Stockholder's Equity - Preferred Stock (Details)				3 Months Ended	12 Months Ended
	Oct. 05, 2021 USD ($)	Aug. 12, 2021	Sep. 29, 2019	Sep. 29, 2019	Jan. 02, 2022 USD ($) $ / shares shares	Jan. 03, 2021 USD ($) $ / shares shares	Dec. 29, 2019 USD ($)	Dec. 28, 2014	Oct. 03, 2021 shares	Aug. 02, 2019 USD ($)
Class of Stock [Line Items]
Preferred Stock, Shares Issued					100	100
Board of directors, number of members					2
Common Stock, Dividends, Per Share, Declared		0.41
Convertible Preferred Stock, Common Shares Issuable upon Conversion					9,414,580
Payment of Special Cash Dividend, Financing Activities | $	$ 24,900,000				$ 24,882,000	$ 0	$ 0
Minimum [Member]
Class of Stock [Line Items]
Board of directors, number of members					1
Maximum [Member]
Class of Stock [Line Items]
Board of directors, number of members			1	1	2
Repurchase Program [Member]
Class of Stock [Line Items]
Stock Repurchased During Period, Shares					1,534,304	553,112
Treasury Stock Acquired, Average Cost Per Share | $ / shares					$ 6.52	$ 7.26
Stock Repurchased During Period, Value | $					$ 10,000,000	$ 4,000,000
Stock Repurchase Program, Remaining Authorized Repurchase Amount | $					$ 11,000,000
Series B Preferred Stock [Member]
Class of Stock [Line Items]
Outstanding Shares								7.50%
Preferred Stock, Shares Issued					100
Series C Preferred Stock [Member]
Class of Stock [Line Items]
Preferred Units, Issued									10,000
Common Stock [Member] | Repurchase Program [Member]
Class of Stock [Line Items]
Stock Repurchase Program, Remaining Authorized Repurchase Amount | $					$ 11,000,000
Stock Repurchase Program, Authorized Amount | $										$ 25,000,000
BKC [Member] | Series B Preferred Stock [Member]
Class of Stock [Line Items]
Outstanding Shares			14.50%	10.00%				11.50%
Cambridge Holdings, LLC [Member]
Class of Stock [Line Items]
Convertible Preferred Stock, Shares Issued upon Conversion									7,500,000
Cambridge Holdings, LLC [Member] | Carrols Restaurant Group, Inc.
Class of Stock [Line Items]
Noncontrolling Interest, Ownership Percentage by Parent					24.40%
2016 Stock Incentive Plan [Member]
Class of Stock [Line Items]
Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award, Number of Shares Available for Grant					3,599,630