The session starts about 6 p.m. and usually breaks up at 11 p.m. It's designed to be a relaxing time, filled with conversation and camaraderie.

The convivial mood is disrupted around 8 p.m., though. That's when everybody has to scrounge up quarters, head back outside and pump them into the parking meters at the lot across the street.

"I wouldn't be surprised if some said, 'Oh, I'll just leave at 8,'" said Laura Grossman, the French Knot's proprietor. "And they might not come at all. It's just a hassle for them."

Keeping an eye on the clock after the sun creeps below the horizon has become a fact of life for visitors to downtown Canonsburg restaurants and businesses since the beginning of the year. That's when the borough instituted around-the-clock enforcement for its lots and on-street parking spots. The price hasn't changed - it's still 25 cents per half-hour, with a two-hour limit - but it's no longer enforced from just 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.

"It's a way to balance the budget," said A.J. Williams, a member of Canonsburg's borough council. It's estimated that 24-hour parking enforcement will put $17,000 in the borough's coffers this year. Violators are given a $5 ticket if the meter runs out before they return to their car.

Perhaps not surprisingly, "People in the community are not very happy about it," said Nadeen Steffey, of Canonsburg's Main Street program. Along with the French Knot, the Rite Aid pharmacy on East Pike Street and McGrogan's Taproom, just a few doors down, are among the businesses affected by the switch. Steffey said the borough is exploring the possibility of instituting free two-hour parking to allow people to shop, dine or run errands downtown.

Under one idea being considered, businesses could contribute, say, $30 a month to the borough and have spots in nearby lots be free for two hours. That would help offset the potential loss to the budget from 24/7 parking enforcement.

"I really want to make this happen, and I want to make it happen in the next few months," said borough manager Terry Hazlett. "It sets the tone for the town, that we're a very business-friendly community."

He pointed out that downtown Waynesburg has free parking and "we'd like to be more like (them) ... I don't want to do what they did in Washington, and we're trying to avoid that."