Selected Quarterly Financial Data (unaudited) (Details) $ / shares in Units, $ in Thousands		3 Months Ended								12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2013 USD ($) $ / shares	Dec. 29, 2015 USD ($) $ / shares	Sep. 29, 2015 USD ($) $ / shares	Jun. 30, 2015 USD ($) $ / shares	Mar. 31, 2015 USD ($) $ / shares	Dec. 30, 2014 USD ($) restaurant $ / shares	Sep. 30, 2014 USD ($) $ / shares	Jul. 01, 2014 USD ($) $ / shares	Apr. 01, 2014 USD ($) $ / shares	Dec. 29, 2015 USD ($) $ / shares	Dec. 30, 2014 USD ($) $ / shares	Dec. 31, 2013 USD ($) $ / shares
Selected quarterly financial data
Revenue	$ 32,000	$ 454,351	$ 438,089	$ 454,698	$ 460,230	$ 404,425	$ 385,218	$ 395,363	$ 397,142	$ 1,807,368	$ 1,582,148	$ 1,422,585
Total costs and expenses		420,638	407,533	423,002	411,630	377,382	356,397	360,962	356,958	1,662,803	1,451,699	1,302,870
Income from operations		33,713	30,556	31,696	48,600	27,043	28,821	34,401	40,184	144,565	130,449	119,715
Net income attributable to Texas Roadhouse, Inc. and subsidiaries		$ 22,982	$ 20,482	$ 21,138	$ 32,292	$ 18,595	$ 18,881	$ 23,081	$ 26,465	$ 96,894	$ 87,022	$ 80,423
Basic EPS (in dollars per share) | $ / shares		$ 0.33	$ 0.29	$ 0.30	$ 0.46	$ 0.27	$ 0.27	$ 0.33	$ 0.38	$ 1.38	$ 1.25	$ 1.15
Diluted EPS (in dollars per share) | $ / shares		0.32	0.29	0.30	0.46	0.26	0.27	0.33	0.37	1.37	1.23	1.13
Cash dividends declared per share (in dollars per share) | $ / shares		$ 0.17	$ 0.17	$ 0.17	$ 0.17	$ 0.15	$ 0.15	$ 0.15	$ 0.15	$ 0.68	$ 0.60	$ 0.48
Impairment of goodwill						$ 600				$ 0	$ 626	$ 0
Impairment of goodwill, net of tax						$ 400
Gain on sale of Aspen Creek concept and restaurants												$ 1,800
Number of restaurants impaired | restaurant						1
Closure costs		$ 1,000
Minimum
Selected quarterly financial data
Diluted EPS (in dollars per share) | $ / shares	$ 0.03
Maximum
Selected quarterly financial data
Diluted EPS (in dollars per share) | $ / shares	$ 0.04