Come to the Table
Heads of the Table
Charles Martin
President and Co Founder, MD Restaurant Group
Owner/Operator of Culver's restaurants in the Chicago suburbs with over 15 years of experience as a franchisee. It started in 2004 with the opening of the first restaurant in Mt Prospect. He has grown the business through both new store development and acquisition of existing restaurants. Over the years, he has managed all aspects of the business including store operations, marketing, facilities, staff development, HR, and all back-office operations. His current responsibilities are business development, marketing, and strategic planning. Prior to becoming a franchisee, Chuck spent 15 years in corporate sales roles with a focus on large outsourcing contracts.
Jim DiVerde
Owner Operator and Co Founder, MD Restaurant Group
Owner/Operator of Culver's restaurants in the Chicago suburbs with 12 years of experience as a franchisee. Jim has been part of the Culver's brand for over 15 years and became a full-time franchisee in 2013. He oversees the day to day operations, manager development, and facilities management of the group's 9 restaurants. Jim has been part of the restaurant industry for over 40 years for various brands including extensive time with Taco Bell and Church's Chicken.
Jon Perry
Chief Operating Officer, MD Restaurant Group
Jon oversees our financial management and operations functions. Jon joined MD in April 2022, after spending the last 20 years in operational and progressive leadership roles, where he empowered teams and improved team communication, simplified and streamlined processes and procedures, and improved daily metric and accountability loops that delivered outstanding results for the customer and the company.
Judy Krupica
VP of Store Operations, MD Restaurant Group
Judy has direct supervision of all operational leadership positions within our restaurant group including multi-unit managers and General Managers. Judy has been with MD Restaurant Group for 8 years and has over 35 years of operational and progressive leadership experience in the restaurant industry. Prior to Culver's, Judy spent over 15 years in a similar role with a large Taco Bell group of restaurants in the Chicago area.
Nabil Raihani
Director of Operations
Nabil oversees the facilities and day to day operational practices of the restaurants in his group, making sure they all run smoothly, cleanly, comply with marketing and sales campaigns and meet budget and sales goals. He is also responsible for the recruiting and development of the management teams. He has been with MD Restaurant Group since 2010 and has over 35 years of restaurant management experience, ranging from Manager to Regional manager in both full-service dining and fast-casual concepts.
Nabil also successfully completed the Culver’s 16 weeks Franchisee class as a mentee and became an owner-operator.
Cornelio "Junior" Duarte
Director of Operations
Cornelio a.k.a. Junior is currently the director of operations for the MD Restaurant Group. Junior has been with Culver’s for 13 years. Junior joined the MD Group back in 2007 when the company began. He worked as a team member, and moved up the ranks to shift supervisor, assistant manager, general manager, and director of operations. He also completed Culver’s mentor program and became the owner operator of our Crystal Lake and Lake in the Hills locations. Junior helps support our restaurant managers to make sure all restaurants run smoothly and up to the quality we strive for.
Janel Larson
Area Manager
Janel has been in the restaurant industry for more than 20 years and with the MD Restaurant group for over 10. She started as a General Manager and has worked her way to Area Manager. Janel graduated from the mentee program in 2019 and is the operating partner of our Bloomingdale location. She enjoys helping her managers advance their careers and assists in the day to day operations.
Michela Murillo
Area Manager
Michela has been with MD Restaurant Group for 4 years and is responsible for leading the management teams in Crete and Yorkville. She is a 2022 Mentee graduate and looks forward to becoming an operating partner in 2023.
Want to learn more about the amazing team behind MD Restaurant Group? Get in touch, we’re always happy to hear from our customers.