Income taxes - Schedule of Deferred Tax Assets and Liabilities (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2020	Dec. 31, 2021
Income Tax Disclosure [Abstract]
Tax loss carryforwards	$ 186,781	$ 140,106
Purchase price allocation adjustment	12,247	11,305
Property and equipment, tax inflation	38,205	39,691
Tax Inflation adjustment	(7,125)	(6,671)
Other accrued payroll and other liabilities	29,622	25,340
Share-based compensation	1,719	1,623
Provision for contingencies, bad debts and obsolescence	4,621	9,557
Other deferred tax assets	75,121	91,974
Other deferred tax liabilities	(47,593)	(55,253)
Property and equipment - difference in depreciation rates	(7,902)	(10,801)
Valuation allowance	(235,196)	(186,239)
Net deferred tax asset	50,500	60,632
Operating Loss Carryforwards [Line Items]
Operating loss carryforwards		495,782
Brazil
Operating Loss Carryforwards [Line Items]
Difference in depreciation of leases		63,526
Brazil, Mexico, and Colombia
Operating Loss Carryforwards [Line Items]
Provision for regular expenses	10,098	13,055
Puerto Rico
Operating Loss Carryforwards [Line Items]
Bad debt expense	$ 51,772
Expire Between 2021 and 2025
Operating Loss Carryforwards [Line Items]
Operating loss carryforwards		164,301
Expiring After 2025
Operating Loss Carryforwards [Line Items]
Operating loss carryforwards		88,005
Do Not Expire
Operating Loss Carryforwards [Line Items]
Operating loss carryforwards		$ 243,476

Deferred Tax Asset, Bad Debt Expense

No definition available.

Name:	arco_DeferredTaxAssetBadDebtExpense
Namespace Prefix:	arco_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Deferred Tax Asset, Other, Provision For Regular Expenses

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	arco_DeferredTaxAssetOtherProvisionForRegularExpenses
Namespace Prefix:	arco_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Deferred Tax Assets, Other, Difference In Depreciation Of Leases

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	arco_DeferredTaxAssetsOtherDifferenceInDepreciationOfLeases
Namespace Prefix:	arco_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Deferred Tax Assets, Purchase Price Allocation Adjustment

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	arco_DeferredTaxAssetsPurchasePriceAllocationAdjustment
Namespace Prefix:	arco_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Deferred Tax Assets, Tax Inflation Adjustment

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	arco_DeferredTaxAssetsTaxInflationAdjustment
Namespace Prefix:	arco_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Amount, after allocation of valuation allowances and deferred tax liability, of deferred tax asset attributable to deductible differences and carryforwards, without jurisdictional netting.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2009/role/commonPracticeRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 740
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 2
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=121826272&loc=d3e32537-109319

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_DeferredTaxAssetsLiabilitiesNet
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 operating loss carryforwards.

+ References

Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 740
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 8
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=121826272&loc=d3e32632-109319

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2009/role/commonPracticeRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 740
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 6
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=121826272&loc=d3e32621-109319

+ Details

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

- Definition

Amount, before allocation of valuation allowance, of deferred tax asset attributable to deductible temporary differences, classified as other.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2009/role/commonPracticeRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 740
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 6
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=121826272&loc=d3e32621-109319

Reference 2: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 740
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 8
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=121826272&loc=d3e32632-109319

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_DeferredTaxAssetsOther
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 temporary differences from property, plant, and equipment.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_DeferredTaxAssetsPropertyPlantAndEquipment
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 temporary differences from share-based compensation.

+ References

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_DeferredTaxAssetsTaxDeferredExpenseCompensationAndBenefitsShareBasedCompensationCost
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 temporary differences from contingent liabilities.

+ References

+ Details

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

- Definition

Amount, before allocation of valuation allowance, of deferred tax asset attributable to deductible temporary differences from reserves and accruals, classified as other.

+ References

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_DeferredTaxAssetsTaxDeferredExpenseReservesAndAccrualsOther
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/disclosureRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 740
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 2
-Subparagraph (c)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=121826272&loc=d3e32537-109319

+ Details

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

- Definition

Amount of deferred tax liability attributable to taxable temporary differences classified as other.

+ References

+ Details

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

- Definition

Amount of deferred tax liability attributable to taxable temporary differences from property, plant, and equipment.

+ References

+ Details

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

- References

No definition available.

+ Details

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

- Definition

Amount of operating loss carryforward, before tax effects, available to reduce future taxable income under enacted tax laws.

+ References

Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 740
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 3
-Subparagraph (a)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=121826272&loc=d3e32559-109319

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_OperatingLossCarryforwards
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
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_OperatingLossCarryforwardsLineItems
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Details

Name:	srt_StatementGeographicalAxis=country_BR
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	srt_StatementGeographicalAxis=arco_BrazilMexicoandColombiaMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	srt_StatementGeographicalAxis=country_PR
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_TaxPeriodAxis=arco_TaxYearRange1Member
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_TaxPeriodAxis=arco_TaxYearRange2Member
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_TaxPeriodAxis=arco_NoExpirationPeriodMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type: