Basis Of Presentation (Notes)	9 Months Ended
Sep. 27, 2015
Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Abstract]
Basis Of Presentation	Basis of Presentation Business Description. At September 27, 2015 Carrols Restaurant Group, Inc. ("Carrols Restaurant Group") operated, as franchisee, 660 restaurants under the trade name “Burger King®” in 15 Northeastern, Midwestern and Southeastern states. Basis of Consolidation. Carrols Restaurant Group is a holding company and conducts all of its operations through Carrols Corporation (“Carrols”) and its wholly-owned subsidiary, Carrols LLC, a Delaware limited liability company. The unaudited consolidated financial statements presented herein include the accounts of Carrols Restaurant Group and its wholly-owned subsidiary Carrols. Unless the context otherwise requires, Carrols Restaurant Group, Carrols and Carrols LLC are collectively referred to as the “Company.” All intercompany transactions have been eliminated in consolidation. Fiscal Year. The Company uses a 52-53 week fiscal year ending on the Sunday closest to December 31. The fiscal year ended December 28, 2014 contained 52 weeks. The three and nine months ended September 27, 2015 and September 28, 2014 each contained thirteen and thirty-nine weeks, respectively. The 2015 fiscal year will end January 3, 2016 and will contain 53 weeks. Basis of Presentation. The accompanying unaudited consolidated financial statements for the three and nine months ended September 27, 2015 and September 28, 2014 have been prepared without an audit, pursuant to the rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission and do not include certain of the information and the footnotes required by accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America for complete financial statements. In the opinion of management, all normal and recurring adjustments considered necessary for a fair presentation of such unaudited consolidated financial statements have been included. The results of operations for the three and nine months ended September 27, 2015 and September 28, 2014 are not necessarily indicative of the results to be expected for the full year. These unaudited consolidated financial statements should be read in conjunction with the consolidated financial statements and notes thereto contained in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 28, 2014. The December 28, 2014 consolidated balance sheet data is derived from those audited financial statements. Use of Estimates. The preparation of the accompanying unaudited consolidated financial statements in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the dates of the unaudited consolidated financial statements and the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the reporting periods. Significant items subject to such estimates include: accrued occupancy costs, insurance liabilities, evaluation for impairment of goodwill, long-lived assets and franchise rights and lease accounting matters. Actual results could differ from those estimates. Segment Information. Operating segments are components of an entity for which separate financial information is available and is regularly reviewed by the chief operating decision maker in order to allocate resources and assess performance. The Company's chief operating decision maker currently evaluates the Company's operations from a number of different operational perspectives, however resource allocation decisions are made on a total-company basis. The Company derives all significant revenues from a single operating segment. Accordingly, the Company views the operating results of its Burger King restaurants as one reportable segment. Fair Value of Financial Instruments. Fair value is defined as the price that would be received to sell an asset or paid to transfer a liability in an orderly transaction between market participants on the measurement date. In determining fair value, the accounting standards establish a three level hierarchy for inputs used in measuring fair value as follows: Level 1 inputs are quoted prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities; Level 2 inputs are observable for the asset or liability, either directly or indirectly, including quoted prices in active markets for similar assets or liabilities; and Level 3 inputs are unobservable and reflect the Company's own assumptions. Financial instruments include cash, accounts receivable, accounts payable and long-term debt. The carrying amounts of cash, accounts receivable and accounts payable approximate fair value because of the short-term nature of these financial instruments. The fair value of the Carrols Restaurant Group 8% Senior Secured Second Lien Notes due 2022 is based on a recent trading value, which is considered Level 2, and at September 27, 2015 was approximately $211.8 million. Fair value measurements of non-financial assets and non-financial liabilities are primarily used in the impairment analysis of long-lived assets and intangible assets. Long-lived assets and definite-lived intangible assets are measured at fair value on a nonrecurring basis using Level 3 inputs. Goodwill is reviewed annually for impairment on the last day of the fiscal year, or more frequently, if impairment indicators arise. Recently Issued Accounting Pronouncements. In September 2015, the FASB issued ASU No. 2015-16 Business Combinations (Topic 805): Simplifying the Accounting for Measurement-Period Adjustments, which requires that an acquirer recognize adjustments to provisional amounts that are identified during the measurement period in the reporting period in which the adjustment amounts are determined. These amendments require the acquirer to record, in the same period’s financial statements, the effect on earnings of changes in depreciation, amortization, or other income effects, if any, as a result of the change to the provisional amounts, calculated as if the accounting for the acquisition activity had been completed at the acquisition date. The amendments also require an entity to separately present or disclose the portion of the amount recorded in the current-period earnings, by line item, that would have been reflected in previous reporting periods. This amendment is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2015, with early adoption permitted. The Company will implement this guidance in fiscal 2016. In April 2015, the FASB issued ASU 2015-03, Interest – Imputation of Interest (Subtopic 835-30): Simplifying the Presentation of Debt Issuance Costs. This ASU requires debt issuance costs related to a recognized debt liability be presented in the balance sheet as a direct deduction from the carrying value of that debt liability, consistent with debt discounts. The recognition and measurement guidance for debt issuance costs are not affected by this ASU. The amendments in this ASU are effective retrospectively for fiscal years, and interim periods within those years, beginning after December 15, 2015. Early adoption is permitted. Deferred financing costs that will be presented as a reduction from the carrying value of The Company's outstanding debt upon adoption were $4.7 million at September 27, 2015. In April 2015, the FASB issued ASU No. 2015-05, Intangibles-Goodwill and Other-Internal Use Software (Subtopic 350-40): Customer’s Accounting for Fees Paid in a Cloud Computing Arrangement, which provides guidance to customers for accounting for fees in a cloud computing arrangement. If a cloud computing arrangement does not include a software license, the customer should account for the arrangement as a service contract. If a cloud computing arrangement includes a software license, the customer should account for the software license element of the arrangement consistent with the acquisition of other software licenses. ASU 2015-05 is effective for annual and interim periods beginning after December 15, 2015 with early adoption permitted. The Company does not expect the adoption of this guidance to have a material impact on its consolidated financial statements.

Basis of Presentation

Business Description. At September 27, 2015 Carrols Restaurant Group, Inc. ("Carrols Restaurant Group") operated, as franchisee, 660 restaurants under the trade name “Burger King®” in 15 Northeastern, Midwestern and Southeastern states.

Basis of Consolidation. Carrols Restaurant Group is a holding company and conducts all of its operations through Carrols Corporation (“Carrols”) and its wholly-owned subsidiary, Carrols LLC, a Delaware limited liability company. The unaudited consolidated financial statements presented herein include the accounts of Carrols Restaurant Group and its wholly-owned subsidiary Carrols.

Unless the context otherwise requires, Carrols Restaurant Group, Carrols and Carrols LLC are collectively referred to as the “Company.” All intercompany transactions have been eliminated in consolidation.

Fiscal Year. The Company uses a 52-53 week fiscal year ending on the Sunday closest to December 31. The fiscal year ended December 28, 2014 contained 52 weeks. The three and nine months ended September 27, 2015 and September 28, 2014 each contained thirteen and thirty-nine weeks, respectively. The 2015 fiscal year will end January 3, 2016 and will contain 53 weeks.

Basis of Presentation. The accompanying unaudited consolidated financial statements for the three and nine months ended September 27, 2015 and September 28, 2014 have been prepared without an audit, pursuant to the rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission and do not include certain of the information and the footnotes required by accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America for complete financial statements. In the opinion of management, all normal and recurring adjustments considered necessary for a fair presentation of such unaudited consolidated financial statements have been included. The results of operations for the three and nine months ended September 27, 2015 and September 28, 2014 are not necessarily indicative of the results to be expected for the full year.

These unaudited consolidated financial statements should be read in conjunction with the consolidated financial statements and notes thereto contained in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 28, 2014. The December 28, 2014 consolidated balance sheet data is derived from those audited financial statements.

Use of Estimates. The preparation of the accompanying unaudited consolidated financial statements in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the dates of the unaudited consolidated financial statements and the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the reporting periods. Significant items subject to such estimates include: accrued occupancy costs, insurance liabilities, evaluation for impairment of goodwill, long-lived assets and franchise rights and lease accounting matters. Actual results could differ from those estimates.

Segment Information. Operating segments are components of an entity for which separate financial information is available and is regularly reviewed by the chief operating decision maker in order to allocate resources and assess performance. The Company's chief operating decision maker currently evaluates the Company's operations from a number of different operational perspectives, however resource allocation decisions are made on a total-company basis. The Company derives all significant revenues from a single operating segment. Accordingly, the Company views the operating results of its Burger King restaurants as one reportable segment.

Fair Value of Financial Instruments. Fair value is defined as the price that would be received to sell an asset or paid to transfer a liability in an orderly transaction between market participants on the measurement date. In determining fair value, the accounting standards establish a three level hierarchy for inputs used in measuring fair value as follows: Level 1 inputs are quoted prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities; Level 2 inputs are observable for the asset or liability, either directly or indirectly, including quoted prices in active markets for similar assets or liabilities; and Level 3 inputs are unobservable and reflect the Company's own assumptions. Financial instruments include cash, accounts receivable, accounts payable and long-term debt. The carrying amounts of cash, accounts receivable and accounts payable approximate fair value because of the short-term nature of these financial instruments. The fair value of the Carrols Restaurant Group 8% Senior Secured Second Lien Notes due 2022 is based on a recent trading value, which is considered Level 2, and at September 27, 2015 was approximately $211.8 million.

Fair value measurements of non-financial assets and non-financial liabilities are primarily used in the impairment analysis of long-lived assets and intangible assets. Long-lived assets and definite-lived intangible assets are measured at fair value on a nonrecurring basis using Level 3 inputs. Goodwill is reviewed annually for impairment on the last day of the fiscal year, or more frequently, if impairment indicators arise.

Recently Issued Accounting Pronouncements. In September 2015, the FASB issued ASU No. 2015-16 Business Combinations (Topic 805): Simplifying the Accounting for Measurement-Period Adjustments, which requires that an acquirer recognize adjustments to provisional amounts that are identified during the measurement period in the reporting period in which the adjustment amounts are determined. These amendments require the acquirer to record, in the same period’s financial statements, the effect on earnings of changes in depreciation, amortization, or other income effects, if any, as a result of the change to the provisional amounts, calculated as if the accounting for the acquisition activity had been completed at the acquisition date. The amendments also require an entity to separately present or disclose the portion of the amount recorded in the current-period earnings, by line item, that would have been reflected in previous reporting periods. This amendment is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2015, with early adoption permitted. The Company will implement this guidance in fiscal 2016.

In April 2015, the FASB issued ASU 2015-03, Interest – Imputation of Interest (Subtopic 835-30): Simplifying the Presentation of Debt Issuance Costs. This ASU requires debt issuance costs related to a recognized debt liability be presented in the balance sheet as a direct deduction from the carrying value of that debt liability, consistent with debt discounts. The recognition and measurement guidance for debt issuance costs are not affected by this ASU. The amendments in this ASU are effective retrospectively for fiscal years, and interim periods within those years, beginning after December 15, 2015. Early adoption is permitted. Deferred financing costs that will be presented as a reduction from the carrying value of The Company's outstanding debt upon adoption were $4.7 million at September 27, 2015.

In April 2015, the FASB issued ASU No. 2015-05, Intangibles-Goodwill and Other-Internal Use Software (Subtopic 350-40): Customer’s Accounting for Fees Paid in a Cloud Computing Arrangement, which provides guidance to customers for accounting for fees in a cloud computing arrangement. If a cloud computing arrangement does not include a software license, the customer should account for the arrangement as a service contract. If a cloud computing arrangement includes a software license, the customer should account for the software license element of the arrangement consistent with the acquisition of other software licenses. ASU 2015-05 is effective for annual and interim periods beginning after December 15, 2015 with early adoption permitted. The Company does not expect the adoption of this guidance to have a material impact on its consolidated financial statements.