(16) Guarantor/Non-Guarantor - Balance Sheets (Details) (USD $) In Thousands	Jul. 03, 2011	Jan. 02, 2011	Jul. 04, 2010	Jan. 02, 2010
Wendy's Restaurants, LLC [Member] | Segment, Continuing Operations [Member]
Current assets:
Cash and cash equivalents at end of period	$ 222,753	$ 198,686
Accounts and notes receivable	70,052	83,352
Inventories	13,164	22,694
Prepaid expenses and other current assets	32,789	24,032
Deferred income tax benefit	43,276	45,067
Advertising funds restricted assets	74,472	76,553
Noncurrent assets
Properties	1,141,567	1,541,853
Goodwill	877,643	888,921
Other intangible assets	1,318,242	1,358,574
Investments	106,195	102,406
Deferred costs and other assets	66,245	74,559
Net investment in subsidiaries	0	0
Deferred income tax benefit	0	0
Due from affiliate	0	0
Current liabilities:
Current portion of long-term debt	6,881	17,047
Accounts payable	61,074	81,148
Accrued expenses and other current liabilities	194,277	244,300
Advertising fund restricted liabilities	74,472	76,553
Noncurrent liabilities
Long-term debt	1,336,055	1,542,684
Due to affiliates	24,603	30,808
Deferred income	18,810	11,460
Deferred income taxes	476,029	478,472
Other liabilities	97,831	157,595
Invested equity:
Member interest, $0.01 par value, 1,000 shares authorized, one share issued and outstanding	0	0
Other capital	2,429,621	2,423,459
(Accumulated deficit) retained earnings	(485,586)	(499,500)
Advances to The Wendy’s Company	(155,000)	(155,000)
Accumulated other comprehensive income	15,888	7,671
Total stockholders’ equity	1,804,923	1,776,630
Wendy's Restaurants, LLC [Member] | Segment, Continuing Operations [Member] | Parent [Member]
Current assets:
Cash and cash equivalents at end of period	36,255	79,355
Accounts and notes receivable	3,677	320
Inventories	0	0
Prepaid expenses and other current assets	4,720	3,900
Deferred income tax benefit	22,127	17,634
Advertising funds restricted assets	0	0
Noncurrent assets
Properties	11,477	13,748
Goodwill	0	0
Other intangible assets	18,973	21,453
Investments	0	0
Deferred costs and other assets	29,222	32,610
Net investment in subsidiaries	2,624,049	2,559,526
Deferred income tax benefit	83,496	86,423
Due from affiliate	51,593	59,618
Current liabilities:
Current portion of long-term debt	5,692	5,228
Accounts payable	4,884	4,624
Accrued expenses and other current liabilities	47,757	38,871
Advertising fund restricted liabilities	0	0
Noncurrent liabilities
Long-term debt	1,017,614	1,043,623
Due to affiliates	0	0
Deferred income	0	0
Deferred income taxes	0	0
Other liabilities	4,719	5,611
Invested equity:
Member interest, $0.01 par value, 1,000 shares authorized, one share issued and outstanding	0	0
Other capital	2,429,621	2,423,459
(Accumulated deficit) retained earnings	(485,586)	(499,500)
Advances to The Wendy’s Company	(155,000)	(155,000)
Accumulated other comprehensive income	15,888	7,671
Total stockholders’ equity	1,804,923	1,776,630
Wendy's Restaurants, LLC [Member] | Segment, Continuing Operations [Member] | Guarantor Subsidiaries [Member]
Current assets:
Cash and cash equivalents at end of period	152,938	88,936
Accounts and notes receivable	61,896	79,404
Inventories	11,963	21,558
Prepaid expenses and other current assets	26,479	19,446
Deferred income tax benefit	20,926	27,218
Advertising funds restricted assets	0	0
Noncurrent assets
Properties	1,070,660	1,466,769
Goodwill	827,228	841,156
Other intangible assets	1,272,425	1,310,092
Investments	0	0
Deferred costs and other assets	36,754	41,274
Net investment in subsidiaries	260,047	246,578
Deferred income tax benefit	0	0
Due from affiliate	0	0
Current liabilities:
Current portion of long-term debt	909	11,587
Accounts payable	49,786	70,901
Accrued expenses and other current liabilities	139,103	195,282
Advertising fund restricted liabilities	0	0
Noncurrent liabilities
Long-term debt	314,572	495,505
Due to affiliates	75,012	108,319
Deferred income	18,378	10,888
Deferred income taxes	541,917	548,088
Other liabilities	83,993	142,335
Invested equity:
Member interest, $0.01 par value, 1,000 shares authorized, one share issued and outstanding	0	0
Other capital	3,253,732	3,244,488
(Accumulated deficit) retained earnings	(490,571)	(537,633)
Advances to The Wendy’s Company	(155,000)	(155,000)
Accumulated other comprehensive income	15,888	7,671
Total stockholders’ equity	2,624,049	2,559,526
Wendy's Restaurants, LLC [Member] | Segment, Continuing Operations [Member] | Non-Guarantor Subsidiaries [Member]
Current assets:
Cash and cash equivalents at end of period	33,560	30,395
Accounts and notes receivable	4,491	3,628
Inventories	1,201	1,136
Prepaid expenses and other current assets	1,590	686
Deferred income tax benefit	223	215
Advertising funds restricted assets	74,472	76,553
Noncurrent assets
Properties	59,430	61,336
Goodwill	50,415	47,765
Other intangible assets	26,844	27,029
Investments	106,195	102,406
Deferred costs and other assets	269	675
Net investment in subsidiaries	0	0
Deferred income tax benefit	0	97
Due from affiliate	0	17,893
Current liabilities:
Current portion of long-term debt	280	232
Accounts payable	6,404	5,623
Accrued expenses and other current liabilities	7,417	10,147
Advertising fund restricted liabilities	74,472	76,553
Noncurrent liabilities
Long-term debt	3,869	3,556
Due to affiliates	1,184	0
Deferred income	432	572
Deferred income taxes	17,608	16,904
Other liabilities	9,119	9,649
Invested equity:
Member interest, $0.01 par value, 1,000 shares authorized, one share issued and outstanding	0	0
Other capital	199,014	199,014
(Accumulated deficit) retained earnings	45,145	39,594
Advances to The Wendy’s Company	0	0
Accumulated other comprehensive income	15,888	7,970
Total stockholders’ equity	260,047	246,578
Wendy's Restaurants, LLC [Member] | Segment, Continuing Operations [Member] | Consolidation, Eliminations [Member]
Current assets:
Cash and cash equivalents at end of period	0	0
Accounts and notes receivable	(12)	0
Inventories	0	0
Prepaid expenses and other current assets	0	0
Deferred income tax benefit	0	0
Advertising funds restricted assets	0	0
Noncurrent assets
Properties	0	0
Goodwill	0	0
Other intangible assets	0	0
Investments	0	0
Deferred costs and other assets	0	0
Net investment in subsidiaries	(2,884,096)	(2,806,104)
Deferred income tax benefit	(83,496)	(86,520)
Due from affiliate	(51,593)	(77,511)
Current liabilities:
Current portion of long-term debt	0	0
Accounts payable	0	0
Accrued expenses and other current liabilities	0	0
Advertising fund restricted liabilities	0	0
Noncurrent liabilities
Long-term debt	0	0
Due to affiliates	(51,593)	(77,511)
Deferred income	0	0
Deferred income taxes	(83,496)	(86,520)
Other liabilities	0	0
Invested equity:
Member interest, $0.01 par value, 1,000 shares authorized, one share issued and outstanding	0	0
Other capital	(3,452,746)	(3,443,502)
(Accumulated deficit) retained earnings	445,426	498,039
Advances to The Wendy’s Company	155,000	155,000
Accumulated other comprehensive income	(31,776)	(15,641)
Total stockholders’ equity	(2,884,096)	(2,806,104)
Segment, Continuing Operations [Member]
Current assets:
Cash and cash equivalents at end of period	492,448		508,380
Wendy's Restaurants, LLC [Member] | Segment, Discontinued Operations [Member]
Current assets:
Cash and cash equivalents at end of period	7,076		0
Current assets of discontinued operations	66,325	0
Noncurrent assets
Noncurrent assets of discontinued operations	418,855	0
Current liabilities:
Current liabilities of discontinued operations	110,912	0
Noncurrent liabilities
Noncurrent liabilities of discontinued operations	245,711	0
Wendy's Restaurants, LLC [Member] | Segment, Discontinued Operations [Member] | Parent [Member]
Current assets:
Current assets of discontinued operations	0
Noncurrent assets
Noncurrent assets of discontinued operations	0
Current liabilities:
Current liabilities of discontinued operations	0
Noncurrent liabilities
Noncurrent liabilities of discontinued operations	0
Wendy's Restaurants, LLC [Member] | Segment, Discontinued Operations [Member] | Guarantor Subsidiaries [Member]
Current assets:
Current assets of discontinued operations	65,246
Noncurrent assets
Noncurrent assets of discontinued operations	396,214
Current liabilities:
Current liabilities of discontinued operations	110,636
Noncurrent liabilities
Noncurrent liabilities of discontinued operations	244,421
Wendy's Restaurants, LLC [Member] | Segment, Discontinued Operations [Member] | Non-Guarantor Subsidiaries [Member]
Current assets:
Current assets of discontinued operations	1,079
Noncurrent assets
Noncurrent assets of discontinued operations	22,641
Current liabilities:
Current liabilities of discontinued operations	288
Noncurrent liabilities
Noncurrent liabilities of discontinued operations	1,290
Wendy's Restaurants, LLC [Member] | Segment, Discontinued Operations [Member] | Consolidation, Eliminations [Member]
Current assets:
Current assets of discontinued operations	0
Noncurrent assets
Noncurrent assets of discontinued operations	0
Current liabilities:
Current liabilities of discontinued operations	(12)
Noncurrent liabilities
Noncurrent liabilities of discontinued operations	0
Segment, Discontinued Operations [Member]
Current assets:
Cash and cash equivalents at end of period	7,076		0
Wendy's Restaurants, LLC [Member]
Current assets:
Cash and cash equivalents at end of period	229,829	198,686	180,313	538,864
Total current assets	522,831	450,384
Noncurrent assets
Total assets	4,451,578	4,416,697
Current liabilities:
Total current liabilities	447,616	419,048
Invested equity:
Total liabilities and invested equity	4,451,578	4,416,697
Wendy's Restaurants, LLC [Member] | Parent [Member]
Current assets:
Cash and cash equivalents at end of period	36,255	79,355	51,814	237,607
Total current assets	66,779	101,209
Noncurrent assets
Total assets	2,885,589	2,874,587
Current liabilities:
Total current liabilities	58,333	48,723
Invested equity:
Total liabilities and invested equity	2,885,589	2,874,587
Wendy's Restaurants, LLC [Member] | Guarantor Subsidiaries [Member]
Current assets:
Cash and cash equivalents at end of period	159,420	88,936	93,790	268,762
Total current assets	339,448	236,562
Noncurrent assets
Total assets	4,202,776	4,142,431
Current liabilities:
Total current liabilities	300,434	277,770
Invested equity:
Total liabilities and invested equity	4,202,776	4,142,431
Wendy's Restaurants, LLC [Member] | Non-Guarantor Subsidiaries [Member]
Current assets:
Cash and cash equivalents at end of period	34,154	30,395	34,709	32,495
Total current assets	116,616	112,613
Noncurrent assets
Total assets	382,410	369,814
Current liabilities:
Total current liabilities	88,861	92,555
Invested equity:
Total liabilities and invested equity	382,410	369,814
Wendy's Restaurants, LLC [Member] | Consolidation, Eliminations [Member]
Current assets:
Cash and cash equivalents at end of period	0	0	0	0
Total current assets	(12)	0
Noncurrent assets
Total assets	(3,019,197)	(2,970,135)
Current liabilities:
Total current liabilities	(12)	0
Invested equity:
Total liabilities and invested equity	$ (3,019,197)	$ (2,970,135)