Litigation, Commitments and Contingencies - Perrin (Details)		1 Months Ended	3 Months Ended	12 Months Ended
	Jan. 12, 2016 USD ($)	Jun. 28, 2015 USD ($) state plaintiff employee	Jun. 28, 2015 USD ($) state plaintiff employee	Dec. 25, 2016 USD ($)	Dec. 27, 2015 USD ($)
Loss Contingency Information About Litigation Matters
Legal settlement expense | $			$ 8,000,000	$ (898,000)	$ 12,278,000
Perrin v. Papa John's International, Inc. and Papa John's USA, Inc.
Loss Contingency Information About Litigation Matters
Legal settlement expense | $	$ (900,000)	$ 12,300,000		$ 900,000
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) | employee		3,900	3,900
Potential class size (in number of employees) | employee		28,800	28,800
States which are granted motion for class certification (in number of states) | state		5	5
Plaintiffs added to case (in number of plaintiffs) | plaintiff		15,000	15,000