Adoption of ASU 2014-09, "Revenue from Contracts with Customers" – Impact of Adoption for the First Quarter on the Statement of Income (Details) - USD ($) $ / shares in Units, shares in Thousands, $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended
	Apr. 01, 2018	Mar. 26, 2017
Revenues:
Total revenues	$ 427,369	$ 449,266
Costs and expenses:
General and administrative expenses	39,729	36,414
Depreciation and amortization	11,539	10,457
Total costs and expenses	400,256	405,585
Refranchising and impairment gains/(losses), net	204
Operating income	27,317	43,681
Net Interest expense	(4,955)	(1,810)
Income before income taxes	22,362	41,871
Income tax expense	4,982	11,972
Net income before attribution to noncontrolling interests	17,380	29,899
Income attributable to noncontrolling interests	(643)	(1,471)
Net income attributable to the Company	16,737	28,428
Calculation of income for earnings per share:
Net income attributable to the Company	16,737	28,428
Change in noncontrolling interest redemption value		520
Net income attributable to participating securities	(75)	(117)
Net income attributable to common shareholders	$ 16,662	$ 28,831
Basic earnings per common share	$ 0.50	$ 0.78
Diluted earnings per common share	$ 0.50	$ 0.77
Basic weighted average common shares outstanding	33,279	36,810
Diluted weighted average common shares outstanding	33,552	37,350
Domestic Company-owned restaurants
Revenues:
Total revenues	$ 190,242	$ 206,896
Costs and expenses:
Operating costs (excluding depreciation and amortization shown separately below):	157,319	165,419
North America franchising
Revenues:
Total revenues	24,806	27,607
North America commissary
Revenues:
Total revenues	161,713	171,340
Costs and expenses:
Operating costs (excluding depreciation and amortization shown separately below):	151,681	159,957
International
Revenues:
Total revenues	30,114	25,622
Costs and expenses:
Operating costs (excluding depreciation and amortization shown separately below):	19,030	15,791
Other segment
Revenues:
Total revenues	20,494	17,801
Costs and expenses:
Operating costs (excluding depreciation and amortization shown separately below):	20,958	$ 17,547
Accounting Standards Update 2014-09 | Total Adjustments
Revenues:
Total revenues	(2,436)
Costs and expenses:
General and administrative expenses	504
Total costs and expenses	(2,921)
Operating income	485
Income before income taxes	485
Income tax expense	112
Net income before attribution to noncontrolling interests	373
Net income attributable to the Company	373
Calculation of income for earnings per share:
Net income attributable to the Company	373
Net income attributable to common shareholders	$ 373
Basic earnings per common share	$ 0.01
Diluted earnings per common share	$ 0.01
Basic weighted average common shares outstanding	33,279
Diluted weighted average common shares outstanding	33,552
Accounting Standards Update 2014-09 | Total Adjustments | Domestic Company-owned restaurants
Revenues:
Total revenues	$ 264
Costs and expenses:
Operating costs (excluding depreciation and amortization shown separately below):	(66)
Accounting Standards Update 2014-09 | Total Adjustments | North America franchising
Revenues:
Total revenues	38
Accounting Standards Update 2014-09 | Total Adjustments | International
Revenues:
Total revenues	149
Accounting Standards Update 2014-09 | Total Adjustments | Other segment
Revenues:
Total revenues	(2,887)
Costs and expenses:
Operating costs (excluding depreciation and amortization shown separately below):	(3,359)
Accounting Standards Update 2014-09 | Without Adoption of Topic 606
Revenues:
Total revenues	424,933
Costs and expenses:
General and administrative expenses	40,233
Depreciation and amortization	11,539
Total costs and expenses	397,335
Refranchising and impairment gains/(losses), net	204
Operating income	27,802
Net Interest expense	(4,955)
Income before income taxes	22,847
Income tax expense	5,094
Net income before attribution to noncontrolling interests	17,753
Income attributable to noncontrolling interests	(643)
Net income attributable to the Company	17,110
Calculation of income for earnings per share:
Net income attributable to the Company	17,110
Net income attributable to participating securities	(75)
Net income attributable to common shareholders	$ 17,035
Basic earnings per common share	$ 0.51
Diluted earnings per common share	$ 0.51
Basic weighted average common shares outstanding	33,279
Diluted weighted average common shares outstanding	33,552
Accounting Standards Update 2014-09 | Without Adoption of Topic 606 | Domestic Company-owned restaurants
Revenues:
Total revenues	$ 190,506
Costs and expenses:
Operating costs (excluding depreciation and amortization shown separately below):	157,253
Accounting Standards Update 2014-09 | Without Adoption of Topic 606 | North America franchising
Revenues:
Total revenues	24,844
Accounting Standards Update 2014-09 | Without Adoption of Topic 606 | North America commissary
Revenues:
Total revenues	161,713
Costs and expenses:
Operating costs (excluding depreciation and amortization shown separately below):	151,681
Accounting Standards Update 2014-09 | Without Adoption of Topic 606 | International
Revenues:
Total revenues	30,263
Costs and expenses:
Operating costs (excluding depreciation and amortization shown separately below):	19,030
Accounting Standards Update 2014-09 | Without Adoption of Topic 606 | Other segment
Revenues:
Total revenues	17,607
Costs and expenses:
Operating costs (excluding depreciation and amortization shown separately below):	$ 17,599