 Berrios was born on February 14, 1952, oldest of seven children. Berrios'parents were Puerto Rican natives. When he was six, his family moved into the Cabrini-Green public housing high-rises. At 13 Berrios got a job as a dishwasher in the Tower Club, a private restaurant on the 39th floor of the Civic Opera House, worked there for seven years, and eventually become a waiter. Berrios graduated from Lane Technical College Prep High School in Chicago, and received a bachelor's degree in accounting from the University of Illinois Chicago.
