Net Income (Loss) Per Share (Details) (USD $) In Thousands, except Per Share data, unless otherwise specified	3 Months Ended																12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2013		Sep. 30, 2013		Jun. 30, 2013		Mar. 31, 2013		Dec. 31, 2012		Sep. 30, 2012		Jun. 30, 2012		Mar. 31, 2012		Dec. 31, 2013	Dec. 31, 2012	Dec. 31, 2011
Earnings Per Share, Diluted, by Common Class, Including Two Class Method [Line Items]
Net income (loss)	$ 18,131		$ 18,730		$ 16,937		$ 18,239		$ 18,819	[1]	$ 60,573	[1]	$ 16,938	[1]	$ 31,344	[1]	$ 72,037	$ 127,674	$ 75,192
Less: Accretion of Series B preferred stock																	0	2,498	2,573
Less: Net (income) loss allocated to unvested participating restricted stock																	1,200	2,718	1,886
Net income (loss) available to common stockholders - basic																	70,837	122,458	70,733
Effect of unvested participating restricted stock																	4	127	34
Numerator - net income available to common shareholders - diluted																	70,841	125,083	70,767
Weighted average outstanding shares of common stock - diluted																	19,141	18,877	18,185
Net income (loss) per common share - Basic	$ 0.95		$ 0.98		$ 0.88		$ 0.95		$ 0.98	[2]	$ 3.26	[2]	$ 0.89	[2]	$ 1.69	[2]	$ 3.75	$ 6.81	$ 3.96
Net income (loss) per common share - Diluted	$ 0.94	[2]	$ 0.97	[2]	$ 0.87	[2]	$ 0.93	[2]	$ 0.97	[2]	$ 3.14	[2]	$ 0.88	[2]	$ 1.64	[2]	$ 3.70	$ 6.63	$ 3.89
Antidilutive Securities Excluded from Computation of Earnings Per Share, Amount																			643
Stock Options
Earnings Per Share, Diluted, by Common Class, Including Two Class Method [Line Items]
Effect of dilutive securities, stock options (in shares)																	270	264	339
Series A Preferred Stock
Earnings Per Share, Diluted, by Common Class, Including Two Class Method [Line Items]
Less: Series A preferred stock dividends																	0	0	0
Series B Convertible Preferred Stock
Earnings Per Share, Diluted, by Common Class, Including Two Class Method [Line Items]
Effect of dilutive securities, convertible Series B preferred stock																	$ 0	$ 2,498	$ 0
Effect of dilutive securities, convertible Series B preferred stock (in shares)																	0	621	0
Common Stock
Earnings Per Share, Diluted, by Common Class, Including Two Class Method [Line Items]
Weighted average outstanding shares of common stock - basic																	18,871	17,992	17,846
Weighted average outstanding shares of common stock - diluted																	19,141	18,877	18,185

[1] Net income in 2012 was impacted by gains on disposition of assets (primarily the refranchising and sale of related restaurant assets of Applebee's company-operated restaurants) of $16.7 million in the first quarter of 2012, $73.6 million in the third quarter of 2012 and $13.0 million in the fourth quarter of 2012.

[2] The quarterly amounts may not add to the full year amount as each quarterly calculation is discrete from the full-year calculation.