Litigation (Details 1) $ in Thousands	1 Months Ended	3 Months Ended	9 Months Ended
	Jun. 28, 2015 USD ($) state plaintiff employee	Sep. 27, 2015 USD ($)	Sep. 27, 2015 USD ($)
Loss Contingency Information About Litigation Matters
Legal settlement expense | $			$ 12,278
Pending Litigation | Perrin v. Papa John's International, Inc. and Papa John's USA, Inc.
Loss Contingency Information About Litigation Matters
Employees who opted into the class action (in number of employees)	3,900
Potential class size (in number of employees)	28,800
States which are granted motion for class certification (in number of states) | state	5
Plaintiffs added to case (in number of plaintiffs) | plaintiff	15,000
Legal settlement expense | $	$ 12,300	$ 0