Lakeland’s Newest Culinary Destination Brings Wine & Gourmet Fare to the Community

The Wine Garden of Polk County

When Lisa Brophy opened The Wine Garden on April 1, 2025, in Lakeland, it was the culmination of a lifelong dream. The wine and gourmet food retail market, complete with a wine bar, blends her passion for fine food and wine with her vision for creating a welcoming space for the community.

“I mean, it was the goal pretty much like all of my adult career life. I went to a Culinary Institute of America, and even while I was there, I was kind of formulating the idea of what I wanted to do in the future. And so that’s how this business, 30 years later, came to pass,” she shared.

To turn her dream into reality, Brophy connected with the Florida SBDC at USF and business consultant Greg Manning. “Greg was instrumental in actually helping me organize myself, figure out what my needs were, my documentation, my God, the, documentation that Greg gave me, the spreadsheets. I mean, oh my God, I could not have done it without him,” Brophy expressed with laughter.

Together, the business owner and her business consultant worked on detailed financial planning that helped her secure a commercial loan. “Once we were able to put all of that information together, I was able to present that to several financial institutions and was in fact offered a loan,” Brophy said. “I was actually offered an SBA loan. I ended up not having to go that route. I ended up going a different route through a private loan which again, I was able to acquire because of the various documents and spreadsheets and information that Greg helped me put together,” she added.

The funding acquired also helped the business owner cover contractor costs for remodeling her location and allowed her to hire a talented team. “If you ask me, my greatest success has been my team,” Brophy said. “That’s the thing that I’m most proud of, is the team members. This runs like a well-oiled machine at this point, and it’s not because of me, it’s because of the team,” she added.

Since opening, The Wine Garden has welcomed a steady stream of customers eager to explore its curated wine selection, gourmet offerings, and inviting atmosphere.

As she looks ahead, Brophy plans to continue working with the Florida SBDC at USF for guidance as her business grows and to use its various other services.“I’ll be using the Florida SBDC at USF student teams, that participate in assisting with marketing and advertising and consulting. And then I would love to utilize Greg’s talents at the end of this year for maybe doing an assessment of how we did this year and what we can do to possibly improve moving forward, how to, you know, streamline things as necessary, make sure that we’re profitable,” she mentioned.

As for advice to her fellow small business owners, Brophy had this to say: “Use them. I really didn’t know what to expect when I reached out to them and it was so reassuring. I was a deer caught in headlights. I really didn’t know how to open this business and Greg helped steer this ship. He listened to me and then, you know, didn’t come at me in a way that made me feel like I didn’t know what I was doing. He was extremely helpful and helped guide me according to what my needs were, and so I would absolutely recommend using them.”