Jimmy’s Eastside Diner
Jimmy’s Eastside Diner
Biscayne Boulevard, Miami
The diner where the last chapter was shot, with a Moonlight booth in the dining room. Pictured: another MiMo restaurant nearby, 2011.
See the diner
Miami · Barry Jenkins · 2016
Moonlight
Shot in Miami in 25 days, in three chapters. Turn the grade to see where each was made.
Sources
The grade
Three chapters, three grades
AFI names Liberty Square as a primary filming location, in the area where Barry Jenkins and Tarell Alvin McCraney both grew up. Wikipedia adds that each chapter was graded to imitate a different film stock: Fuji, Agfa and a modified Kodak.
Sources
Little, chapter one: 3 places. A burger counter on 79th Street, a beach on Virginia Key, and the housing blocks at home.
The Royal Castle at NW 79th Street, Miami, repainted orange, December 2013. Phillip Pessar · CC BY 2.0 Royal Castle
2700 NW 79th Street, Miami
Movie-locations.com says Juan takes young Chiron to eat at this Royal Castle; Ext.Street times it at 6 minutes 11 seconds.
Royal Castle was founded in 1938 by William Singer, with its first restaurant at NE Second Avenue and 79th Street.
Sources
The teal bathhouse at Historic Virginia Key Beach Park, Miami, March 2011. A park building, not a film still. Ebyabe · CC BY-SA 3.0 Virginia Key Beach
4020 Virginia Beach Drive, Virginia Key
Movie-locations.com says Juan teaches Chiron to swim at Virginia Key Beach; Ext.Street times the scene at 17 minutes 28 seconds.
AFI says Mahershala Ali taught Alex R. Hibbert to swim during the scene shot in the Atlantic. Hibbert could not swim beforehand.
Sources
A march through Liberty City, Miami, January 2011. Miami Workers Center · CC BY 2.0 Liberty Square
Liberty City, between NW 62nd and 67th Streets and NW 12th and 15th Avenues
AFI names Liberty Square as a primary filming location, in the area where Barry Jenkins and Tarell Alvin McCraney both grew up.
Emanuel Levy places Paula and Chiron’s home in the second chapter in Liberty Square, part of the larger Liberty City public housing area.
Sources
The count
Twenty-five days
Wikipedia says the film was shot over 25 days, starting on 14 October 2015 in Miami.
Wikipedia says the three actors who play Chiron filmed in separate two-week blocks. Naomie Harris shot her scenes in three days without rehearsals, and André Holland took five days.
Jenkins shot in places where he had lived. Wikipedia says relatives in the area kept the shoot undisturbed, though cast and crew had police escorts.
Sources
Go and see
Four places on the map, two that are not
Liberty Square is a neighbourhood where people live, so look from the street. The diner, the beach park and the Metromover are open to all. Miramar High School is a working school, seen from the road. The last Royal Castle closed in late 2025. Neither is pinned.
Sources
Where it is now
4 places you can visit in Miami-Dade, plus a school in Miramar and the Royal Castle that has closed, named but not pinned.
Pins mark public places; private homes are named but not pinned.
Site reference · Public access · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. Homes where people live, now being rebuilt in phases. Walk or drive the public streets; do not enter yards or buildings.
Building reference · Public access · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. A working diner on Biscayne Boulevard. Walk in, and ask for the booth. The photograph shows another MiMo restaurant nearby, not the diner.
Site reference · Public access · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. A free, elevated train. Board at any Omni Loop station.
A march through Liberty City, Miami, January 2011. Miami Workers Center · CC BY 2.0 Liberty City, between NW 62nd and 67th Streets and NW 12th and 15th Avenues
Liberty Square
AFI names Liberty Square as a primary filming location, in the area where Barry Jenkins and Tarell Alvin McCraney both grew up.
Homes where people live, now being rebuilt in phases. Walk or drive the public streets; do not enter yards or buildings.
Sources
A restaurant in Miami’s MiMo District on Biscayne Boulevard, February 2011. A street view of the district, not the diner itself. Averette · CC BY 3.0 7201 Biscayne Boulevard, Miami
Jimmy’s Eastside Diner
The diner says Jenkins filmed the final chapter of Moonlight in its dining room, and that visitors now sit in the “Moonlight booth”.
A working diner on Biscayne Boulevard. Walk in, and ask for the booth. The photograph shows another MiMo restaurant nearby, not the diner.
Sources
A Metromover train at Omni, Miami, April 2012. Ed Webster · CC BY 2.0 Omni Terminal station, Biscayne Boulevard, Miami
Metromover, Omni Loop
Movie-locations.com says adolescent Chiron spends time riding the Metromover’s Omni Loop.
A free, elevated train. Board at any Omni Loop station.
Sources
The Vagabond Hotel Miami
The Vagabond Hotel Miami
Biscayne Boulevard, Miami
A 42-room hotel built in 1953 and restored, at 7301 Biscayne Boulevard in the MiMo District, on the same boulevard as the diner at number 7201. Heated courtyard pool and free self-parking for guests. Pictured: another MiMo restaurant, 2011.
Check roomsStay
A room on the boulevard.
A hotel on Biscayne Boulevard, the street the diner is on.
The Vagabond Hotel Miami
The Vagabond Hotel Miami
Biscayne Boulevard, Miami
A 42-room hotel built in 1953 and restored, at 7301 Biscayne Boulevard in the MiMo District, on the same boulevard as the diner at number 7201. Heated courtyard pool and free self-parking for guests. Pictured: another MiMo restaurant, 2011.
Check roomsGo there
The park, the diner and a tour.
Both places are open to visit; tours are marketplace results.
Virginia Key Beach Park Trust
Historic Virginia Key Beach Park
Virginia Key, Miami
The park where Little learns to swim, open 7am to sunset daily except Thanksgiving and Christmas. The trust runs the site. Pictured: the bathhouse, 2011.
Plan a visitJimmy’s Eastside Diner
Jimmy’s Eastside Diner
Biscayne Boulevard, Miami
The diner where the last chapter was shot, with a Moonlight booth in the dining room. Pictured: another MiMo restaurant nearby, 2011.
See the diner
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At the beach park.
One dated event on the park’s own listing.
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Dates, prices, rooms and stock change: confirm with the provider before you travel or buy. A stay or tour is described as a filming location only where the card says so.
The archive
Every place and moment behind this page, with sources.
6 of 6 places · 11 of 11 stories
Liberty Square
Liberty City, between NW 62nd and 67th Streets and NW 12th and 15th Avenues
The second chapter at home
Paula and Chiron live in Liberty Square in the second chapter.
Pastels, unpainted for 40 years
Blue, pink and orange buildings in Liberty City carry the film’s colour.
Three stocks, one film
Colorist Alex Bickel grades each of the three chapters to imitate a different film stock: Fuji, Agfa and a modified Kodak.
Twenty-five days
Filming starts in Miami on 14 October 2015 and lasts 25 days, with three actors playing Chiron in separate two-week blocks.
Virginia Key Beach
4020 Virginia Beach Drive, Virginia Key
Learning to swim
Juan teaches Chiron to swim; Mahershala Ali taught Alex R. Hibbert to swim during the shoot.
A beach opened in 1945
Virginia Key Beach opens in August 1945 as a beach for Black Miamians during segregation.
Royal Castle
2700 NW 79th Street, Miami
The burger counter
Juan takes young Chiron to eat at a Royal Castle.
The last Royal Castle
The last restaurant of a chain founded in 1938 closes in late 2025.
Jimmy’s Eastside Diner
7201 Biscayne Boulevard, Miami
The final chapter at the counter
The last chapter of the film is shot in the diner’s dining room; there is now a Moonlight booth.
Miramar High School
3601 South Douglas Road, Miramar
The school
Chiron snaps at school after years of bullying.
Metromover, Omni Loop
Omni Terminal station, Biscayne Boulevard, Miami
Riding the loop
Adolescent Chiron spends time on the Metromover’s Omni Loop.