Assets Held for Sale Assets Held for Sale (Narrative) (Details) (USD $)	3 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2012 Restaurants	Dec. 31, 2011 Restaurants
Assets Held For Sale [Line Items]
Assets held for sale	3,986,000	9,363,000
Parcels of Land Intended for Future Restaurant Development	3	3
Assets Held-for-sale, Impairment Charge	(300,000)
Applebee's [Member]
Assets Held For Sale [Line Items]
Parcels of Land With Refranchised Restaurants	1	1
Applebee's [Member] \| Memphis, Tennessee [Member]
Assets Held For Sale [Line Items]
Number of Company Operated Restaurants		17
Company Operated Restaurants Sold	17

Current assets (normally turning over within one year or one business cycle if longer) that are held for sale apart from normal operations and anticipated to be sold within one year.

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef

-Publisher FASB

-Name Statement of Financial Accounting Standard (FAS)

-Number 144

-Paragraph 46

-LegacyDoc This reference is SUPERSEDED by the Accounting Standards Codification effective for interim and annual periods ending after September 15, 2009. This reference is included to help users transition from the previous accounting hierarchy and will be removed from future versions of this taxonomy.

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef

-Publisher FASB

-Name Accounting Standards Codification

-Topic 205

-SubTopic 20

-Section 45

-Paragraph 10

-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6892542&loc=d3e1107-107759

Name:	us-gaap_AssetsHeldForSaleCurrent
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	instant