"Bad Bunny's much-watched Super Bowl halftime show paid vibrant homage to his home of Puerto Rico and to a sort of home-away-from-home right here in Brooklyn. Partway through the performance, Bad Bunny wound his way through a crowd of dancers toward a set depicting a New York City street and took a shot offered by a beaming woman standing inside a bar. The set was a precise replica of Toñitas, the beloved Puerto Rican social club in Williamsburg. Above Bad Bunny's head, the bar's address, 244 Grand St., was visible in reflective letters, just as it looks at the real bar."
"Toñitas is the last Puerto Rican social club in Brooklyn, a symbol of the Latino communities that have called Los Sures home for generations. Cay founded the bar as the members-only Caribbean Social Club in the 1970s, as immigration to New York City from Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic peaked. A lot has changed since then - Williamsburg has gentrified rapidly, its Latino population has begun to shrink, and many locally-owned businesses have shuttered - but Toñitas remains. Cay cooks and serves up Puerto Rican food herself as visitors sip on cheap beers, play dominoes and pool, and chat in Spanish."
"At some point, the bar caught Bad Bunny's attention. He celebrated the release of his album "Un Verano Sin Ti" at the bar and shouted it out in " ," the leading track of his 2025 album "Debí Tirar Más Fotos." "Un shot de cañita en casa de Toñita y PR se siente cerquita," he says on the track, or "A shot of rum at Toñita's house and Puerto Rico feels so close.""
Bad Bunny's Super Bowl halftime show recreated a New York City street set centered on Toñitas, a precise replica of the beloved Puerto Rican social club in Williamsburg. Toñitas is the last Puerto Rican social club in Brooklyn and a symbol of the Latino communities in Los Sures. Maria Antonia Cay founded the members-only Caribbean Social Club in the 1970s during peak immigration from Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic. Williamsburg has gentrified rapidly and its Latino population has shrunk, yet Toñitas endures. Cay continues to cook and serve Puerto Rican food as patrons sip cheap beers, play dominoes and pool, and chat in Spanish. Bad Bunny celebrated album releases there and referenced the bar in his music.
Read at Brooklyn Paper
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