Impairment, Disposition Of Property And Equipment, Restaurant Closing Costs And Restructuring (Details) $ in Thousands		3 Months Ended		6 Months Ended
		Apr. 10, 2016 USD ($)	Apr. 12, 2015 USD ($) litigation	Apr. 10, 2016 USD ($)	Apr. 12, 2015 USD ($)
Restructuring Cost and Reserve [Line Items]
Accelerated depreciation		$ 412	$ 1,387	$ 858	$ 2,139
Restaurant impairment charges		0	27	0	41
Losses (gains) on the disposition of property and equipment, net				1,646	466
Costs of closed restaurants (primarily lease obligations) and other		1,015	973	1,575	1,759
Restructuring costs		0	12	0	19
Impairment and other charges, net		2,422	$ 2,130	4,079	4,310
Facility Closing [Member]
Restructuring Reserve [Roll Forward]
Balance at beginning of period				9,707
Additions				208
Cash payments				(2,768)
Balance at end of period		8,532		8,532
Jack in the box brand restaurant operations [Member]
Restructuring Reserve [Roll Forward]
Number of Closed Restaurants Related to Eminent Domain Proceeds in Current Period | litigation			1
Jack in the box brand restaurant operations [Member] | Gains from Eminent Domain [Member]
Restructuring Cost and Reserve [Line Items]
Losses (gains) on the disposition of property and equipment, net			$ 900
Continuing Operations [Member]
Restructuring Cost and Reserve [Line Items]
Losses (gains) on the disposition of property and equipment, net		$ 995	$ (269)	1,646	$ 352
Impairment and other charges, net [Member] | Facility Closing [Member]
Restructuring Reserve [Roll Forward]
Restructuring costs	[1]			635
Interest Expense [Member] | Facility Closing [Member]
Restructuring Reserve [Roll Forward]
Restructuring costs				$ 750

[1] Adjustments relate primarily to revisions of certain sublease and cost assumptions. Our estimates related to our future lease obligations, primarily the sublease income we anticipate, are subject to a high degree of judgment and may differ from actual sublease income due to changes in economic conditions, desirability of the sites and other factors.