Revenue Disclosures - Disaggregation of Franchise Revenue by Major Type (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2019	Mar. 31, 2018
Franchise revenues
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Total franchise revenue	$ 168,926	$ 155,313
Royalties
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Total franchise revenue	78,730	75,097
Advertising fees
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Total franchise revenue	72,630	63,836
Pancake and waffle dry mix sales and other
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Total franchise revenue	14,431	13,097
Franchise and development fees
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Total franchise revenue	$ 3,135	$ 3,283

Amount, excluding tax collected from customer, of revenue from satisfaction of performance obligation by transferring promised good or service to customer. Tax collected from customer is tax assessed by governmental authority that is both imposed on and concurrent with specific revenue-producing transaction, including, but not limited to, sales, use, value added and excise.

Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 606
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 4
-Subparagraph (a)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=109196051&loc=SL49130543-203045

Reference 2: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 606
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (a)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=109196051&loc=SL49130539-203045

Reference 3: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 606
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 5
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=109196051&loc=SL49130545-203045

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Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	duration