Income taxes - Schedule of Deferred Tax Assets and Liabilities (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	Dec. 31, 2022	Dec. 31, 2021
Income Tax Disclosure [Abstract]
Tax loss carryforwards	$ 149,081	$ 140,106
Purchase price allocation adjustment	11,298	11,305
Property and equipment, tax inflation	44,785	39,691
Tax Inflation adjustment	(2,689)	(6,671)
Other accrued payroll and other liabilities	49,080	25,340
Share-based compensation	2,340	1,623
Provision for contingencies, bad debts and obsolescence	4,919	9,557
Other deferred tax assets	29,162	28,448
Other deferred tax liabilities	(5,642)	(5,057)
Leases	20,567	13,330
Property and equipment - difference in depreciation rates	(17,446)	(10,801)
Valuation allowance	(201,414)	(186,239)
Net deferred tax asset	84,041	60,632
Operating Loss Carryforwards [Line Items]
Operating loss carryforwards	518,512
Brazil
Operating Loss Carryforwards [Line Items]
Deferred tax assets, leases	210,181	63,526
Deferred tax liabilities, leases	189,614	50,196
Brazil, Mexico, Panama and Colombia
Operating Loss Carryforwards [Line Items]
Provision for regular expenses	8,856	$ 13,055
Expire Between 2023 and 2027
Operating Loss Carryforwards [Line Items]
Operating loss carryforwards	150,985
Expiring After 2027
Operating Loss Carryforwards [Line Items]
Operating loss carryforwards	119,667
Do Not Expire
Operating Loss Carryforwards [Line Items]
Operating loss carryforwards	$ 247,860

Deferred Tax Asset, Other, Provision For Regular Expenses

No definition available.

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

- Definition

Deferred Tax Assets, Leases

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

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

- Definition

Deferred Tax Assets, Leases, Net

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	arco_DeferredTaxAssetsLeasesNet
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 Liabilities, Leases

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

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

- Definition

Deferred Tax Liabilities, Tax Inflation Adjustment

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	arco_DeferredTaxLiabilitiesTaxInflationAdjustment
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 https://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 https://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 https://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 https://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 https://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 https://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 https://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_BrazilMexicoPanamaAndColombiaMember
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: