The services sector grew for a ninth straight month in September — though at a slower pace. That’s the big takeaway from today’s Report on Business from the Institute for Supply Management covering the service sector. The accommodation and food services category helped contribute to the slowdown — it actually declined in September. So, we checked in with some of the people trying to run restaurants in this economy.

The post-pandemic heyday is over for Sean Huggard, who owns two oyster bars in Denver. Last year, he saw demand for luxury seafood spike, but this year, he said, “we finished the month of September 10% down.” 

He’s seeing more traffic through the door, but people are spending less.

“It might be that I traded down from a $50 piece of Chilean sea bass to a $27 fish and chips,” Huggard said.

That trade down is also happening at lower-price points, said Stephanie Shimp, who runs a chain of diners in the Twin Cities for the Blue Plate Restaurant Co. 

“Less steaks and fresh fish center-of-the-plate-type items, more sandwiches, more handheld, more ‘I’ll get the burger instead of the steak,’” Shimp said.

In Austin, Texas, sales dipped in September at Kerbey Lane Cafe’s 10 locations. “Top line numbers are not running as strong as they were through June, July, August,” said CEO Mason Ayer. 

He’s expecting a stronger fall, in part thanks to an upcoming music festival. But he doesn’t think sales volumes will ever return to pre-pandemic numbers. 

“We don’t operate 24 hours a day any longer, because there’s simply not demand past about 10 o’clock at night,” Ayer said.

Restaurants have cut whole days of operation in Wisconsin.

“A lot of operators that were open seven days a week, you know, in 2019, are now probably closed two days a week,” said Susan Quam, vice president of the state’s restaurant association.

She said the reduced hours have helped stabilize staffing issues — many employees are sticking around because they get two days off.