Accounting for Variable Interest Entities (Narrative) (Detail) (USD $)	3 Months Ended												12 Months Ended
	Dec. 25, 2011	Sep. 25, 2011	Jun. 26, 2011	Mar. 27, 2011	Dec. 26, 2010		Sep. 26, 2010		Jun. 27, 2010		Mar. 28, 2010		Dec. 25, 2011	Dec. 26, 2010	Dec. 27, 2009
Variable Interest Entity [Line Items]
Pre-tax income (loss)													$ 86,275,000	$ 82,281,000	$ 90,194,000
Net income, including noncontrolling interests													59,387,000	55,425,000	61,209,000
Earnings per common share - assuming dilution (in dollars per share)	$ 0.65	$ 0.44	$ 0.47	$ 0.64	$ 0.55	[1]	$ 0.30	[1]	$ 0.49	[1]	$ 0.62	[1]	$ 2.20	$ 1.96	$ 2.06
Accumulated deficit	298,807,000				243,152,000								298,807,000	243,152,000
Percent of domestic franchisees who entered into cheese purchasing agreement, minimum	99.00%												99.00%
BIBP Commodities, Inc. [Member]
Variable Interest Entity [Line Items]
Cost of cheese purchased				25,100,000										153,000,000	142,400,000
Pre-tax income (loss)				0										21,000,000	22,500,000
Net income, including noncontrolling interests				0										13,500,000	14,600,000
Earnings per common share - assuming dilution (in dollars per share)				$ 0.00										$ 0.51	$ 0.52
Accumulated deficit					14,200,000									14,200,000
Intercompany cost of sales														$ 14,200,000

[1] During 2010, we recorded pre-tax income of $3.5 million ($2.2 million after tax or $0.08 per diluted share) in the first quarter, pre-tax income of $2.7 million ($1.7 million after tax or $0.06 per diluted share) in the second quarter, pre-tax losses of $658,000 ($417,000 after tax or $0.02 per diluted share) in the third quarter and pre-tax income of $1.3 million ($843,000 after tax or $0.04 per diluted share) in the fourth quarter upon consolidation of BIBP. BIBP's total pre-tax income, excluding the reduction in BIBP's cost of sales of $14.2 million associated with PJFS's agreement to pay to BIBP for past cheese purchases an amount equal to its accumulated deficit, for 2010 was $6.8 million ($4.3 million after tax or $0.16 per diluted share).