A mid-December report unsurprisingly showed restaurant sales fell sharply for the second consecutive month down 4% in November, with a majority of operators expecting business conditions to worsen during winter. Forty-six percent of limited-service operators offered outdoor dining in late November, down from 60% in September. Eating and drinking places registered sales of $53.2 billion on a seasonally adjusted basis in November, according to preliminary data from the U.S. Census Bureau. That was down $2.2 billion (or 4%) from October’s volume of $55.4 billion and represented the industry’s lowest monthly sales total since July. Eating and drinking place sales remain more than $12 billion – or 19% – below their pre-coronavirus levels in January and February. Eighty-three percent of full-service operators expect their sales to decrease from current levels during the next three months, while only 3% think their sales will increase. Among limited-service operators, 67% think their sales will decrease with only 9% expecting sales to rise.