Madero: History, Key Facts and Reviews

2005-2013: Junior Durski opens the first Madero in Curitiba

Madero started as one restaurant in Curitiba, Paraná, where chef Junior Durski opened the first Madero Steak House on June 7, 2005 (Grupo Madero). Durski is self-taught. He had traded timber in Rondônia and run an international cuisine restaurant, Durski, in the São Francisco district, before taking over the bar next door to sell burgers (Brazil Journal). Growth was slow at first: the group counted 24 restaurants at the end of 2013. Our guide to Madero in Curitiba lists the locations in its home town today.

2014-2019: the Ponta Grossa kitchen, Jeronimo and Carlyle

Madero scaled up by cooking almost everything in one place. It launched the Madero Container format in 2014 and opened its central kitchen in Ponta Grossa, Paraná, in 2015. That kitchen now supplies more than 96% of the food served in the restaurants. In 2017 the group added a second brand, Jeronimo, a fast-casual smash burger concept. In January 2019 it received a R$700 million investment from Madrid FIP, a fund controlled by The Carlyle Group (Grupo Madero). The network grew from 40 restaurants at the end of 2014 to 189 at the end of 2019.

2020-2022: a pandemic controversy, debt and a cancelled IPO

The pandemic hit Madero’s image and its balance sheet. On March 23, 2020, Durski posted a video arguing that Brazil could not stop “for 5,000 or 7,000 deaths”, then apologized after the backlash (Congresso em Foco). Its debt rose from R$254 million in 2019 to R$652 million in 2020 (Brazil Journal). Carlyle’s fund added R$300 million in November 2021. The stock market listing filed in August 2021 was cancelled in January 2022 (Exame).

2024-2026: hybrid restaurants and a first step into Paraguay

Today Madero is part of a vertically integrated group of 369 restaurants. In 2024 it introduced the Madero & Jeronimo hybrid, which the group counts as two restaurants under one roof. The network went from 280 restaurants at the end of 2024 to 355 a year later. Net revenue reached R$2,003 million in 2025. In the first quarter of 2026 the group opened a Madero Steak House and a Jeronimo in Ciudad del Este, Paraguay, its first restaurants outside Brazil (Q1 2026 results). Durski holds 60% of the company and Carlyle’s fund 34.4%, with about 8,100 employees (Q2 2026 presentation).

Key dates

• 2005: Junior Durski opens the first Madero Steak House in Curitiba on June 7.
• 2015: the central kitchen opens in Ponta Grossa, Paraná.
• 2017: launch of Jeronimo, the group’s smash burger brand.
• 2019: Carlyle’s Madrid FIP invests R$700 million in January.
• 2020: Durski’s video on COVID-19 deaths causes a public backlash.
• 2022: Madero cancels its planned stock market listing.
• 2026: first restaurants outside Brazil, in Ciudad del Este, Paraguay; 369 restaurants on June 30.