Business and Summary and Basis of Presentation (Details) (USD $)	9 Months Ended	12 Months Ended			9 Months Ended	0 Months Ended	9 Months Ended	0 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2014 segment state	Dec. 31, 2013	Sep. 30, 2014 Company-Owned [Member] restaurant	Sep. 30, 2014 Franchise [Member] restaurant	Sep. 30, 2014 IPO [Member]	Dec. 05, 2013 IPO Follow On [Member]	Sep. 30, 2014 Common Class A [Member] IPO [Member]	Dec. 05, 2013 Common Class A [Member] IPO Follow On [Member]
Franchisor Disclosure [Line Items]
Number of restaurants			370	55
Number of states in which Noodles & Company operates	32
Number of operating segments	1
Number of reportable segments	1
Share price (USD per share)							$ 18.00	$ 39.50
Shares issued						108,267	6,160,714	4,500,000
Common stock, par value (USD per share)	$ 0.01	$ 0.01					$ 0.01
Shares sold to underwriters					803,571
Proceeds from IPO					$ 100,100,000
Repayment of debt	200,000
Payments for repurchase of IPO						$ 696,000
Number of weeks in fiscal year	364 days	364 days