Daniel Maestri's restaurant has a long and proud history. It started in his grandmother's kitchen "in the middle of nowhere" Arkansas, where 75 cents could get diners all they could eat. During the Great Depression, the operation moved into a little farmhouse and Maestri's Restaurant was born.

Daniel took over the operations in 1979 and says he wouldn't be around today if it weren't for Sam Walton. The restaurant is located just outside Bentonville, Ark., where the mega-discounter is headquartered.

It's an area where a lot of things stay the same — some of the restaurant's employees have been there 15, 20, 25 years and are like family.

But economic changes have brought with them some serious problems. Sales are down as much as 30 percent from 2007, Maestri says. He's looking for investors to shore up his finances, but as any small business owner these days knows, those are hard to find.

According to a 2009 report from Restaurants and Institutions:
     - 58.7 percent of Americans say the economy has affected their dining-out habits
     - 85.9 percent are eating out less often
     - About three-quarters say they're choosing less-expensive restaurants
     - 50.1 percent take advantage of coupons or special deals more often
     - 49.1 percent choose restaurants closer to home
     - 48.1 percent adjust their orders to reduce the check

Maestri hasn't had to make any staffing cuts yet, but the outlook isn't great. The National Restaurant Association forecasts that, while overall restaurant industry sales will increase in current dollars by 2.5 percent over 2008 figures, the numbers translate to an inflation-adjusted decline of 1.0 percent.