Income Taxes (Narrative) (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	Dec. 27, 2017	Dec. 28, 2016
Valuation Allowance [Line Items]
Tax credit carryforward	$ 13,355	$ 13,541
Alternative minimum tax credit carryforwards	3,534	3,534
Valuation allowance	13,078	$ 12,567
General Business Tax Credit Carryforward [Member]
Valuation Allowance [Line Items]
Tax credit carryforward	9,600
Alternative Minimum Tax Credit Carryforward [Member]
Valuation Allowance [Line Items]
Alternative minimum tax credit carryforwards	3,500
South Carolina NOL Carryforwards [Member]
Valuation Allowance [Line Items]
Valuation allowance	$ 11,800

Amount before allocation of valuation allowances of deferred tax asset attributable to deductible alternative minimum tax credit carryforwards.

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 740
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 3
-Subparagraph (a)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=84230637&loc=d3e32559-109319

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 740
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 8
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=84230637&loc=d3e32632-109319

Reference 3: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 740
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 6
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=84230637&loc=d3e32621-109319

+ Details

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

- Definition

Amount before allocation of valuation allowances of deferred tax asset attributable to deductible general business tax credit carryforwards.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 740
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 8
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=84230637&loc=d3e32632-109319

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 740
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 6
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=84230637&loc=d3e32621-109319

Reference 3: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 740
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 3
-Subparagraph (a)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=84230637&loc=d3e32559-109319

+ Details

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

- Definition

Amount of deferred tax assets for which it is more likely than not that a tax benefit will not be realized.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 740
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 2
-Subparagraph (c)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=84230637&loc=d3e32537-109319

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_DeferredTaxAssetsValuationAllowance
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Line items represent financial concepts included in a table. These concepts are used to disclose reportable information associated with domain members defined in one or many axes to the table.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_ValuationAllowanceLineItems
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_TaxCreditCarryforwardAxis=us-gaap_GeneralBusinessMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_TaxCreditCarryforwardAxis=denn_AlternativeMinimumTaxCreditCarryforwardMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_TaxCreditCarryforwardAxis=denn_SouthCarolinaNOLCarryforwardsMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type: