(15) Guarantor/Non-Guarantor Income Statements (Details) (USD $) In Thousands, unless otherwise specified	3 Months Ended
	Apr. 01, 2012	Apr. 03, 2011
Revenues [Abstract]
Sales	$ 519,929	$ 509,286
Franchise revenues	73,258	73,179
Revenues	593,187	582,465
Costs and Expenses [Abstract]
Cost of sales	455,467	438,871
General and administrative	72,304	74,685
Depreciation and amortization	32,311	30,314
Impairment of long-lived assets	4,511	7,897
Facilities relocation and other transition costs	5,531	0
Transaction related costs	612	1,884
Merger restructuring	4,890
Other operating expense (income), net	1,535	797
Costs and expenses	572,271	554,448
Operating profit	20,916	28,017
Interest expense	(28,235)	(29,442)
Other income (expense), net	1,524	253
Income (loss) from continuing operations before income taxes	21,612	(1,172)
(Provision for) benefit from income taxes	(6,878)	876
Income from continuing operations	14,734	(296)
Discontinued operations:
Income from discontinued operations, net of income taxes	0	(1,113)
Net income (loss)	14,734	(1,409)
Wendy's Restaurants, LLC [Member]
Revenues [Abstract]
Sales	519,929	509,286
Franchise revenues	73,258	73,179
Revenues	593,187	582,465
Costs and Expenses [Abstract]
Cost of sales	455,467	438,871
General and administrative	70,080	71,939
Depreciation and amortization	32,308	29,849
Impairment of long-lived assets	2,883	7,897
Facilities relocation and other transition costs	5,531	0
Transaction related costs	612	1,279
Transaction related and other costs	612
Other operating expense (income), net	1,571	742
Costs and expenses	568,452	550,577
Operating profit	24,735	31,888
Interest expense	(28,073)	(29,215)
Other income (expense), net	1,575	213
Equity in income (loss) of subsidiaries	0	0
Income (loss) from continuing operations before income taxes	(1,763)	2,886
(Provision for) benefit from income taxes	1,036	(748)
Income from continuing operations	(727)	2,138
Discontinued operations:
Income from discontinued operations, net of income taxes	0	(1,113)
(Loss) income from discontinued operations, net of income taxes		(1,113)
Net income (loss)	(727)	1,025
Wendy's Restaurants, LLC [Member] | Parent [Member]
Revenues [Abstract]
Sales	0	0
Franchise revenues	0	0
Revenues	0	0
Costs and Expenses [Abstract]
Cost of sales	0	0
General and administrative	0	0
Depreciation and amortization	2,981	2,588
Impairment of long-lived assets	0	0
Facilities relocation and other transition costs	5,444
Transaction related costs		1,279
Transaction related and other costs	615
Other operating expense (income), net	442	0
Costs and expenses	9,482	3,867
Operating profit	(9,482)	(3,867)
Interest expense	(22,158)	(23,336)
Other income (expense), net	5,283	0
Equity in income (loss) of subsidiaries	15,258	13,386
Income (loss) from continuing operations before income taxes	(11,099)	(13,817)
(Provision for) benefit from income taxes	10,372	14,842
Income from continuing operations		1,025
Discontinued operations:
(Loss) income from discontinued operations, net of income taxes		0
Net income (loss)	(727)	1,025
Wendy's Restaurants, LLC [Member] | Guarantor Subsidiaries [Member]
Revenues [Abstract]
Sales	466,685	455,569
Franchise revenues	68,923	68,766
Revenues	535,608	524,335
Costs and Expenses [Abstract]
Cost of sales	406,024	390,025
General and administrative	66,024	60,606
Depreciation and amortization	26,765	24,597
Impairment of long-lived assets	2,630	7,543
Facilities relocation and other transition costs	87
Transaction related costs		0
Transaction related and other costs	(3)
Other operating expense (income), net	2,543	2,674
Costs and expenses	504,070	485,445
Operating profit	31,538	38,890
Interest expense	(5,749)	(5,734)
Other income (expense), net	(1,448)	3,798
Equity in income (loss) of subsidiaries	992	(8,716)
Income (loss) from continuing operations before income taxes	25,333	28,238
(Provision for) benefit from income taxes	(10,075)	(13,690)
Income from continuing operations		14,548
Discontinued operations:
(Loss) income from discontinued operations, net of income taxes		0
Net income (loss)	15,258	14,548
Wendy's Restaurants, LLC [Member] | Non-Guarantor Subsidiaries [Member]
Revenues [Abstract]
Sales	53,244	53,758
Franchise revenues	4,335	4,421
Revenues	57,579	58,179
Costs and Expenses [Abstract]
Cost of sales	49,443	48,846
General and administrative	4,056	11,333
Depreciation and amortization	2,562	2,664
Impairment of long-lived assets	253	354
Facilities relocation and other transition costs	0
Transaction related costs		0
Transaction related and other costs	0
Other operating expense (income), net	(1,414)	(1,932)
Costs and expenses	54,900	61,265
Operating profit	2,679	(3,086)
Interest expense	(166)	(145)
Other income (expense), net	(2,260)	(3,585)
Equity in income (loss) of subsidiaries	0	0
Income (loss) from continuing operations before income taxes	253	(6,816)
(Provision for) benefit from income taxes	739	(1,900)
Income from continuing operations		(8,716)
Discontinued operations:
(Loss) income from discontinued operations, net of income taxes		(1,162)
Net income (loss)	992	(9,878)
Wendy's Restaurants, LLC [Member] | Consolidation, Eliminations [Member]
Revenues [Abstract]
Sales	0	(41)
Franchise revenues	0	(8)
Revenues	0	(49)
Costs and Expenses [Abstract]
Cost of sales	0	0
General and administrative	0	0
Depreciation and amortization	0	0
Impairment of long-lived assets	0	0
Facilities relocation and other transition costs	0
Transaction related costs		0
Transaction related and other costs	0
Other operating expense (income), net	0	0
Costs and expenses	0	0
Operating profit	0	(49)
Interest expense	0	0
Other income (expense), net	0	0
Equity in income (loss) of subsidiaries	(16,250)	(4,670)
Income (loss) from continuing operations before income taxes	(16,250)	(4,719)
(Provision for) benefit from income taxes	0	0
Income from continuing operations		(4,719)
Discontinued operations:
(Loss) income from discontinued operations, net of income taxes		49
Net income (loss)	$ (16,250)	$ (4,670)