Summary:
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Tesla’s unconventional entry into the restaurant business with the Tesla Diner in LA features retro-futurist vibes, gourmet menu, and chaotic lines.
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Celebrity chef-designed menu, Cybertruck-shaped boxes, and Jetsons-meets-Cyber Rodeo ambiance makes Tesla Diner a unique experience despite controversy.
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Lines stretch for hours, merchandise is sold, and political protests loom over Elon Musk’s latest venture, reflecting a cultural divide.
Tesla has officially entered the restaurant business, and in classic Elon Musk fashion, it’s anything but conventional.
The long-teased Tesla Diner has landed in Los Angeles, transforming a car charging station into a 24/7, two-story retro-futurist spectacle complete with grilled cheese sandwiches, oversized movie screens, and lines so long they wrap the block.
Part drive-in, part merch store, and part museum of Musk-ian absurdity, the space is a fully branded experience drenched in chrome, nostalgia, and a hint of chaos.
Tesla Diner & Supercharger in Hollywood, LA
Open 24/7, starting now pic.twitter.com/nISRNoV89Y
— Tesla (@Tesla) July 21, 2025
The menu, designed by celebrity chef Eric Greenspan of The Foundry and delivery-only pioneer Alt/Grub/Faction, includes $14 tuna melts and $13.50 burgers, served in cardboard boxes shaped like Cybertrucks. Restaurateur Bill Chait (Otium, Bestia) is also a backer, signaling the venture’s culinary ambitions—though early reviews suggest the operation is still in soft-launch mode, with limited menu availability and exhausted popcorn bots “taking the day off.”
Inside, the ambiance is pure “Jetsons meets Cyber Rodeo.” Curved black-leather booths and sleek white tables fill the ground floor, while upstairs, the Skypad terrace provides sweeping views of two enormous movie screens playing a rotating loop of old-school cartoons, Tesla commercials, and vintage sci-fi.
Lines stretch for hours. Merch is hawked in the queue, from Tesla Bot action figures to branded gummies. Kids come hoping to see the rumored robot popcorn machine. Adults stay for the fries.
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Despite the spectacle, the launch hasn’t escaped controversy. The opening comes as Musk’s role in the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and his polarizing political alliances spark ongoing protests. In L.A., demonstrators recently staged an eerie scene with inflatable Air Dancers rigged to mimic Nazi salutes, a jab at Musk’s alleged gestures during a White House visit.
Though Monday’s crowd was protest-free, a drive-by heckler shouting “Losers!” at line-waiters summed up the cultural split.
