PHOTO BY FELICIA K. VIA YELP ORLANDO
MoonCricket Grille (Facebook), a longtime bar and restaurant in downtown Winter Garden, has closed after 23 years, according to a Facebook post from owner Bert Valdes.
In the post, Bert said he decided it was time to retire at age 73 after more than two decades running the restaurant at 14 W. Plant Street [GMap]. He said the restaurant’s last day of business would be the day following the post (this past weekend), and invited longtime customers to stop by for one more drink or meal.
“It has been an incredible journey for the past 23 years to make new friends and, of course, lots of fun,” Valdes wrote in the post.
Valdes used part of the message to address ongoing concerns among residents about the direction of downtown Winter Garden’s redevelopment. He said he had sat in on numerous meetings over the years about downtown’s future and wanted to reassure the community that the city and property owners intend to preserve the district’s character rather than turn it into a corporate, higher-end corridor. He said the goal has been to restore existing buildings and retain a “mom and pop feel” rather than remodel them into something unrecognizable and more “Park Avenue.”
MoonCricket Grille opened in a converted vintage grocery store on West Plant Street and was known for its extensive craft beer selection, live music, and eclectic 1920s-inspired décor. Its name drew years of criticism from residents and civil rights advocates who noted that “moon cricket” is a racial slur historically used by enslavers to describe enslaved people who sang songs at night. Owner Bert Valdes and the restaurant’s leadership repeatedly defended the name rather than change it, claiming in a 2020 post that it referenced the bar being “hoppin'” at night and dismissing complaints as coming from “some privileged white person.”
The controversy resurfaced in 2023 when the restaurant advertised a 49-cent Bud Light promotion timed to the day before Pride Month and the anniversary of the Pulse nightclub shooting, a promotion that invited customers to “take one for the team” and noted it was “okay if you want to buy a bottle and have it poured down the drain.” The promotion drew national attention from outlets including the Advocate, which characterized the bar as “anti-woke.” Valdes told Vox Populi at the time that staff received threatening calls, including a threat of arson, in the backlash that followed.
