It's going to be a busy valentines weekend for chef David Ferguson – he's expecting a full house at his restaurant, Gus, but new figures show restaurant sales overall in Quebec have been suffering.

“Fortunately for us we've actually grown in 2015. But when I talk to suppliers, definitely there's a softening,” he said.

The Quebec Association of Restaurateurs says 2015 sales were down 1.5 to 2.7 per cent in the province.

Some restaurant owners say the low Canadian dollar and increased food costs are big factors.

“Operating costs keep increasing. Rent goes up, Minimum wage goes up. Taxes go up. Price of food goes up. Everything has to go up around it so the pinch is felt by all of us,” said Stephen Leslie, Owner of Tavern on the Square.

Dustin Gilman blogs about local trends on his website Food Guy Montreal and said with so many restaurants opening in Montreal, there's less of share of the pie to go around.

“We have the most restaurants per capita I believe next to New York. So if you put that in perspective that's a lot of restaurants,” he said.

Gilman says no one wants to overcharge the customer, but it's difficult when food costs are so high.

Others say the government could do more to support bars and restaurants.

“The government has to see that the restaurant industry has moved beyond the regulations that were established a long time ago and [we] need to have the freedom to better serve our market. … People don't eat and drink and sleep at the same times that they used to,” Ferguson said.

The Quebec Association of Restaurateurs doesn’t see things improving for 2016. They say low disposable income - lower than all other provinces - means Quebecers will likely continue to eat out less.