Tell us a bit about yourself and your business.
I’m Leslie Gonya from Deaf Monty’s Wine. My husband and I opened Deaf Monty’s 10 years ago. We always enjoyed wine bars when traveling and wanted to open a local option. Our neighbor was a distributor and thought it would be a great addition to our existing bed and breakfast, Inn Port Lodging. It’s a good location for neighbors and visitors. We became friends with the owners of Blind Bob’s, Lisa and Bob Mendenhall, when they used to stay at our bed and breakfast. At the time, we had a deaf pound puppy named Monty. We want to be an accessible wine bar so we used our dog in the logo. We thought since Blind Bob’s was in the neighborhood already, Deaf Monty was a good addition!
How long have you been in operation?
Thursday, May 6 is our 10 year anniversary! We are looking forward to celebrating with new and old customers over the weekend.
What do you enjoy about working in downtown Dayton?
I love the fact that we live in the Oregon District and we are able to patronize other businesses. There isn’t a sense of competition or negativity between the businesses. Everyone wants each other to succeed and it is a good community.
Tell us something about your business that may surprise people to learn.
Many people are surprised by the quality of wines we sell at such an affordable price. Quality bottles between $8 and $20 – when people come and try they are shocked. A lot of people may be surprised to also learn we are not a winery.
How is your business coping with the pandemic and how can people support you now?
We’ve received amazing support from the community during the pandemic. Each purchase supports the business and we greatly appreciate it. If you’ve never stopped in, please come in try us out (and we love our loyal customers as well). We have noticed new customers coming as part of Out on Fifth. We are outside of the DORA but that also allows us to be a haven from the crowds. We allow customers to bring local carryout to our location to enjoy with our wine.
Deaf Monty’s Wine
22 Brown St.
www.daytonwinebar.com
937-225-7678
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