Fair Value Measurements (Narrative) (Details) (USD $) In Thousands, unless otherwise specified	12 Months Ended										12 Months Ended				1 Months Ended	12 Months Ended
	Apr. 25, 2014	Apr. 26, 2013	Apr. 27, 2012	Apr. 25, 2014 Bob Evans Restaurants		Apr. 26, 2013 Bob Evans Restaurants		Apr. 27, 2012 Bob Evans Restaurants		Sep. 27, 2013 Richardson Production Plant	Apr. 25, 2014 BEF Foods		Apr. 26, 2013 BEF Foods	Apr. 27, 2012 BEF Foods	Jul. 25, 2013 Nonoperating Restaurant property	Apr. 25, 2014 Nonoperating Restaurant property	Apr. 25, 2014 Nonoperating Restaurant Bob Evans Restaurants property	Apr. 26, 2013 Nonoperating Restaurant Bob Evans Restaurants property	Apr. 27, 2012 Nonoperating Restaurant Bob Evans Restaurants property	Apr. 25, 2014 Nonoperating Restaurant BEF Foods property	Apr. 25, 2014 Sold Nonoperating Restaurant property
Fair Value, Assets and Liabilities Measured on Recurring and Nonrecurring Basis [Line Items]
Number Of Locations For Non Operating Properties															29	29	29	10	5	1	28
Proceeds from Sale of Other Property, Plant, and Equipment															$ 3,450
Long-Lived Assets to be Abandoned, Carrying Value of Asset										8,111					11,969
Impairment of assets held for sale	12,380	0	0	9,380	[1]	0		0			3,000	[2]	0	0			9,380			3,000
Assets Held-for-sale, Long Lived, Fair Value Disclosure										5,111
Impairment of Long-Lived Assets Held-for-use				$ 4,470	[3]	$ 4,409	[4]	$ 3,199	[5]		$ 0		$ 0	$ 87				$ 2,692	$ 2,206

[1] $9,380 relates to impairment of 29 nonoperating locations, of which $714 relates to the impairment of one location no longer classified as held for sale.

[2] $3,000 relates to impairment of one nonoperating location

[3] $4,133 and $337 relates to impairment of seven operating locations and certain commercial vehicles, respectively

[4] $1,717 and $2,692 relates to impairment of three operating and ten nonoperating locations, respectively

[5] $993 and $2,206 relates to impairment of three operating and five nonoperating locations, respectively