Consolidated Statements Of Operations (USD $) In Thousands, except Share data, unless otherwise specified	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2011	Dec. 31, 2010	Dec. 31, 2009
Revenues:
Restaurant sales	$ 820,767	$ 794,611	$ 814,534
Franchise royalty revenues and fees	1,719	1,533	1,606
Total revenues	822,486	796,144	816,140
Costs and expenses:
Cost of sales	256,571	240,635	237,446
Restaurant wages and related expenses (including stock-based compensation expense of $34, $50 and $215, respectively)	238,254	235,075	239,553
Restaurant rent expense (Note 6)	48,727	48,578	49,709
Other restaurant operating expenses	115,266	114,643	117,761
Advertising expense	30,688	30,362	31,172
General and administrative (including stock-based compensation expense of $2,745, $1,601 and $1,196, respectively)	57,088	51,021	51,851
Depreciation and amortization	33,522	32,459	32,520
Impairment and other lease charges (Note 4)	4,037	7,323	2,771
Other income (Note 9)	(574)	(444)	(720)
Total operating expenses	783,579	759,652	762,063
Income from operations	38,907	36,492	54,077
Interest expense	21,031	18,805	19,638
Loss on extinguishment of debt (Note 7)	2,470
Income before income taxes	15,406	17,687	34,439
Provision for income taxes (Note 10)	4,188	5,771	12,604
Net income	$ 11,218	$ 11,916	$ 21,835
Basic net income per share (Note 16)	$ 0.52	$ 0.55	$ 1.01
Diluted net income per share (Note 16)	$ 0.51	$ 0.55	$ 1.00
Basic weighted average common shares outstanding (Note 16)	21,677,837	21,620,550	21,594,366
Diluted weighted average common shares outstanding (Note 16)	22,207,181	21,835,417	21,768,683