Income Taxes (Details) (USD $) In Thousands, unless otherwise specified	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 25, 2012	Dec. 27, 2011	Dec. 28, 2010
Current:
Federal	$ 29,286	$ 20,546	$ 20,561
State	7,618	6,149	5,323
Total current	36,904	26,695	25,884
Deferred:
Federal	(1,511)	289	1,788
State	(655)	(219)	11
Total deferred	(2,166)	70	1,799
Income tax provision	34,738	26,765	27,683
Reconciliation of the statutory federal income tax rate to the entity's effective tax rate
Tax at statutory federal rate (as a percent)	35.00%	35.00%	35.00%
State and local tax, net of federal benefit (as a percent)	3.70%	3.70%	3.70%
FICA tip tax credit (as a percent)	(6.20%)	(6.00%)	(5.40%)
HIRE retention credit (as a percent)		(2.10%)
Work opportunity tax credit (as a percent)	(0.90%)	(1.20%)	(2.10%)
Incentive stock options (as a percent)	(0.20%)	(0.20%)	(0.10%)
Nondeductible officer compensation (as a percent)	1.20%	0.50%	0.90%
Other (as a percent)	0.20%	(0.20%)	0.20%
Total (as a percent)	32.80%	29.50%	32.20%
Deferred tax assets:
Insurance reserves	3,142	3,252
Other reserves	450	473
Deferred rent	7,185	5,831
Share-based compensation	5,231	5,460
Unredeemed gift cards	3,135	2,812
Deferred compensation	3,507	2,503
Other assets and liabilities	2,456	2,288
Total deferred tax asset	25,106	22,619
Deferred tax liabilities:
Property and equipment	(24,449)	(25,418)
Intangibles	(2,943)	(2,004)
Other assets and liabilities	(980)	(545)
Total deferred tax liability	(28,372)	(27,967)
Net deferred tax liability	(3,266)	(5,348)
Current deferred tax asset	2,836	3,367
Noncurrent deferred tax liability	$ (6,102)	$ (8,715)