One of my favorite television shows of all time was "Cheers," featuring an ex-jock bartender and his cronies. The catch line of the theme song was "You wanna go where everybody knows your name."

I have that right now at our local breakfast joint, and it's fantastic!

Every Sunday, after attending early worship services, the Ola family religiously (pun intended) shows up at Suzie Q's in downtown Mars. Having done this for nearly four straight years, it's safe to say that everyone there knows our name and vice versa.

We have our regular waitress who knows what we're drinking — three unsweetened iced-teas, no lemon and a water, on the rocks, for my son. She springs into action and delivers the drinks without us asking, while our personal grill cook throws on the usual for the kids, which is a grilled cheese and fries for my son and two scrambled eggs, sausages and hash browns for my daughter. My wife and I are a variable, though, as our order often changes.

For some, the thought of going to the same watering hole each week is too routine. For me, it's all about routine.

The staff that waits on us has become our friends, and we've watched them grow, while they've watched my children get ready for school.

There have been graduations, births, deaths, moves to new homes — all stories that would have been missed if we were merely customers passing by.

But that's what makes the relationship so unique. We like going where everyone knows our name.

Each town has its version of Suzie Q's, as well as their own cast of characters dotting the counter drinking coffee and sharing smiles.

To prove this point, we have been traveling this past week throughout the southeastern U.S. and on Friday night, we found a version of Suzie's in Wytheville, Va. The faces were different, but it was evident from the word "go" that this was our kind of restaurant.

A warm smile, a gentle "How you doing tonight?" and prompt delivery of homemade food to refresh our spirits helped ease the pain of missing our most favorite wait staff in America back in Mars.

Sadly, we are going to miss them again this week and the search continues down in South Carolina for another local establishment at which to sit down, break bread and make friends for a while. We're coming up empty so far, but I am certain it will work out OK.

My son continually judges all restaurants by their grilled cheese and french fries, which is a great test if you ask me. Nothing has compared to Suzie's yet, though.

The last place's grilled cheese was too peppery, he informed me today while scoping out side streets and lesser traveled roads in an attempt to locate "our" restaurant for the upcoming weekend.

"I know buddy. We'll get home soon," I responded, missing my iced tea.

"Dad, we need to send them a postcard from the beach," responded Alex.

The kid had a great idea. How often can you send your favorite restaurant staff a postcard from your vacation, or write an article to tell them that the grilled cheese down South can't hold a spatula to theirs?

Yeah. I am a routine kind of guy and am proud of it. I can only hope that my friends back at home miss me as much as I miss them. So to the staff at Suzie's, "We're having a great time and DEFINITELY wish you were here!"

Christian Ola, a community columnist for the Butler Eagle, resides in Mars with his wife, son and daughter and can be reached through christianolac@aol.com.