Represents the internal costs directly associated with the acquisition, development and construction of a restaurant.

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Gift card breakage revenue recognition period

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Investment maturity term

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Maximum reasonably assured lease term.

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Number of financial institutions

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The number of regions by which the Company manages its operations.

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Number of service providers for credit card transactions

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Percentage of cash and investments balances not federally backed or federally insured

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The Company's estimated breakage rate of gift card sales.

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No definition available.

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- Definition

Amount of loss from the write-down of an asset representing the future economic benefits arising from other assets acquired in a business combination that are not individually identified and separately recognized.

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The aggregate amount of write-downs for impairments recognized during the period for long-lived assets held for abandonment, exchange or sale.

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- Definition

The total expense recognized in the period for promotion, public relations, and brand or product advertising.

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Number of segments reported by the entity. A reportable segment is a component of an entity for which there is an accounting requirement to report separate financial information on that component in the entity's financial statements.

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No definition available.

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Represents the number of restaurants.

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No definition available.

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The amount by which the fair value of an investment in debt securities categorized as Held-to-maturity is less than the amortized cost basis or carrying amount of that investment at the balance sheet date and the decline in fair value is deemed to be other than temporary, before considering whether or not such amount is recognized in earnings or other comprehensive income.

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The carrying amounts of cash and cash equivalent items which are restricted as to withdrawal or usage. Restrictions may include legally restricted deposits held as compensating balances against borrowing arrangements, contracts entered into with others, or entity statements of intention with regard to particular deposits; however, time deposits and short-term certificates of deposit are not generally included in legally restricted deposits. Excludes compensating balance arrangements that are not agreements which legally restrict the use of cash amounts shown on the balance sheet. This element is for unclassified presentations; for classified presentations there is a separate and distinct element.

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The amount of breakage recognized related to unredeemed gift cards. Breakage occurs when a customer pays in advance of vendor performance and does not demand full performance for various reasons.

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Carrying amount (including both current and noncurrent portions) of accrued known and estimated losses incurred as of the balance sheet date for which no insurance coverage exists, and for which a claim has been made or is probable of being asserted, typically arising from workmen's compensation-type of incidents and personal injury to nonemployees from accidents on the entity's property.

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Description Of Business And Summary Of Significant Accounting Policies (Narrative) (Details) (USD $) In Thousands, unless otherwise specified	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2014 region segment item	Dec. 31, 2013	Dec. 31, 2012
Description Of Business And Summary Of Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Number of regions	8
Number of reportable segments	1us-gaap_NumberOfReportableSegments
Unredeemed gift card sales percentage	4.00%cmg_UnredeemedGiftCardSalesPercentage	4.00%cmg_UnredeemedGiftCardSalesPercentage	5.00%cmg_UnredeemedGiftCardSalesPercentage
Gift card breakage revenue recognition period	6 months
Gift card breakage recognized	$ 3,146	$ 1,976	$ 2,070
Investment impairment charges	0	0	0
Investment maturity term	2 years
Acquisition, development and construction of restaurant capitalized costs	7,756cmg_CapitalizedDevelopment	9,024cmg_CapitalizedDevelopment	10,038cmg_CapitalizedDevelopment
Goodwill impairment charges	0us-gaap_GoodwillImpairmentLoss	0us-gaap_GoodwillImpairmentLoss	0us-gaap_GoodwillImpairmentLoss
Restricted cash asset	19,889	23,810
Aggregate impairment loss recognized on disposition of assets	0	1,220	0
Advertising and marketing costs	57,290us-gaap_MarketingAndAdvertisingExpense	44,389us-gaap_MarketingAndAdvertisingExpense	34,999us-gaap_MarketingAndAdvertisingExpense
Maximum reasonably assured lease term	20 years
Percentage of cash and investments balances not federally backed or federally insured	33.30%
Number of financial institutions	6cmg_NumberOfFinancialInstitutions
Number of service providers for credit card transactions	4
Accrued Payroll And Benefits [Member]
Description Of Business And Summary Of Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Estimated insurance liability	25,596	24,819
Accrued Liabilities [Member]
Description Of Business And Summary Of Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Estimated insurance liability	$ 8,359	$ 6,749
Canada [Member]
Description Of Business And Summary Of Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Number of restaurants	7
Number of service providers for credit card transactions	1
England [Member]
Description Of Business And Summary Of Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Number of restaurants	6
Number of service providers for credit card transactions	1
France [Member]
Description Of Business And Summary Of Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Number of restaurants	3
Germany [Member]
Description Of Business And Summary Of Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Number of restaurants	1
United States [Member]
Description Of Business And Summary Of Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Number of restaurants	1,755
Number of service providers for credit card transactions	1
France and Germany [Member]
Description Of Business And Summary Of Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Number of service providers for credit card transactions	1
ShopHouse Southeast Asian Kitchen [Member]
Description Of Business And Summary Of Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Number of restaurants	9
Pizzeria Locale [Member]
Description Of Business And Summary Of Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Number of restaurants	2