Basis of Presentation (Policies)	6 Months Ended
Basis of Presentation (Policies)	Mar. 13, 2019
Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Abstract]
Recently Adopted Accounting Pronouncements and New Accounting Pronouncements - to be Adopted	Recently Adopted Accounting Pronouncements We transitioned to the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) Topic 606, Revenue from Contracts with Customers (“ASC 606”) from ASC Topic 605, Revenue Recognition and ASC Topic 953-605, Franchisors - Revenue Recognition (together, the “Previous Standards”) on August 30, 2018. Our transition to ASC 606 represents a change in accounting principle. ASC 606 eliminates industry-specific guidance and provides a single model for recognizing revenue from contracts with customers. The core principle of ASC 606 is that a reporting entity should recognize revenue to depict the transfer of promised goods and services to customers in an amount that reflects the consideration to which the reporting entity expects to be entitled for the exchange of those goods or services. We adopted ASC 606 using the modified retrospective method applied to contracts that were not completed at August 29, 2018. Due to the short term nature of a significant portion of our contracts with customers, we have elected to apply the practical expedients under ASC 606 to: (1) not adjust the consideration for the effects of a significant financing component, (2) recognize incremental costs of obtaining a contract as expense when incurred and (3) not disclose the value of our unsatisfied performance obligations for contracts with an original expected duration of one year or less. The adoption of ASC 606 did not have an impact on the recognition of revenues from our primary source of revenue from our Company owned restaurants (except for recognition of breakage and discounts on gift cards, as discussed below), revenues from our culinary contract services, vending revenue or ongoing franchise royalty fees, which are based on a percentage of franchisee sales. The adoption did impact the recognition of initial franchise fees and area development fees and gift card breakage. The adoption of ASC 606 requires us to recognize initial and renewal franchise and development fees on a straight-line basis over the term of the franchise agreement, which is usually 20 years. Historically, we have recognized revenue from initial franchise and development fees upon the opening of a franchised restaurant when we have completed all our material obligations and initial services. Additionally, ASC 606 requires gift card breakage to be recognized as revenue in proportion to the pattern of gift card redemptions exercised by our customers. Historically, we recorded breakage income within other (expense) income (and not within revenue) when it was deemed remote that the unused gift card balance will be redeemed. Upon adoption of ASC 606 we changed our reporting of marketing and advertising fund (“MAF”) contributions from franchisees and the related marketing and advertising expenditures. Under the Previous Standards, we did not reflect MAF contributions from franchisees and MAF expenditures in our statements of operations. Although the gross amounts of our revenues and expenses are impacted by the recognition of franchisee MAF fund contributions and related expenditures of MAF funds we manage, increases to gross revenues and expenses did not result in a material net impact to our statement of operations. Our consolidated financial statements reflect the application of ASC 606 beginning in fiscal year 2019, while our consolidated financial statements for prior periods were prepared under the guidance of the Previous Standards. The $2.5 million cumulative effect of our adoption of ASC 606 is reflected as an increase to August 30, 2018 Shareholders’ equity with a corresponding decrease to accrued expenses and other liabilities and was comprised of (1) a reduction to accrued expense and other liabilities of $3.1 million to adjust the unused gift card liability balance as if the gift card breakage guidance had been applied prior to August 30, 2018 and (2) an increase to accrued expense and other liabilities of $0.6 million to adjust the unearned franchise fees for the fees received through the end of FY 2018 that would have been deferred and recognized over the term of the franchise agreement if the new guidance had been applied prior to August 30, 2018. In August 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-15, Statement of Cash Flows (Topic 230) Classification of Certain Cash Receipts and Cash Payments. This update provides clarification regarding how certain cash receipts and disbursements are presented and classified in the statement of cash flows. The update addresses eight specific cash flow issues with the objective of reducing the existing diversity in practice. We adopted ASU 2016-15 on August 30, 2018 using the retrospective method of adoption. The adoption of this standard did not have a material impact on our consolidated financial statements. In November 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-18, Statement of Cash Flows (Topic 230), Restricted Cash. This update addresses the diversity in practice on how to classify and present changes in restricted cash or restricted cash equivalents in the statement of cash flows. The update requires that a statement of cash flows explain the change during the period in restricted cash or restricted cash equivalents in addition to changes in cash and cash equivalents. Entities are also required to disclose information about the nature of the restrictions and amounts described as restricted cash and restricted cash equivalents. Also, when cash, cash equivalents, restricted cash and restricted cash equivalents are presented in more than one line on the balance sheet, an entity must reconcile these amounts to the total shown on the statement of cash flows. We adopted ASU 2016-18 effective August 30, 2018 using the retrospective method of adoption. Our adoption of ASU 2016-18 represents a change in accounting principle. Our consolidated statement of cash flow for the quarter ended December 20, 2017 has been revised to reflect the application of ASU 2016-18. See Note 16 for the reconciliation and disclosures regarding the restrictions required by this update. The adoption of this standard did not have a material impact on our consolidated financial statements. New Accounting Pronouncements - "to be Adopted" In February 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-02, Leases (Topic 842). In January, July and December 2018, the FASB issued ASU 2018-01, 2018-10, 2018-11, 2018-20 and 2019-01, which were targeted improvements to ASU 2016-02 (collectively, with ASU 2016-02, “ASC 842”) and provided entities with an additional (and optional) transition method to adopt the new lease standard. ASC 842 requires a lessee to recognize a liability to make lease payments and a corresponding right-of-use asset on the balance sheet, as well as provide additional disclosures about the amount, timing and uncertainty of cash flows arising from leases. ASC 842 is effective for annual and interim periods beginning after December 15, 2018, which will require us to adopt the new standard in the first quarter of fiscal 2020. ASC 842 may be adopted using the modified retrospective method, which requires application to all comparative periods presented (the “comparative method”) or alternatively, as of the effective date of initial application without restating comparative period financial statements (the “effective date method”). The new standard also provides several practical expedients and policies that companies may elect under either transition method. Based on a preliminary assessment, we expect that most of our operating lease commitments will be subject to the new standard and recognized as operating lease liabilities and right-of-use assets upon adoption, resulting in a significant increase in the assets and liabilities on our consolidated balance sheet. We are continuing our assessment of the impact of adoption, which may identify additional impacts to our consolidated financial statements. We have not yet determined the method we will use to adopt ASC 842.
Subsequent Events	Subsequent Events We evaluate events subsequent to March 13, 2019 through the date the financial statements are issued to determine if the nature and significance of the events warrant inclusion in our consolidated financial statements.
Revenue Recognition	Restaurant Sales Restaurant sales consist of sales of food and beverage products to restaurant guests at our Luby’s Cafeteria, Fuddruckers and Cheeseburger in Paradise restaurants. Revenue from restaurant sales is recognized at the point of sale and is presented net of discounts, coupons, employee meals and complimentary meals. Sales taxes that we collect and remit to the appropriate taxing authority related to these sales are excluded from revenue. We sell gift cards to our customers in our venues and through certain third-party distributors. These gift cards do not expire and do not incur a service fee on unused balances. Sales of gift cards to our restaurant customers are initially recorded as a contract liability, included in accrued expenses and other liabilities, at their expected redemption value. When gift cards are redeemed, we recognize revenue and reduce the contract liability. Discounts on gift cards sold by third parties are recorded as a reduction to accrued expenses and other liabilities and are recognized, as a reduction to revenue, over a period that approximates redemption patterns. The portion of gift cards sold to customers that is never redeemed is commonly referred to as gift card breakage. Under ASC 606 we recognize gift card breakage revenue in proportion to the pattern of gift card redemptions exercised by our customers, using an estimated breakage rate based on our historical experience. Under the Previous Standards, we recognized gift card breakage income within other (expense) income (and not within revenue) when it was deemed remote that the unused gift card balance would be redeemed. Culinary contract services revenue Our Culinary Contract Services segment provides food, beverage and catering services to our clients at their locations. Depending on the type of client and service, we are either paid directly by our client and/or directly by the customer to whom we have been provided access by our client. We typically use one of the following types of client contracts: Fee-Based Contracts. Revenue from fee-based contracts is based on our costs incurred and invoiced to the client along with the agreed management fee, which may be calculated as a fixed dollar amount or a percentage of sales or other variable measure. Some fee-based contracts entitle us to receive incentive fees based upon our performance under the contract, as measured by factors such as sales, operating costs and client satisfaction surveys. This potential incentive revenue is allocated entirely to the management services performance obligation. We recognize revenue from our management fee and payroll cost reimbursement over time as the services are performed. We recognize revenue from our food and 3^rd party purchases reimbursement at the point in time when the vendor delivers the goods or performs the services. Profit and Loss Contracts. Revenue from profit and loss contracts consist primarily of sales made to consumers, typically with little or no subsidy charged to clients. Revenue is recognized at the point of sale to the consumer. Sales taxes that we collect and remit to the appropriate taxing authority related to these sales are excluded from revenue. As part of client contracts, we sometimes make payments to clients, such as concession rentals, vending commissions and profit share. These payments are accounted for as operating costs when incurred. Revenue from the sale of frozen foods includes royalty fees based on a percentage of frozen food sales and is recognized at the point in time when product is delivered by our contracted manufacturers to the retail outlet. Franchise revenues Franchise revenues consist primarily of royalties, marketing and advertising fund (“MAF”) contributions, initial and renewal franchise fees, and upfront fees from area development agreements related to our Fuddruckers restaurant brand. Our performance obligations under franchise agreements consist of: (1) a franchise license, including a license to use our brand and MAF management, (2) pre-opening services, such as training and inspections and (3) ongoing services, such as development of training materials and menu items as well as restaurant monitoring and inspections. These performance obligations are highly interrelated, so we do not consider them to be individually distinct. We account for them under ASC 606 as a single performance obligation, which is satisfied over time by providing a right to use our intellectual property over the term of each franchise agreement. Royalties, including franchisee MAF contributions, are calculated as a percentage of franchise restaurant sales. MAF contributions paid by franchisees are used for the creation and development of brand advertising, marketing and public relations, merchandising research and related programs, activities and materials. The initial franchisee fee is payable upon execution of the franchise agreement and the renewal fee is due and payable at the expiration of the initial term of the franchise agreement. Our franchise agreement royalties, including advertising fund contributions, represent sales-based royalties that are related entirely to our performance obligation under the franchise agreement and are recognized as franchise sales occur. Initial and renewal franchise fees and area development fees are recognized as revenue over the term of the respective agreement. Area development fees are not distinct from franchise fees, so upfront fees paid by franchisees for exclusive development rights are deferred and apportioned to each franchise restaurant opened by the franchisee. The pro-rata amount apportioned to each restaurant is accounted for as an initial franchise fee. Under the Previous Standards, initial franchise fees and area development fees were recognized as revenue when the related restaurant commenced operations and we completed all material pre-opening services and conditions. Renewal franchise fees were recognized as revenue upon execution of a new franchise agreement. MAF contributions from franchisees and the related MAF expenditures were accounted for on a net basis in our Consolidated Balance Sheets. Revenue from vending machine sales is recorded at the point in time when the sale occurs.