Dave148 wrote:On a related note - according to http://siunikarmeniangrill.com/find_us - the Skokie location is now open. I'm planning to do a drive-by later today to confirm.

I spoke too soon. Checked out the new spot this morning. Not quite done yet.

Just got home from a completely satisfying midweek birthday dinner for my wife. Had the lamb shank, "airline" chicken, stuffed poblano and creme caramel.

There are far more more pricey and for that matter stuffy downtown restaurants that can't compete with Libertad. For a Thursday night they were doing a brisk amount of business. Glad to see that!! The one knock some people may have is a limited menu...but from my perspective, anything you chose is a winner. The service was helpful and polite.

I'm not sure when it started but Libertad is now open for Sunday brunch.

http://www.libertad7931.com/brunch/

Found out quite by accident as we were trying to find a brunch spot for today in the suburbs, and OpenTable showed them as having 11 AM tables. [I mention this explicitly since some restaurants have a love/hate relationship with OpenTable...we would not have otherwise known about Libertad's brunch since it also hasn't been mentioned here yet]

We showed up about 10:40 AM and about half the restaurant was occupied. The staff were friendly and accommodating for our two children and the high chair was out in a flash.

My older daughter had the french toast - because she's a bit picky, we had it served plain, with the roasted pineapple ice cream and the fruit on the side. Agave was also brought instead of syrup. The compote listed on the menu never came but was not missed. My daughter proclaimed the French toast to be excellent, though she wasn't a huge fan of the ice cream - it was a very light flavor and I think she wanted something stronger. We also ordered the yogurt parfait, which was pretty (sorry pic didn't turn out) and ended up doing well with the agave. Mrs EdB60035 had the huevos con chorizo - scrambled eggs, sausage, black beans, and queso fresco, served with tortillas. It had a nice spicy kick and was given a thumbs up. Me, I had the winner plate of the meal, a ticket to heaven for only $8 - the omelet, which included bacon and brussels sprouts, topped with shaved manchego cheese and chunky potatoes.



The omelet was perfect, a little crispy, definitely flavorful in every single bite. I only recently have started eating eggs so to clear my plate on this one was a real testimonial. It wasn't chewy at all, and the sprouts had a nice crispness still in them.

I would have loved to have tried the bloody Mary, but needed a clear head for the day so opted instead for a guyaba - mango, guava, banana, and lime juice.



This was really tasty as well. Mrs. EdB60035 tried the Mexican hot chocolate, which had a nice spiciness to it in addition to the rich chocolate flavor.

I expected we would want to order yet one more dish but this foursome satisfied us. As a bonus, though I'm not exactly sure why, they didn't charge us for the French toast (it was listed on the check but with a 0 next to it for price), so it was an inexpensive brunch as well.

Jerry D wrote: For a Thursday night they were doing a brisk amount of business.

They still are doing a brisk business, showed up tonight at 5:30 and 3 tables were taken, by 6:45pm not a table in the house to be had and folks waiting. Thankfully the table next to us was the last to be seated and I would agree like others stated that once someone is next to you, you are in their business as tables are very close.

This evening we shared 3 items:

Poblano Tempura tempura poblano, goat cheese, wild mushrooms, tofu, epazote, salsa de árbol

Flautas chicken barbacoa, watercress, crème fraiche, queso fresco, salsa cruda, pickled onions

Salmon black rice, miso-mezcal glaze, green papaya slaw, serrano-lemon salsa (not my choice but my friend's favorite salmon preparation)

Plating was not as polished as in some of the photos upstream in this thread.

The quality of the ingredients and the fine preparation of those ingredients were obivous, however the flavors just did not pop the way I wanted them to. All the food was good but lacked punch.

My friend loved the place so I'm sure we'll go back at some point but it won't be my first choice.

We had brunch at Libertad on Sunday and it was delicious. I had the aforementioned brussel sprout omelet (sans bacon) and my husband chowed down on the breakfast burrito. He is a true connoisseur of the breakfast burrito in all its forms, and his report was this was the best he's ever had. My son was a little less happy with the options as it's not a typical Sunday brunch place -- no piles of pancakes, and he's not a fan of French toast. He settled on the crab benedict and proceeded to deconstruct it, eating the crab, the bacon, and bits of the egg.

The coffee is also quite good; I did have to ask for fresh cups as the initial pour was lukewarm at best. Service was quick, the restaurant decor is quite pleasant, and the server was happy to give us dinner menus to peruse. She asked how I found out about the restaurant; of course I said, "LTH Forum!"

Took mom to Libertad for Sunday brunch. She's not what you would call an adventurous eater so I made sure there were some things she could eat. They had a nice omelet option of the day but she chose the French toast. She loved it and even liked the pineapple ice cream. I had the chilaquiles because I was missing the ones I had recently in Puerto Vallarata. These were very different from PV but equally yummy. The tortilla chips were crisper and the egg on top was perfection. Husband had the eggs benedict with chorizo and also was very pleased. Since he order eggs benedict everywhere that has it on the menu, I'll take his word. I also found that the first cup of coffee was barely room temp but after that, the problem was corrected. The small, outdoor space will be fun to try in the summer for dinner. I wish them well. They're nice people.

Franabanana wrote:The coffee is also quite good; I did have to ask for fresh cups as the initial pour was lukewarm at best.

Jean Blanchard wrote:I also found that the first cup of coffee was barely room temp but after that, the problem was corrected.

Sounds like you guys were there at the exact same time. Cosmic.

I really miss Libertad being open for lunch during the week. I'm told that they do have tentative plans to resume weekday lunch service sometime in May.

=R=

ronnie_suburban wrote:I'm told that they do have tentative plans to resume weekday lunch service sometime in May.

This did not happen. According to their website, they're still not open for lunch.

=R=

ronnie_suburban wrote:

ronnie_suburban wrote:I'm told that they do have tentative plans to resume weekday lunch service sometime in May.

This did not happen. According to their website, they're still not open for lunch.

=R=

I wouldn't rely on their website. Better to call and confirm.

ronnie_suburban wrote:

ronnie_suburban wrote:I'm told that they do have tentative plans to resume weekday lunch service sometime in May.

This did not happen. According to their website, they're still not open for lunch.

=R=

Unfortunately. I hope Spiny is correct.

spinynorman99 wrote:I wouldn't rely on their website. Better to call and confirm.

Of course, I did. They did not answer the phone and the outgoing message says to check their website for hours.

=R=

It's a good idea to call them in the evenings as well. The website says they are open until midnight on weekends, but our waitress said they will shut the kitchen down early if they are not filling tables. We were there on Friday night and it was hopping up until about 10-10:30 when they did "last call" on food prepared in the kitchen. I think they'd still be open at the bar and for dessert/coffee.

Visited for the first time with my wife Saturday night and we both loved it. We had the Camerones, Flautas, Poblano, and Asada. We thought the Camerones were the most outstanding and the Poblano was the "Best Chile Rienos ever!"

Fuzzbone wrote:Visited for the first time with my wife Saturday night and we both loved it. We had the Camerones, Flautas, Poblano, and Asada. We thought the Camerones were the most outstanding and the Poblano was the "Best Chile Rienos ever!"

The menu's small enough that you can pretty much order everything over 2 or 3 visits. The scallops are my wife's favorite and the crab cake is remarkably well executed.

We returned to Libertad last night as a last-minute reservation. I enjoyed the food, but I feel like it's been dumbed down a bit. We were most specifically not looking for a Cinco de Mayo experience (and that's not what it was), but I recall the menu being more pan-Latin, whereas almost everything last night fit squarely into Mexican Regional.

The amuse was a broccoli-jalapeno cream soup, which was very nice. (Even SueF who eschews green veg liked it).
Tacos Al Pastor were on special. Very tasty, but I prefer a crisped-grilled version to a saucy-stewed version.
Poblano was pretty ordinary for a chile relleno, the only elevations being a tempura batter, and goat cheese as the filling. Previous posters described a version with mushrooms and other fillings, but none of that here.
Pork Belly with kale and beans was delicious (but perhaps a bit small of a serving, even for small plates), nice red sauce on it.
Barbacoa was a lamb shank with a similar red sauce and a parsnip risotto. Very tender and succulent lamb with the spiciness of the sauce a nice counterpoint.
Asado was a piece of skirt steak (cut thick) with yucca shoestrings and a chimichurri. This was definitely a hit (and probably the least Mexican dish we had).

As always their cocktails are bright and imaginitive. I had an Asian Pear Mojito with Hum and Squirt (although I think it had more grapefruit pulp than pear).

I don't know if they've dumbed down their menu, or if it's a matter of seasonal ingredients, but this was not as exciting of a menu as when we were there in 2011.

Had my first dinner last night at Libertad and it was excellent.
Aguacate: a watercress salad with avacodao, manchego, radish, watercress and homemade croutons. A simple but nice opener.
Poblano: tempura poblano pepper, goat cheese, wild mushrooms, tofu, epazote, salsa de habenero: Nice light coating and a rich filling. The waiter said this was for those who like spicy food, but it's what I call "suburban hot." Just a mild kick, but a tasty, well balanced dish.
Veneras: scallops, black rice, long beans, yuzu-habanero-butter sauce. Perfect scallops and a mild but excellent sauce.
Panna Cotta: with nutella, candied almonds, mexican vanilla whipped cream. Not my kind of thing, but my wife loved it.

Nothing here contains big, bold, flavors. But everything is very well executed with good flavor. Service is excellent. They were almost full on a Wednesday evening, so this place appears to be thriving, and justifiably so.

It's been a while since anyone posted here about Libertad. Since then, I've been there several times, and they are turning out food that is consistently excellent and delicious. I took photos of our dinner last week. Here's what the three of us had.

Amuse bouche - I forget what was in it - sorry! - but it was good.

Shrimp and lobster stuffed avocado (off-menu special and I'm sorry I didn't take a photo until after we started into it)

Scallops (off-menu special) - grilled scallops with quinoa cake and bok choy

Poblano - beer-battered corn meal, chevre & habanero jack, chickpeas, pickled mushrooms

Tuna - pan seared, verduras salteadas, pickled jicama, wasabi, dijon

Cangrejo - pan-seared lump crab meat, green onion-lemon aioli, roasted corn relish

Costillas - chile de arbol braised short rib, housemade ricotta cavatelli, wild mushrooms, truffle butter, jus

De Queso - salted caramel cheesecake, chocolate chip cookie crust, vanilla anglaise, chocolate mousse

All of the savory dishes were absolutely terrific. The dessert was just okay.

The service was outstanding, absolutely perfect for a casual restaurant - friendly, efficient, with a knowledgeable server along with helpful bus staff who continually offered clean plates as the three of us shared all these dishes.

The main dining room was quite loud, and rather dark. Fortunately, we arrived early, so there was plenty of availability on their less-noisy outdoor patio in the rear.

It's also worth noting that Libertad has become quite popular, so I recommend reserving well in advance for prime seating times. I booked our reservation on this Wednesday a few days ahead of time, and there was no availability between 5:30 and 8:00.

Bravo, Libertad, bravo!

We had dinner at Libertad again tonight, and my comments from the dinner last year applied all over again:

nsxtasy wrote:All of the savory dishes were absolutely terrific. The dessert was just okay.

The service was outstanding, absolutely perfect for a casual restaurant - friendly, efficient, with a knowledgeable server along with helpful bus staff who continually offered clean plates as the three of us shared all these dishes.

The dishes we had tonight were totally different from last time. (And note for next time - four savory dishes were too much food for the two of us!)

Cocktails - margarita on the right, and on the left, the best mocktail I've ever had: Hielo Caliente - passion fruit juice, lime juice, ginger-habanero syrup, 7 spice rim

Amuse bouche - plantain-habanero soup

Peras - arugula, pear, pepitas, grapes, dried berries, fried goat cheese, pumpkin-maple syrup vinaigrette

Flautas - chicken tinga, watercress, crème fraiche, queso fresco, salsa cruda, pickled onions

Paella - saffron risotto, green peas, andouille sausage, branzino, shrimp, mussels, clams, lobster, chile de arbol

Costillas - chile de arbol braised short ribs, ricotta cavatelli, wild mushrooms, truffle butter, jus

Chocolate peanut butter pie - They brought this out because I had mentioned in my reservation that it was my companion's birthday, and it was on the house.

Once again - Bravo, Libertad, bravo!