Jonathan Zaragoza always has a joke, story or “Jonathan-ism,” as his partner, Jennifer Contraveos, puts it, at the ready.

“You ask any cook that’s worked for me, they know I’m a goofball,” Zaragoza said. “I always said in my whole career, the food is serious. The job is heavy as is, let’s keep it light.”

He’s still telling stories and jokes but these days he’s doing it in front of a camera instead of in a restaurant kitchen. In just the past few months, Zaragoza — who goes by @goatboyintl on social media — has built up a large following across several platforms. As of this writing, his YouTube channel was closing in on 80,000 subscribers, his Instagram account clocked in at 246,000 and TikTok was at 160,000 followers and counting.

South Side Roots

But before the likes and followers, his love of food goes all the way back to his upbringing on the South Side of Chicago.

He learned flavors and techniques from his grandmother on his dad’s side. But Mama Z, as he likes to call his mom who makes appearances on his videos and who has her own, learned a lot from his grandmother and made the dishes her own.

As early as age 5, he stood on a step stool, helping his mother stir eggs for salsa de huevo or huevos a la Mexicana.

A few years later Zaragoza was watching a show on Food Network when he saw the host prepare a meal on a budget for her family. She made a dish that resembled a torta and he recalled thinking, “I could do that!” He asked his mom for $25 and bought a rotisserie chicken, mayonnaise, chipotle peppers in adobo, avocados and Monterey Jack cheese, which he prepped and served when his parents returned home.

Birria, Backyard Ovens, and a Crash Course in Hospitality

Cooking eventually evolved from preparing food for the family to a family business. In 2002, his dad traveled to his hometown in Jalisco, Mexico, to learn how to cook the roasted goat specialty, birria and he taught the craft to Zaragoza. Eventually, his father and grandfather built a wood-burning oven in the backyard for their so-called “underground restaurant,” Zaragoza says.

He was the “busboy, firekeeper and gopher,” starting the fire at 6 p.m. on Fridays, cooking the goat overnight and opening the doors at 9 a.m.

In 2007 after leaving his customer service job, Zaragoza’s father opened Birrieria Zaragoza, where his son was essentially the only employee.

“It was a crash course in hospitality for me,” Zaragoza says.

It wasn’t long after the family restaurant opened that Zaragoza was looking to level up in his culinary career. He tried culinary school twice and dropped out, opting to forgo the classroom and learn directly from chefs. In his teens and early 20s, he worked with renowned Chicago chefs such as Andrew Zimmerman at Sepia.

After working as executive chef at modern Mexican street food restaurant Masa Azul and doing restaurant consulting, which took him around the world to open restaurants in places like Dubai, Zaragoza says he’s gone “all in on content” this year.

Salsa 101 and the Digital Content Wave

In January, Zaragoza filmed the first video of his Salsa 101 series, and “it went crazy,” garnering over a million views on TikTok.

“I think what resonated with people was just pulling back the curtain on something that is so well known across the globe, which is salsa, but not everyone knows how to make it,” says Zaragoza. He also adds tips that people don’t think about, such as rinsing onions, which sparked significant debate in the comments.

In addition to Salsa 101, Zaragoza is looking to share 101 recipes—and so far, he’s completed nearly 35. Another area of content he’s exploring is “Recipes I Made Up and Liked.” The concept riffs on Mexican food by adding in elements of other cuisines.

One video showed a play on his favorite Chinese takeout dish, shrimp toast, called shrimp “toastada” with shrimp farce, garlic, sesame oil and herbs spread on a corn tostada with a Maggi Tamarind soy sauce. “It’s stuff that people crave and want to eat,” he said. “So that’s what I want to do; cook more freely and show people like it’s not always about tradition.”

Aside from creating his own content, Zaragoza hosts a cooking show called “Let Them Cook” with Whistle Sports, where he cooks alongside professional athletes. It’s also fitting because he played baseball up until he was 22 years old, even competing in world tournaments before he quit the sport to pursue his culinary career.

“Everything I’ve done in my career has led up to these moments, and it’s cool,” he said.

Heart Behind the Heat

Outreach is also a priority for Zaragoza. He helped design a program called Global Eats, which takes him to schools around the country to introduce students to international cuisines. Each child receives a ‘passport,’ chooses a country they’d like to explore, and then learns how to prepare a dish from that region.

“This program helps [students] see what their future could look like,” Zaragoza said.

While he’s accomplished many things in his culinary career, he said he still doesn’t feel like he’s a chef.

“Maybe eventually I’ll get to that point in my career where I feel like I’m a chef. But for now, it’s just I’m passionate about people, I’m passionate about stories, and food is a great [connector] of all those things.”

He adds: “I think that’s what draws me to the game, honestly, is the people and the places and the energy that you get from sitting around the table and passing a plate. It’s a beautiful thing. It’s like something that makes you inherently human. … The privilege to be a part of that ecosystem and being the one cooking, it is just a huge honor.”