Litigation, Commitments and Contingencies - Perrin (Details) $ in Thousands	1 Months Ended	3 Months Ended	12 Months Ended
	Jun. 28, 2015 USD ($) item employee	Jun. 28, 2015 USD ($) item employee	Dec. 27, 2015 USD ($)
Loss Contingency Information About Litigation Matters
Litigation Settlement, Expense | $		$ 8,000	$ 12,278
Pending Litigation | Perrin v. Papa John's International, Inc. and Papa John's USA, Inc.
Loss Contingency Information About Litigation Matters
Employees who opted into the class action (in number of employees) | employee	3,900	3,900
Potential class size (in number of employees) | employee	28,800	28,800
States which are granted motion for class certification (in number of states) | item	5	5
Plaintiffs added to case (in number of plaintiffs) | item	15,000	15,000
Litigation Settlement, Expense | $	$ 12,300