FISCAL 2011 BUSINESS AND LICENSE ACQUISITIONS (Details) (USD $)	3 Months Ended		6 Months Ended			12 Months Ended		3 Months Ended		6 Months Ended		12 Months Ended		6 Months Ended	12 Months Ended		3 Months Ended	6 Months Ended		6 Months Ended		3 Months Ended	6 Months Ended		6 Months Ended		6 Months Ended		6 Months Ended		6 Months Ended		6 Months Ended		6 Months Ended		6 Months Ended		6 Months Ended	12 Months Ended		12 Months Ended			6 Months Ended				6 Months Ended		6 Months Ended
	Nov. 29, 2011	Nov. 30, 2010	Nov. 29, 2011	May 31, 2011	Nov. 30, 2010	May 31, 2011	May 31, 2010	Nov. 29, 2011 Franchise Partnership Acquisitions [Member]	Nov. 30, 2010 Franchise Partnership Acquisitions [Member]	Nov. 29, 2011 Franchise Partnership Acquisitions [Member]	Nov. 30, 2010 Franchise Partnership Acquisitions [Member]	May 31, 2011 Franchise Partnership Acquisitions [Member]	Aug. 04, 2010 Franchise Partnership Acquisitions [Member]	Nov. 29, 2011 Franchise Partnership Acquisitions [Member] RT Minneapolis Franchise, LLC [Member]	May 31, 2011 Franchise Partnership Acquisitions [Member] RT Minneapolis Franchise, LLC [Member]	May 04, 2011 Franchise Partnership Acquisitions [Member] RT Minneapolis Franchise, LLC [Member]	Aug. 30, 2010 Franchise Partnership Acquisitions [Member] North East Acquisitions [Member]	Nov. 29, 2011 Franchise Partnership Acquisitions [Member] North East Acquisitions [Member]	Aug. 04, 2010 Franchise Partnership Acquisitions [Member] North East Acquisitions [Member]	Nov. 29, 2011 Franchise Partnership Acquisitions [Member] Mid West and West [Member]	Feb. 02, 2011 Franchise Partnership Acquisitions [Member] Mid West and West [Member]	Mar. 01, 2011 Franchise Partnership Acquisitions [Member] Mid West and West [Member] RT Utah Franchise, LLC [Member]	Nov. 29, 2011 Franchise Partnership Acquisitions [Member] Mid West and West [Member] RT Utah Franchise, LLC [Member]	Feb. 25, 2011 Franchise Partnership Acquisitions [Member] Mid West and West [Member] RT Utah Franchise, LLC [Member]	Nov. 29, 2011 Franchise Partnership Acquisitions [Member] Mid West and West [Member] RT Western Missouri Franchise, LLC [Member]	Feb. 02, 2011 Franchise Partnership Acquisitions [Member] Mid West and West [Member] RT Western Missouri Franchise, LLC [Member]	Nov. 29, 2011 Franchise Partnership Acquisitions [Member] Mid West and West [Member] RT Omaha Franchise, LLC [Member]	Feb. 02, 2011 Franchise Partnership Acquisitions [Member] Mid West and West [Member] RT Omaha Franchise, LLC [Member]	Nov. 29, 2011 Franchise Partnership Acquisitions [Member] Mid West and West [Member] RT KMCO Franchise, LLC [Member]	Feb. 02, 2011 Franchise Partnership Acquisitions [Member] Mid West and West [Member] RT KMCO Franchise, LLC [Member]	Nov. 29, 2011 Franchise Partnership Acquisitions [Member] Mid West and West [Member] RT St Louis Franchise, LLC [Member]	Feb. 02, 2011 Franchise Partnership Acquisitions [Member] Mid West and West [Member] RT St Louis Franchise, LLC [Member]	Nov. 29, 2011 Franchise Partnership Acquisitions [Member] Mid West and West [Member] RT Indianapolis Franchise, LLC [Member]	Feb. 02, 2011 Franchise Partnership Acquisitions [Member] Mid West and West [Member] RT Indianapolis Franchise, LLC [Member]	Nov. 29, 2011 Franchise Partnership Acquisitions [Member] Mid West and West [Member] RT Portland Franchise, LLC [Member]	Feb. 02, 2011 Franchise Partnership Acquisitions [Member] Mid West and West [Member] RT Portland Franchise, LLC [Member]	Nov. 29, 2011 Franchise Partnership Acquisitions [Member] Mid West and West [Member] RT Denver Franchise, LP [Member]	Feb. 02, 2011 Franchise Partnership Acquisitions [Member] Mid West and West [Member] RT Denver Franchise, LP [Member]	Nov. 29, 2011 Franchise Partnership Acquisitions [Member] Minneapolis and Las Vegas [Member]	May 31, 2011 Franchise Partnership Acquisitions [Member] Minneapolis and Las Vegas [Member]	May 04, 2011 Franchise Partnership Acquisitions [Member] Minneapolis and Las Vegas [Member]	May 31, 2011 Traditional Domestic Franchises [Member]	May 31, 2011 Traditional Domestic Franchises [Member] Mid West and West [Member]	Oct. 13, 2010 Traditional Domestic Franchises [Member] Mid West and West [Member]	Nov. 29, 2011 Gourmet Market, Inc [Member]	Nov. 29, 2011 Franchise Rights [Member]	Nov. 29, 2011 Assets Intangible Assets Operating Lease Contracts [Member]	May 31, 2011 Assets Intangible Assets Operating Lease Contracts [Member]	Nov. 29, 2011 Liabilities Intangible Assets Unfavorable Operating Lease Contracts [Member]	May 31, 2011 Liabilities Intangible Assets Unfavorable Operating Lease Contracts [Member]	Nov. 29, 2011 LFMG International [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Number of restaurants acquired				86	23	109						106					20						1																13			3	3
Effective date of acquisition															2011-05-04			2010-08-04				2011-02-25			2011-02-02		2011-02-02		2011-02-02		2011-02-02		2011-02-02		2011-02-02		2011-02-02			2011-05-04			2010-10-13
Ownership interest (in hundredths)										100.00%				100.00%				100.00%							100.00%		100.00%		100.00%		100.00%		100.00%		100.00%		100.00%		100.00%
Ownership interest acquired (in hundredths)													50.00%			50.00%			99.00%							50.00%		50.00%		50.00%		50.00%		99.00%		99.00%		99.00%			99.00%
Ownership interest prior to acquisition (in hundredths)																							1.00%
Number of restaurants operated by franchise acquired																		10		72
Purchase consideration cash																			$ 200,000		$ 500,000			$ 2,000,000																				$ 1,600,000
Notes and lines of credit, net of allowances for doubtful accounts																			400,000		900,000
Franchise partnerships acquired total debt																			24,300,000		106,600,000																				18,700,000
Franchise partnerships debt payable to acquirer																			1,900,000		3,800,000																				900,000
Number of restaurants closed before acquisition transaction																							5
Preliminary bargain purchase gain			2,600,000
(Gain) / loss on settlement of preexisting contracts, net			900,000
Goodwill, expected tax nondeductible amount							8,200,000
Other intangible assets, amortization period, range minimum (in years)																																														2Y	1Y		1Y
Other intangible assets, amortization period, range maximum (in years)																																														12Y	33Y		33Y
Pro forma information [Abstract]
Elimination of the franchises' historical intangible asset amortization expense		0			100,000
Elimination of RTI's franchise revenue		0			400,000
Elimination of RTI's support service fee income and marketing reimbursements		200,000			1,300,000
Elimination of RTI's equity in losses of unconsolidated franchises		0			200,000
Elimination of RTI's bad debt charges relating to notes receivable and lines of credit due from the acquired franchises		(100,000)			100,000
Additional amortization expense related to reacquired franchise rights		300,000			700,000
Additional depreciation expense related to the fair value adjustments to property and equipment		200,000			500,000
Reduced interest expense related to the fair value adjustments of acquired franchise debt		300,000			600,000
Statutory tax rate (in hundredths)		39.70%
Franchises' FICA Tip and Work Opportunity Tax Credits		200,000			500,000
Total revenue		325,753,000			672,772,000
Net income		4,643,000			17,075,000
Basic earnings per share (in dollars per share)		$ 0.07			$ 0.27
Diluted earnings per share (in dollars per share)		$ 0.07			$ 0.26
License acquisitions [Abstract]
Initiation date of license agreement																																													Jul. 22, 2010						Sep. 13, 2010
Initial development fee																																																			1,000,000
Licensing fee per new restaurant opening																																																			5,000
Restaurants to open for with license fee, maximum																																																			200
Royalty fee to gross sales (in hundredths)																																																			2.00%
Licensing fee to gross sales (in hundredths)																																													2.00%
Advertising fee to gross sales (in hundredths)																																																			1.00%
Monthly fee for consulting services, maximum period (in years)																																													2Y
Monthly fee for consulting services, first year (per month)																																													20,833
Monthly fee for consulting services option 1, second year (per month)																																													20,833
Basis for paying second year option 1, Concept restaurant openings, minimum threshold																																													three or more
Monthly fee for consulting services option 2, second year (per month)																																													10,417
Basis for paying second year rent option 2, concept restaurant openings, maximum threshold																																													two or fewer
Licensing option 1 to terminate future development rights, Concept restaurant openings, minimum threshold																																													18 or more						12 or more
License option 1 for future development rights, opened concept restaurants, maximum (in years)																																													5Y						2Y
Licensee option 2 to terminate future development rights, opened concept restaurants																																													40 or more						6 or more
Licensee option 2 for future development rights, maximum (in years)																																													10Y						1Y
Duration of license agreement (in years)																																																			20Y
Payments for consulting services			20,833																																										59,831
Allocation of purchase prices of acquisition [Abstract]
Property and equipment				137,075,000		137,075,000
Goodwill				15,571,000		15,571,000
Reacquired franchise rights				10,242,000		10,242,000
Other intangible assets, net of liabilities				735,000		735,000																																										2,000,000		1,300,000
Deferred income taxes				380,000		380,000
Long-term debt and capital leases				(147,005,000)		(147,005,000)
Other net liabilities				(4,536,000)		(4,536,000)
Notes receivable				(1,529,000)		(1,529,000)
Net impact on fiscal 2011 Consolidated Balance Sheet				10,933,000		10,933,000
Gain on settlement of preexisting contracts, net						(4,906,000)
Gain on acquisitions						(1,770,000)
Net impact on fiscal 2011 Consolidated Statement of Income						(6,676,000)
Aggregate cash purchase prices				4,257,000		4,257,000
Liabilities - Net with other intangible assets				1,288,000		1,288,000
Operating results for acquired franchise partnerships [Abstract]
Total revenue	306,203,000	288,955,000	635,057,000		589,587,000			41,271,000	10,191,000	86,891,000	13,327,000
Cost of merchandise	91,562,000	84,537,000	189,137,000		169,630,000			12,243,000	2,954,000	25,637,000	3,826,000
Payroll and related costs	107,777,000	99,756,000	220,764,000		199,965,000			15,128,000	3,441,000	30,964,000	4,403,000
Other restaurant operating costs	65,429,000	61,157,000	134,084,000		120,800,000			9,010,000	2,391,000	18,775,000	3,104,000
Depreciation								2,183,000	698,000	4,267,000	817,000
Selling, general, and administrative, net	23,386,000	21,237,000	50,162,000		43,780,000			2,762,000	630,000	5,848,000	798,000
Total operating costs and expenses	309,200,000	285,183,000	635,888,000		571,792,000			41,326,000	10,114,000	85,491,000	12,948,000
(Loss)/income before income taxes	$ (1,747,000)	$ 5,268,000	$ 1,910,000		$ 21,345,000			$ (55,000)	$ 77,000	$ 1,400,000	$ 379,000