Business Combination (Details) $ in Thousands			1 Months Ended	3 Months Ended			9 Months Ended
	Jul. 25, 2016 USD ($) fee_owned_property	Jan. 25, 2015 USD ($)	Jan. 31, 2016 USD ($) fee_owned_property	Sep. 27, 2016 USD ($)	Jun. 28, 2016 USD ($) fee_owned_property	Sep. 29, 2015 USD ($)	Sep. 27, 2016 USD ($)	Sep. 29, 2015 USD ($)	Dec. 29, 2015 USD ($)
Business Combination, Recognized Identifiable Assets Acquired, Goodwill, and Liabilities Assumed, Net [Abstract]
Goodwill				$ 296,126			$ 296,126		$ 294,626
Wendy's
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Number of restaurants acquired | fee_owned_property	39		3
Payments to acquire businesses		$ 36,800	$ 8,000
Number of restaurants sold | fee_owned_property					1
Proceeds from sale of fee-owned properties					$ 1,400
Number of restaurants planned to be sold and leased back | fee_owned_property					2
Number of recently constructed restaurants acquired | fee_owned_property	4
Business Combination, Recognized Identifiable Assets Acquired, Goodwill, and Liabilities Assumed, Net [Abstract]
Facilities and equipment	$ 24,431
Franchise rights	17,385
Goodwill	1,500
Other	1,467
Total purchase price	$ 44,783
Acquired finite-lived intangible assets, weighted average amortization period	19 years
Business Acquisition, Pro Forma Information [Abstract]
Total sales				309,605		$ 316,552	965,540	$ 963,795
Net (loss) income				$ (4,234)		$ (1,982)	5,321	$ 3,333
Wendy's 2016 Acquisitions
Business Acquisition, Pro Forma Information [Abstract]
Total sales related to units acquired during 2016							$ 14,600