(7) Pledged Assets (Details) (USD $) In Thousands, unless otherwise specified	Jan. 01, 2012	Jan. 02, 2011
Pledged Assets, Not Separately Reported [Line Items]
Cash and cash equivalents	$ 307,167	$ 172,921
Accounts and notes receivable (including long-term)	74,249	92,336
Inventories	11,766	21,558
Properties	315,696	506,603
Goodwill	828,413	841,156
Other intangible assets	1,203,930	1,233,530
Investments	19,000
Other assets	26,439	24,322
Pledged assets	2,786,660	2,892,426
Wendy's Restaurants, LLC [Member]
Pledged Assets, Not Separately Reported [Line Items]
Cash and cash equivalents	307,167	172,921
Accounts and notes receivable (including long-term)	74,249	92,336
Inventories	11,766	21,558
Properties	315,696	497,420
Goodwill	828,413	841,156
Other intangible assets	1,203,930	1,233,530
Investments	19,000
Other assets	17,663	24,309
Pledged assets	2,777,884	2,883,230
Corporate [Member]
Pledged Assets, Not Separately Reported [Line Items]
Cash and cash equivalents	0	0
Accounts and notes receivable (including long-term)	0	0
Inventories	0	0
Properties	0	9,183
Goodwill	0	0
Other intangible assets	0	0
Investments	0
Other assets	8,776	13
Pledged assets	$ 8,776	$ 9,196