Document and Entity Information - shares	9 Months Ended
	Jan. 22, 2016	Feb. 26, 2016
Document And Entity Information [Abstract]
Document Type	10-Q
Document Period End Date	Jan. 22, 2016
Amendment Flag	false
Document Fiscal Year Focus	2016
Document Fiscal Period Focus	Q3
Entity Registrant Name	Bob Evans Farms Inc.
Entity Central Index Key	0000033769
Current Fiscal Year End Date	--04-29
Entity Filer Category	Large Accelerated Filer
Entity Common Stock Shares Outstanding		19,800,838