Quarterly Financial Information (Details) (USD $) In Thousands, except Per Share data, unless otherwise specified	3 Months Ended																12 Months Ended
	Dec. 28, 2014		Sep. 28, 2014		Jun. 29, 2014		Mar. 30, 2014		Dec. 29, 2013		Sep. 29, 2013		Jun. 30, 2013		Mar. 31, 2013		Dec. 28, 2014	Dec. 29, 2013	Dec. 30, 2012
Revenues	$ 501,951		$ 512,489		$ 523,427		$ 523,196		$ 592,405		$ 640,779		$ 650,544		$ 603,682		$ 2,061,063	$ 2,487,410	$ 2,505,242
Cost of sales	335,019		343,807		347,780		374,190		436,437		469,177		473,298		460,828		1,400,796	1,839,740	1,881,248
Operating profit	51,717	[1]	46,923	[1]	63,854		89,014	[1]	28,878	[2]	26,810	[2]	56,990	[2]	22,464	[2]	251,508	135,142	122,747
Income (loss) from continuing operations									32,925	[2]	(2,162)	[2]	12,002	[2]	2,133	[2]	121,434	44,898	7,958
Net (loss) income from discontinued operations									(266)		0		0		0		0	(266)	1,509
Net loss attributable to noncontrolling interests									410		223		222		0		0	855	(2,384)
Net income (loss) attributable to The Wendy's Company	23,294	[1]	22,830	[1]	29,007		46,303	[1]	33,069	[2]	(1,939)	[2]	12,224	[2]	2,133	[2]	121,434	45,487	7,083
Earnings Per Share, Basic and Diluted [Abstract]
Basic and diluted net income per share	$ 0.06	[1],[3]	$ 0.06	[1],[3]	$ 0.08	[3]	$ 0.12	[1],[3]
Basic income (loss) per share attributable to The Wendy’s Company:
Continuing operations									$ 0.09	[2]	$ 0.00	[2]	$ 0.03	[2]	$ 0.01	[2]	$ 0.33	$ 0.12	$ 0.02
Discontinued operations									$ 0.00		$ 0.00		$ 0.00		$ 0.00		$ 0.00	$ 0.00	$ 0.00
Net income (loss)									$ 0.08	[2]	$ 0.00	[2]	$ 0.03	[2]	$ 0.01	[2]	$ 0.33	$ 0.12	$ 0.02
Diluted income (loss) per share attributable to The Wendy’s Company:
Continuing operations									$ 0.08	[2]	$ 0.00	[2]	$ 0.03	[2]	$ 0.01	[2]	$ 0.32	$ 0.11	$ 0.02
Discontinued operations									$ 0.00		$ 0.00		$ 0.00		$ 0.00		$ 0.00	$ 0.00	$ 0.00
Net income (loss)									$ 0.08	[2]	$ 0.00	[2]	$ 0.03	[2]	$ 0.01	[2]	$ 0.32	$ 0.11	$ 0.02
Facilities action (income) charges, net	6,530		7,520				(44,033)		(20,834)		22,275		6,377		3,038		(29,100)	10,856	41,031
Impairment of long-lived assets	7,245		3,408						10,552		5,327						10,985	15,879	21,097
Impairment of goodwill									9,397								0	9,397	0
Loss on early extinguishment of debt									$ 7,544				$ 21,019				$ 0	$ 28,563	$ 75,076

[1] The Company’s consolidated statements of operations were materially impacted by facilities action (income) charges, net and impairment of long-lived assets. The pre-tax impact of facilities action (income) charges, net for the first, third and fourth quarters of 2014 was $(44,033), $7,520 and $6,530, respectively (see Note 2 for additional information). The pre-tax impact of impairment of long-lived assets during the third and fourth quarters of 2014 was $3,408 and $7,245, respectively (see Note 15 for additional information).

[2] The Company’s consolidated statements of operations were materially impacted by facilities action (income) charges, net, impairment of long-lived assets, impairment of goodwill and losses on early extinguishment of debt. The pre-tax impact of facilities action charges (income), net for the first, second, third and fourth quarters of 2013 was $3,038, $6,377, $22,275 and $(20,834), respectively (see Note 2 for additional information). The pre-tax impact of impairment of long-lived assets during the third and fourth quarters of 2013 was $5,327 and $10,552, respectively, (see Note 15 for additional information) and the pre-tax impact of impairment of goodwill during the fourth quarter of 2013 was $9,397 (see Note 8 for additional information). The pre-tax impact of losses on the early extinguishment of debt during the second and fourth quarters of 2013 was $21,019 and $7,544, respectively (see Note 10 for additional information).

[3] Basic and diluted net income per share are being presented together since diluted net income per share was the same as basic net income per share for all periods presented (see Note 4 for additional information).