The data I have indicates that sales in your type of restaurant are either flat or decreasing, and new restaurants (especially if they are the first of their kind in a community) tend to open big, and then trend downward for about 18 months before they start to level off. So the good news is you may not be doing anything "wrong," and the decline in sales is probably not a symptom of some unique or isolated problem that would drive you out of business if you didn't find and fix it fast. Nevertheless, your goal is to get sales up, so let's consider how.
One issue may be the menu -- I read somewhere that every major chain restaurant in America now serves some kind of flavored chicken wing. So for you to get a family of four diners in the door, all four have to want chicken wings. If three do and one doesn't, they can go somewhere else and make everyone happy. It's also not the kind of food that most people want again right away, so repeat business probably comes to you less frequently than to other restaurants. Of course, an expanded menu is not part of your franchise model, so what else is possible?
The thing that typically keeps a limited menu restaurant thriving is having large groups of people who regularly use it as a "hangout" -- for instance, it's the place the whole team meets after a softball game, or where all the families meet after a children's soccer game. Perhaps you can examine the demographics of your area and determine what people are already doing things in groups, and then market to those groups directly. For example, if you are near a sports complex, market yourself there as "the place to meet after the game."
You can also
create groups where none existed before. For example, a restaurant client of mine approached a local teacher at an upscale high school nearby and offered to let him use their dining room for Monday night study sessions (the teacher got free food and drinks, the students didn't). The restaurant turned a slow night into a much busier one, as there were typically 20-30 students (all making purchases and being well-behaved, since a respected teacher was present). Another restaurant borrowed on that idea by creating/hosting a classic film discussion group on one slow night and a book discussion group on another.
The key to increasing sales is identifying existing groups and creating a new groups that will meet and dine at your place on a regular, repeating basis.
I mean no disrepect to the person who posted it, but my experience (personally and through clients) has been that Chambers of Commerce are a waste of time for businesses like yours. They happily take advantage of whatever you can provide to support their events and further their visibility, but I have not seen a single case where it paid off in the form of increased sales and revenue for a business like yours. Again, that's based on maybe a dozen different small restaurants and chamber organizations, so by no means do I have the definitive opinion (but I would suggest that you not invest a huge chunk of money in that right off -- try it a little at a time and see what you get from it).
Hope this helps. Best wishes.
