Quarterly Financial Information (Unaudited) (Details) - USD ($) $ / shares in Units, $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended								12 Months Ended
	Jan. 03, 2016	Sep. 27, 2015	Jun. 28, 2015	Mar. 29, 2015	Dec. 28, 2014	Sep. 28, 2014	Jun. 29, 2014	Mar. 30, 2014	Jan. 03, 2016	Dec. 28, 2014	Dec. 29, 2013	May. 31, 2015
Quarterly Financial Data Table [Abstract]
Revenues	$ 464,365	$ 464,629	$ 489,534	$ 451,769	$ 487,303	$ 496,670	$ 506,079	$ 508,450	$ 1,870,297	$ 1,998,502	$ 2,423,669
Cost of sales	272,316	291,524	315,122	305,111	323,935	332,645	335,141	363,365	1,184,073	1,355,086	1,780,931
Operating profit	116,312	55,939	64,308	37,911	49,901	44,244	61,169	87,274	274,470	242,588	139,330
Income from continuing operations	88,681	8,323	24,825	18,150	22,955	21,133	27,327	45,009	139,979	116,424	47,535
Net income (loss) from discontinued operations	(2,825)	(739)	15,370	9,357	339	1,697	1,680	1,294	21,163	5,010	(2,903)
Net income	$ 85,856	$ 7,584	$ 40,195	$ 27,507	$ 23,294	$ 22,830	$ 29,007	$ 46,303	$ 161,142	$ 121,434	$ 45,487
Basic income (loss) per share:
Continuing operations	$ 0.32	$ 0.03	$ 0.07	$ 0.05	$ 0.06	$ 0.06	$ 0.07	$ 0.12	$ 0.43	$ 0.31	$ 0.12
Discontinued operations	(0.01)	0.00	0.04	0.03	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.07	0.01	(0.01)
Net income	0.31	0.03	0.11	0.08	0.06	0.06	0.08	0.12	0.50	0.33	0.12
Diluted income (loss) per share:
Continuing operations	0.32	0.03	0.07	0.05	0.06	0.06	0.07	0.12	0.43	0.31	0.12
Discontinued operations	(0.01)	0.00	0.04	0.03	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.06	0.01	(0.01)
Net income	$ 0.31	$ 0.03	$ 0.11	$ 0.07	$ 0.06	$ 0.06	$ 0.08	$ 0.12	$ 0.49	$ 0.32	$ 0.11
System optimization gains, net	$ 59,258		$ 15,654		$ 17,483			$ 72,977	$ 74,009	$ 91,510	$ 51,276
Reorganization and realignment costs	5,264	$ 5,754	6,279	$ 4,613	14,527			$ 14,711	21,910	31,903	37,017
Impairment of long-lived assets	11,533		10,018		$ 8,389	$ 8,618			25,001	19,613	36,385
Loss on early extinguishment of debt			$ (7,295)						$ (7,295)	$ 0	(28,563)
Bakery [Member]
Percentage of Membership Interests Sold												100.00%
Arby's Restaurant Group, Inc [Member]
Diluted income (loss) per share:
Distributions, including dividends	$ 54,911										$ 40,145