Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations (USD $) In Thousands, except Per Share data, unless otherwise specified	3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended
	Sep. 28, 2014	Sep. 29, 2013	Sep. 28, 2014	Sep. 29, 2013
Revenues:
Sales	$ 409,059	$ 558,029	$ 1,266,493	$ 1,659,900
Franchise revenues	103,430	82,750	292,619	235,105
Revenues	512,489	640,779	1,559,112	1,895,005
Costs and expenses:
Cost of sales	343,807	469,177	1,065,777	1,403,303
General and administrative	65,774	76,518	203,122	216,623
Depreciation and amortization	36,274	44,325	117,790	134,841
Facilities action charges (income), net	7,520	22,275	(35,630)	31,690
Impairment of long-lived assets	3,408	5,327	3,740	5,327
Other operating expense (income), net	8,783	(3,653)	4,522	(3,043)
Costs and expenses	465,566	613,969	1,359,321	1,788,741
Operating profit	46,923	26,810	199,791	106,264
Interest expense	(13,204)	(15,620)	(39,328)	(55,548)
Loss on early extinguishment of debt	0	0	0	(21,019)
Other income, net	373	2,273	1,753	50
Income before income taxes and noncontrolling interests	34,092	13,463	162,216	29,747
Provision for income taxes	(11,262)	(15,625)	(64,076)	(17,774)
Net income (loss)	22,830	(2,162)	98,140	11,973
Net loss attributable to noncontrolling interests	0	223	0	445
Net income (loss) attributable to The Wendy’s Company	$ 22,830	$ (1,939)	$ 98,140	$ 12,418
Earnings Per Share, Basic and Diluted [Abstract]
Basic and diluted net income (loss) per share attributable to The Wendy’s Company	$ 0.06	$ 0.00	$ 0.26	$ 0.03
Dividends per share	$ 0.05	$ 0.05	$ 0.15	$ 0.13