Business and Summary of Significant Accounting Policies (Business and Fiscal Year) (Details) (USD $)	9 Months Ended	12 Months Ended				12 Months Ended						9 Months Ended		0 Months Ended	3 Months Ended		3 Months Ended	0 Months Ended
	Oct. 01, 2013	Dec. 31, 2013 segment state	Jan. 01, 2013	Jan. 03, 2012	Dec. 27, 2010	Dec. 31, 2013 Minimum [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 Maximum [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 Company-Owned [Member] restaurant	Dec. 31, 2013 Franchise [Member] restaurant	Jan. 01, 2013 Franchise [Member] restaurant	Jan. 03, 2012 Franchise [Member] restaurant	Oct. 01, 2013 IPO [Member]	Oct. 01, 2013 Over-Allotment Option [Member]	Dec. 05, 2013 Follow On [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 Follow On [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 Class A Common Stock [Member]	Oct. 01, 2013 Class A Common Stock [Member] IPO [Member]	Dec. 05, 2013 Class A Common Stock [Member] Follow On [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 Catterton and Argentia [Member]
Organization [Line Items]
Number of restaurants								318	62	51	45
Number of states in which Noodles & Company operates		29
Number of operating segments		1
Number of reportable segments		1
Share price (USD per share)																	$ 18.00	$ 39.50
Issuance of common stock, net of transaction expenses, shares													803,571	108,267	108,267		6,160,714	4,500,000
Common stock, par value (USD per share)		$ 0.01	$ 0.01													$ 0.01	$ 0.01
Issuance of common stock, net of transaction expenses												$ 100,200,000
Repayments of long term debt	200,000
Payments for initial public offering														$ 696,000
Collaborative group, ownership percentage					90.00%														56.00%
Number of weeks in fiscal year		364 days	364 days	71 days		364 days	371 days