Positively 4th Street Coffee Bar and Cafe is as close as a dry town gets to Cheers of TV fame–serving latte instead of beer, homemade muffins instead of pretzels on the bar.

If you've been here a couple of times, there's a good chance someone will greet you by name—even if it's not Norm!—when you stop in.

Proprietors Sharon and John Szabo took over a thriving cafe about four years ago and added "Positively" to the name, matching the title of a Bob Dylan song and echoing the way they approach life.

"It says a lot about us," said Sharon Szabo, taking the time to sit down at a mosaic-topped table on a sunny, post-blizzard morning. "We're cozy, we're community-based."

The 40-seat cafe was lively with regulars, including five friends sitting at the cafe's only round table. This group made sure a visitor understood they were not the gang whose frequent gatherings at the round table spawned a web site named for—you guessed it—the round table. The Round Table Friends organize outside-the-cafe social gatherings, including an annual soup fest in the fall.

The Szabos moved to the big old house at 4th and Atlantic about 14 years ago to operate Laurel Bay, a six-room bed and breakfast. They live there, too, with daughter Maddie, a freshman at Ocean City High School, and son Alex, a senior. The cafe is on the ground floor, which makes the couple's commute extremely short and their customers their neighbors.

"We draw from the neighborhood close by, and we also have people who come from the south end of the island," Szabo said.

Actually, some patrons are drawn from much farther away. Terje Thogersen of Beesleys Point and Rich Hay of Mount Holly meet here every Thursday morning to discuss existentialism.

"We come in here, have fun, drink coffee and then hit the boards, or the beach," weather permitting, Thogersen said.

Of course, Positively 4th Street offers a full array of coffee drinks, including a to-die-for skinny mocha latte and just about anything else you could dream up.

It also has a pretty extensive menu of breakfast and lunch items. Sharon and John Szabo share cooking and baking duties, her dreaming up sandwiches–including the on-the-menu-every-day chicken-apple, which has sliced chicken breast and green apple, cranberry-walnut mayo and baby spinach on multigrain bread, and John creating soups and stews–including mussel chowder, the most popular.

Let's talk muffins, shall we? Sharon Szabo said she loves the chocolate orange muffin that includes an orange, skin and all, in the batter.

"They are so delicious, you feel like you're eating a whole orange," she said. Another of her favorites is the more savory fennel ricotta muffin. (In the interest of truth-in-reporting, this writer felt obligated to try both and can attest to their deliciousness.) Flaky, gooey sticky buns and baked egg sandwiches round out the breakfast menu.

Summertime, the cafe stays open for dinner, with dining at sidewalk tables. The Szabos turn out such fare as crabcakes; scallops seared with ancho chilies and curry mayonnaise sauce; skirt steak with bleu cheese fondue sauce; and pulled pork with black pepper vinaigrette.

Art is part of the vibe at Positively 4th Street. A funky sculpture made of the lower half of a mannequin in board shorts and a broken surfboard serves as both a conversation piece and a table for coffee fixin's. Three seasons – fall, winter and spring – the cafe features monthly drum circles and poetry readings led by local drummers and poets.

All year long, find works by various artists hanging on the walls, including art by Studio X, a group of creative people who meet every six weeks to explore a topic. Currently, the artists' interpretations of luck are on display. Because, after all, who couldn't use a little of that?

If you're lucky enough to stop by Positively 4th Street, you'll be glad you did.

Wintertime hours are 6:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Saturday, 6:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Sunday. Cash or check only. Free wi-fi. Gift cards available. Street parking. Call 609-399-8400. Check out www.positively4th.com or find the cafe on Facebook to get updates on upcoming events.