerto Rico, to the American South just before the 1996 Olympic Games, and it was here, in a city cloaked in trees and possibility, that he began to find his rhythm.

Santiago grew up in the Rio Piedras area of San Juan, specifically in Copey Bajo, a neighborhood he describes as “in the mountains, but in the city in a sense.” His roots run deep — familial, cultural and culinary — and even after decades in Atlanta, the essence of Puerto Rico still pulses through everything he does.

At first, Santiago cooked Southern food, infusing it with touches of Puerto Rican flavor. But something was missing. “That just didn’t fill me, right?” he says. “I wanted to cook Latino food. I wanted to cook Puerto Rican food.” Everything clicked once he found a community of friends from across Latin America — Colombia, Nicaragua and beyond. “We all had this common thread,” he says, “and it was just incredible.”

That revelation sparked a culinary mission: to use food as a vessel for culture, connection and pride. His restaurant, El Super Pan, located at Ponce City Market and The Battery Atlanta, is a love letter to that vision. While rooted in Puerto Rican traditions, the menu also reflects influences from Cuban bakeries — an homage to the intertwined histories of the Caribbean. “Puerto Rican bakeries in San Juan have that touch from Cuba,” Santiago explains. “A lot of the owners are Cuban.”

But Santiago’s approach goes beyond ingredients. “The restaurant is not just about the food — it’s everything,” he says. “The culture, the music, the sense of hospitality; it’s natural in us.” And being in the South, he says, means doubling down on that warmth and hospitality. His spaces are as much about storytelling and celebration as they are about flavor.

To Santiago, being Puerto Rican is non-negotiable — it’s embedded in every part of his being. “It’s who I am. It’s in my veins. It’s where I grew up,” he says. “You can take a Puerto Rican to the moon, and the Puerto Rican will still be Puerto Rican,” he says. That fierce sense of identity powers everything from his roasted pork sandwiches to his dedication to creating spaces where Latin culture is front and center.

Atlanta, once home to just a small Puerto Rican eatery and a tight-knit community, is now a full-blown cultural hub. Santiago has witnessed the evolution first-hand. “There are people from all over Latin America here now, from all parts of the world. You can’t miss it,” he says. That shift inspires him to keep pushing, cooking and telling stories of heritage, one dish at a time.

Through El Super Pan and his decades of dedication, chef Hector Santiago has helped carve out space for Puerto Rican cuisine in Atlanta’s vibrant food scene. And in doing so, he’s created something larger: a place where the flavors of la isla find new life without losing their soul.

Meet other Puerto Rican creatives in Atlanta.

Daniela is the content manager and bilingual editor for Discover Atlanta. As an award-winning bilingual journalist, she is passionate about shinning light on untold stories about culture, food and Atlanta.