Armando Gonzalez,
Executive Chef / Owner

For the past decade, Armando has been opening, working, or filling in at some of Chicago’s best-known restaurants. Sometimes the stints were a few months, other times a few years, such as Mas, Bin 36 and mk. But they always proved to be fertile training ground. He learned great skills to keep in his repertoire forever. 

Through the school of experience, he honed and further developed an uncanny ability to perfectly pair flavors for robust and flavorful results. Like Marcos, Armando has culinary roots, but his are entrenched in Mexico where his mother ran a fonda in Oaxaca. After school, Armando peeled potatoes, washed dishes and watched day after day the preparation of traditional foods that continue to inspire.

 

Marcos Rivera,
General Manager / Owner

Marcos grew up in the restaurant business, working in the kitchen. But as the scion of Las Palmas in Chicago and the suburbs, he had his own creative ideas. Backed with knowledge and experience, he wanted to explore beyond his Mexican roots and the Mexican American staples of burritos and tacos.

Skokie is home for him and his young family, and knowing the hours a restaurant requires, combining the two in the same town just makes sense. Marcos embraces his commitment of living and working in Skokie just as he honors the privilege of being the city’s first Latin American restaurant.

J. Omar Magana,
Designer / Owner

Omar brings a subtle yet poignant essence of Latin America to the design of Libertad. An artist and founder of the non-profit arts organization, Expresiones-Artísticas, Omar’s perspective blends natural, weathered elements, such as the wood of the banquettes to the metal framed bar stools, with classic lines. He uses color along with the artwork (acquired from Adonay Navarro, a moonlighting construction worker from Honduras) to create mood that’s modern, yet relaxing, sanguine and mystical.

Omar is a prominent member of the Chicago arts community, which Libertad is proud to be associated.