Patrick Hudson remembers a time before the pandemic when customers might wander in to his Hampden restaurant as late as 9 p.m. for a few drinks. Now? “That doesn’t happen.”

Restaurateurs in Baltimore and beyond face a challenging landscape and are closing their businesses at a rapid clip. But of the difficulties they face, including surging food and labor costs, Hudson pointed to a sometimes overlooked source of trouble: Diners are just buying less alcohol. “The lack of drinking is really shocking,” he said.

It’s a trend that’s good for overall health. Earlier this month, the U.S. Surgeon General warned people of the link between drinking and cancer. The World Health Organization says there is no “safe” amount of alcohol. And it’s positive for people’s wallets, too, at a time when the going rate for a cocktail in Baltimore can edge toward $15.

But for restaurateurs who have long relied on profits from alcohol sales to compensate for the high cost of food, it can be a buzzkill.

Hudson said the decline in alcohol sales played a major role in the failure of his two Local Oyster branches in Baltimore. Owner Gino Kozera said the drop in drinking contributed to his decision to close Amber last weekend in Locust Point. “People have learned to change their habits since COVID,” Kozera said.

Alcohol sales are important to restaurants for a few reasons — chief among them that restaurants make more money on booze than food, the latter of which costs more money to source and labor to execute. Hudson thinks some eateries have had to raise food prices because beverage sales are down so much.

Hudson’s observation aligns with national trends. Last year saw “notable shifts” in the ways people drink, according to a report on beverage trends published in December by Nielsen IQ. Changes include a trend toward moderation, with more customers also reaching for premium items. There’s also growing interest in both low-alcohol and high-alcohol options (NA beer for some, viral XXL wine for others). Overall, though, the $112 billion industry is on the downswing, with sales declining nearly 1% for the year.

That might not sound like a lot. But even a small drop in drinking can have a big impact on a business’s bottom line, said Tecla Tesnau, owner of Ottobar, a pub and music venue in Remington.

Many bar and restaurant owners said the rise of legal weed may also be a contributor to the decline in drinking. “We have a lot more options to choose from these days as far as legal intoxicants,” Tesnau said. While she supports cannabis legalization, it’s a double-edged sword for business owners. “Bars and restaurants are feeling the pinch of it. Why do people want to go out to eat when they can just pop a gummy and throw on Netflix?”

So, some pivot. Particularly during Dry January, Ottobar offers nonalcoholic spirits and mocktails to accommodate those who are abstaining. Some customers might even chase a regular cocktail with a nonalcoholic beer.

“The mindset has changed,” said Tesnau. “It’s no longer become quite an anomaly to have people rolling around with a can of Athletic,” she said, referring to a popular NA craft brand. According to NielsenIQ, the nonalcoholic market reached nearly $1 billion in sales last year, an all-time high.

At La Cuchara in Hampden, co-owner and chef Ben Lefenfeld has seen customers take “a more intelligent approach to drinking.”

“Rather than belly up to the bar and having four or five glasses of cheap wine, people are taking more time” to select a drink that pairs well with their food, Lefenfeld said. His brother and business partner Jake said though people are drinking less, they are spending more per beverage.

Like many eateries, the restaurant has expanded its selection of nonalcoholic beverages, too, and now offers selections like Baltimore’s own Tortuga Kombucha, made by Davon Pulliam, a former employee of La Cuchara.

Broadly, consumers are prioritizing quality over quantity, said longtime beverage director Shaun Stewart. And people are willing to pay more for a cocktail, as long as they think the beverage offers a good value. At Patterson Pins, which Stewart helped launch in December in the former Patterson Bowling Center, the venue relies on entertainment like arcade games to help bring in revenue. “We understand that people aren’t going to buy six drinks,” he said.

Some restaurateurs see lower alcohol sales as a good thing. “Frankly if booze sales are down but our numbers are good, I’m happy,” said Little Havana owner Marc Gentile in a text message. “Good for health does not necessarily mean bad for restaurants.”

At his True Chesapeake restaurant in Hampden, Hudson has tried to make the best of the sober-ish movement, hosting a “Damn Near Beer Fest” for Dry January, which celebrated the boom in nonalcoholic beer offerings. He also launched a full menu of NA cocktails and beer. “Before the pandemic, we had zero NA beers on our menu and maybe one NA cocktail. And now we have 12 NA beers and at least six NA cocktails. And they all sell,” he said.

Hudson thinks some people are drinking less not because they want to, but because they’re tired of paying $15 for a cocktail. One solution: ultra-competitive deals on alcoholic beverages. Every day from 5 to 7 p.m., True Chesapeake offers $6 martinis and old fashioneds. In the past year, the restaurant has seen a 70% increase in revenue. The credit, Hudson said, goes to the happy hour.