According to the National Restaurant Association, the restaurant industry is seeing fewer customers, and they are raising menu prices or reducing portion sizes to respond to their increased food and operating costs. Sixty-one percent of restaurant owners in a recent survey say their sales numbers are sliding, according to the National Restaurant Association.

Even though prices may be going up, smart diners can still enjoy eating out with discounted restaurant gift certificates.  In some cases, you can use special coupon codes to save even more.  You can check the Restaurant Coupons section at www.couponmom.com to find the best restaurant discounts and coupons. They include:

Restaurant.com: This popular program sells discounted gift certificates for participating restaurants online.  You can also buy restaurant.com certificates at a discount with a special coupon code for Coupon Mom site users.  Diners typically pay $10 for a $25 restaurant.com gift certificate.  When coupon codes are available, you can pay as little as $4 to $5 per $25 certificate. Be sure to read the fine print as some restaurants have minimum purchase requirements (such as $35 for a $25 certificate) or are limited to specific days of the week. 

There are a limited number of certificates available for each restaurant, and supplies are re-stocked on the first day of each month.  It is not unusual for popular restaurants to sell out by noon on the first day of the month, so check in early to get the best certificates.  However, there are never any discount coupons available on the first day of the month with the exception of a special link at www.couponmom.com that will give you a 40 percent discount on any day of the month, which is a cost of $6 for the $25 certificate.

I have found these certificates at favorite restaurants in my city as well as cities I've visited.  In fact, many of the participating restaurants are in nice hotels, so they can be useful on business trips as well.

If you have extra United airline miles, you can redeem them to get free Restaurant.com certificates.  You can get one $25 restaurant.com gift certificate with 1,000 United miles or a $100 gift certificate with 2,500 United miles.  Go to United's Web site to learn more at www.united.com/diningcertificates .   If you don't have United miles, you can earn them when you buy groceries at participating Safeway chains through www.grocerymiles.com.  The average family's grocery spending would earn four free $25 restaurant certificates a year.

Entertainment Book discounted gift certificates:  If you own an Entertainment coupon book, you can register your book online at Entertainment.com to buy discounted gift cards for national restaurant chains like Red Lobster, Olive Garden and Bahama Breeze and (10% off a $50 gift card).  Although the discount is nominal, these gift cards can be combined with coupons to save even more.  Watch the grocery coupon circulars to find coupons for these national restaurant chains.

Redeem credit card rebate rewards for restaurant gift certificates:  If you have a rebate credit card that earns cash rebates or airline miles, you may be able to redeem your earnings for restaurant gift certificates at an average 13 percent higher value than your cash value.  For example, you can redeem $40 of your cash back earnings to get a $45 gift certificate at the participating restaurant.  You may be able to combine coupons available with these certificates, depending on the individual restaurant's policy, to save even more.  Discover cardholders can get restaurant gift certificates for 19 popular national restaurant chains including Chili's, Applebee's, Bennigan's, Starbucks and more.  Check the Redemption sections of your credit card company's Web site to see the options available.