LINCOLN, Ill. (WAND) - Small businesses are vital to the life of downtown Lincoln, and there's three neighboring businesses who share a special bond with one another.

Guzzardo's first came to the Lincoln community in 1957.

"My grandfather started with a dream with 12 seats in the front dining room. Now, we're up to between the trifecta - we can fit three to 400," Nick Guzzardo, owner of Guzzardo's Italian Villa, said.

The restaurant is known for their prime rib, steak and lobster entrees, but that's not the trifecta he's referring to. Guzzardo is just the food portion of the deal. Spirited Republic is a brewery that moved in next to the restaurant in 2015.

"We were kind of the second leg of the trifecta and we share a patio with them and we have a great synergy. They don't do alcohol, we don't do food, so it was really, really good," Bussy Roate, co-owner of Limerick and Spirited Republic Brewery, said. 

A trifecta, however,  takes three - great food and drinks, but what's the missing element? In 2018, Tophat Creamery joined the family.

"They were looking to add someone who could add the dessert experience. I'm not a baker, so ice cream kind of came in second but it's been first for us," Lisa Mestinsek, owner of Tophat Creamery, said.

They're three completely different businesses who add their own flavor to downtown Lincoln.

"We all feed off of each other and we all bring a different group up to the patio," Roate said.

"You can come to Guzzardo's for the great food and the big portions. Now you've got your beer next door and all this ice cream," Guzzardo said.

"We're a family, we're all friends. We genuinely like each other, we genuinely want to see one another succeed and I think people pick up on that vibe when they come here," Mestinsek said.

It was an experience that came by complete fate.

"It's something that we didn't really plan on in the beginning when we opened, but it was like, wow, this really works," Roate said.

"i think we'll look back on this time in our lives as the very best," Mestinsek said. " I don't think we'll have any regrets because we all work so well together and we have such a great thing going here."

You can visit any of the three businesses all at once during the weekend.Â