{"id":246181,"date":"2026-04-25T12:27:20","date_gmt":"2026-04-25T12:27:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/246181\/"},"modified":"2026-04-25T12:27:20","modified_gmt":"2026-04-25T12:27:20","slug":"st-clouds-experiment-in-outdoor-drinking-downtown-gets-a-new-boost-orlando-sentinel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/246181\/","title":{"rendered":"St. Cloud\u2019s experiment in outdoor drinking downtown gets a new boost \u2013 Orlando Sentinel"},"content":{"rendered":"

Letting people walk around downtown with an alcoholic drink in hand \u2014 a rarity in Central Florida \u2014 was a bold gambit for St. Cloud. But five years later, the city says the move has been so successful that it is doubling down.<\/p>\n

Earlier this month, the Osceola County city passed an ordinance extending outdoor alcohol consumption within its downtown entertainment district to seven days a week, up from Wednesdays through Saturdays.<\/p>\n

Now, downtown bakery owner Laura Figueroa plans to start selling alcohol to take advantage of the new ordinance in hopes of attracting more customers.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy customers have been asking for mimosas, so I\u2019m going to work on getting my alcohol license,\u201d said Figueroa, owner of Cakes Pastries & More.<\/p>\n

\"ChefChef Jim Schreck, owner of Phyre Saloon and Steakhouse in downtown St. Cloud, on Wednesday, April 22, 2026. (Ricardo Ramirez Buxeda\/ Orlando Sentinel)<\/p>\n

The downtown district, which extends from 9th Street to 13th Street, serves as the heart of St. Cloud and is lined with brick streets and dozens of restaurants, bars, bakeries and small grocers.<\/p>\n

Since 2021, residents have been permitted to walk outside within the district with an open container, as long as it is an approved, clear 16-ounce plastic cup.<\/p>\n

The policy is unique in Osceola County; neighboring Kissimmee does not allow outdoor consumption of alcohol within its downtown.<\/p>\n

\"CakesCakes Pastries & More owner Laura Figueroa at her shop in St. Cloud, Thursday, April 16, 2026. St. Cloud has passed a new ordinance that allows downtown businesses to sell alcohol seven days a week. (Joe Burbank\/Orlando Sentinel)<\/p>\n

It\u2019s also rare regionwide. Orlando, which has the largest downtown in the area, allows outdoor drinking only in designated and permitted areas, such as during special events in Thornton Park. In Lake County, the city of Mount Dora allows outdoor alcohol consumption within its entertainment district but restricts it to four days of the week.<\/p>\n

But just like in each of those cities, St. Cloud\u2019s move comes amid discussions about how to promote economic prosperity while maintaining safety.<\/p>\n

Figueroa said she\u2019s excited for the change. The native of Puerto Rico said she\u2019s hoping to see a 10% to15% increase in traffic to her business with the new ordinance.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf I see more foot traffic because of this new law, then I\u2019ll open later, too,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n

Jim Schreck, the owner and chef of Phyre Brewery & Tavern in St. Cloud, said the outdoor alcohol ordinance has brought his business more traffic since it first went into effect, and welcomed the recent addition of Sundays.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s helped actually quite a bit, because we got people that can have a drink and then go shopping and come back,\u201d Schreck said. \u201cSunday is a big day for people to come down for brunch.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nancy Rodriguez opened the downtown boutique Evalunastyles in February after years of selling her handcrafted sandals out of her garage. It\u2019s been a slow start so far, she said, but she\u2019s hopeful the seven-day ordinance will draw more people downtown who would patronize her shop.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey can walk with something to drink and at the same time shop,\u201d Rodriguez said. \u201cWe\u2019re struggling \u2026 but we have good days and bad days. Most Thursday and Fridays are good.\u201d<\/p>\n

Whenever there is an event in downtown her sales get a boost, she said. \u201cI wish they would do more events downtown.\u201d<\/p>\n

Not all in St. Cloud were in favor of the expansion. Dawn Lane, a St.Cloud native who moved back last year to her hometown after a few years in South Florida, said the growth of the city since she left has made it \u201ctotally different.\u201d While sitting outside a caf\u00e9 in downtown, Lane said that allowing alcohol consumption outdoors every day is worrisome.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t have a problem with drinking outside. I mean I\u2019ve been to Paris and they do it there all day,\u201d Lane said. \u201cBut\u2026 that long? The people who are responsible I don\u2019t have any problems with. But the ones that aren\u2019t, I just don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Monkey'sMonkey\u2019s in downtown St. Cloud, on Wednesday, April 22, 2026. (Ricardo Ramirez Buxeda\/ Orlando Sentinel)<\/p>\n

Deputy Mayor Ken Gilbert had similar concerns. In the April 9 City Council meeting, he questioned if police had the capacity to handle patrolling the increased number of days that outdoor drinking would be allowed.<\/p>\n

Police Chief Douglas Goerke said extending the days but keeping the same hours, 11 a.m. through midnight, makes it easier for everyone to know what the rules are.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t really have any issues with it,\u201d Goerke said about the ordinance. \u201cOur residents are amazing and they\u2019re very responsive, so this will actually help us.\u201d<\/p>\n

For months, the city council had also debated the possibility of extending alcohol hours past midnight, echoing Kissimmee, but ultimately the council voted to keep the same hours.<\/p>\n

Last week, though, city officials discussed ending alcohol sales earlier fore restaurants and limiting businesses\u2019 ability to operate as a bar and serve only alcohol. Some business people worried those changes would thwart any gain in foot traffic in downtown.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople go out at night and on the weekends to have dinner and then go out for something to do,\u201d Schreck said.<\/p>\n

If the city limits late night entertainment, he continued, \u201cWho\u2019s going to come downtown?\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Letting people walk around downtown with an alcoholic drink in hand \u2014 a rarity in Central Florida \u2014…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":246182,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[28,4451,114,266,115,139,141,140,1976,687,109,5136,106],"class_list":{"0":"post-246181","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-orlando","8":"tag-florida","9":"tag-food-drink","10":"tag-latest-headlines","11":"tag-local-news","12":"tag-news","13":"tag-orlando","14":"tag-orlando-headlines","15":"tag-orlando-news","16":"tag-osceola-county","17":"tag-restaurants","18":"tag-social","19":"tag-st-cloud","20":"tag-things-to-do"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/246181","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=246181"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/246181\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/246182"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=246181"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=246181"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=246181"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}