Luis Miguel infuses his personality into everything he writes as a Local Guide. And with journalism training in his background, you can expect a good story.

When he immigrated to Montreal in 2007, the city's Latino population was still growing. Luis Miguel recalls finding masa harina, the flour used to make Venezualan arepas, at a local grocery store: "it was like a party." "Representation is very important," he said. "Something that makes you really happy are the flavors of your home, when you recognize a candy bar from your childhood or you can say, 'Oh my god, that's the way my mom used to make coffee!'"

Luis Miguel created comprehensive lists of his favorite Latin American restaurants in Montreal and beyond. His reviews offer tidbits of gastronomic history, describing things like where to find the very first Venezuelan arepa to ever hit the streets of Montreal in one review to pointing out the global importance of Peruvian cuisine on gourmet chefs in another.

With the pandemic continuing in 2021, Luis Miguel had to pivot his approach. "During the lockdown, I needed to walk. And I started discovering [new] places," he said. He wrote about shops he never noticed, like one exclusively selling rubber duckies, that went viral after his reviews. He also focused on restaurants that offered delivery and takeout in specific neighborhoods. "My point of view as a local but also as a Latino is giving Google Maps users the assurance that what they are eating, tasting is the real thing."

Want to learn more about this incredible Local Guide? Check out his contributions on Google Maps and follow his profile on Connect.