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Indian Express
28-07-2025
- Automotive
- Indian Express
Elon Musk opens a Tesla Diner in Los Angeles: Here's all you need to know about the retro-futuristic spot that's a peak Tesla tech experience
A humanoid robot serving popcorn on the roof deck, Cybertruck-themed food containers, a drive-in movie theater, and Tesla technology everywhere. Welcome to Tesla Diner & Drive-In, a new hotspot recently opened in Santa Monica, an upscale neighborhood in Los Angeles, California. Opened just last week, the diner is already drawing hundreds of visitors eager to experience the new 'retro-futuristic' restaurant that also serves as a charging station for Tesla EVs, with 80 Superchargers available in its parking lot. Elon Musk, owner of Tesla had been planning the diner since 2018. The Tesla Diner & Drive-In blends the nostalgic charm of a 1950s-style American diner with cutting-edge Tesla innovation. Located on Santa Monica Boulevard, it's open 24/7 and features both indoor and outdoor seating for up to 250 guests. But the Tesla Diner isn't meant to be just another American restaurant. It's been marketed as a 'retro-futuristic' drive-in experience , a place where you can enjoy a burger, watch classic films on giant screens, and charge your Tesla, all at the same time. It is a high-concept diner that combines Tesla technology under one roof. The diner is one of Musk's futuristic projects, though not as ambitious as putting humans on Mars or developing brain implants. Still, it's clear that the LA diner is intended as a clever marketing exercise for Tesla, whose car sales have continued to decline quarter after quarter. You don't need to own a Tesla EV to enjoy a meal at the diner, which helps extend the brand's appeal beyond just Tesla enthusiasts. Many of the customers drawn to the diner have been adults and new parents with babies. As guests enter the diner, they are greeted by servers on roller skates, who roll up offering ice cream samples. The drive-in projector plays the 1960s animated sitcom The Jetsons, a show that presented a vision of the future, complete with flying cars and a robotic housekeeper. Guests can order items from a kiosk at the counter. The menu, created by chef Eric Greenspan, features classic diner staples such as fried chicken and waffles, grilled cheese, and tuna melts, along with special themed items like the 'Tesla Burger' with 'Electric Sauce.' Prices range from $4 for a side of fries to $15 for biscuits and red gravy. The prices are neither too high nor too low but reflect typical LA standards. However, many diners were unimpressed with the food, calling it 'mediocre.' There were also complaints about long lines to enter the diner, which were reportedly caused by a technical glitch. Tesla's branding is visible throughout the diner, reflected in both the decor and overall atmosphere. The restaurant features a 360-degree rooftop, accessible via an all-white curved staircase lined with display cases showcasing robots. The rooftop offers comfortable seating and great views of the movie screens. At the bar is a Diner shop, where guests can purchase $40 Tesla Diner T-shirts and $175 levitating Cybertruck models. Nearby, there is a popcorn stand which is operated by Optimus, Tesla's humanoid robot. As soon as the diner opened in Los Angeles, videos of the place went viral across X, YouTube, and Reddit. Although Elon Musk is a controversial figure and not everyone agrees with what he says, that didn't stop hard-core Tesla fans and the general public from flocking to the retro-futuristic diner in the heart of Hollywood. Many, in fact, showed up in their Cybertrucks, hoping to make use of the brand-new Supercharger site. Should the diner become successful, Elon Musk posted on its social media platform X, the LA Diner will be the first among many. Tesla's swankily retro-infused diner is only available in Los Angeles, but as Musk indicated, he might open more diners around the world if the existing location proves to be a hit with local residents. Tesla is already selling its EVs in India, with its first store recently opened in Mumbai. A store in Delhi is also in the works and could open toward the end of July. Anuj Bhatia is a personal technology writer at who has been covering smartphones, personal computers, gaming, apps, and lifestyle tech actively since 2011. He specialises in writing longer-form feature articles and explainers on trending tech topics. His unique interests encompass delving into vintage tech, retro gaming and composing in-depth narratives on the intersection of history, technology, and popular culture. He covers major international tech conferences and product launches from the world's biggest and most valuable tech brands including Apple, Google and others. At the same time, he also extensively covers indie, home-grown tech startups. Prior to joining The Indian Express in late 2016, he served as a senior tech writer at My Mobile magazine and previously held roles as a reviewer and tech writer at Gizbot. Anuj holds a postgraduate degree from Banaras Hindu University. You can find Anuj on Linkedin. Email: ... Read More
Yahoo
20-04-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
I visited the site of Tesla's LA diner before it opened. The building is already changing Hollywood's horizon.
Business Insider visited the construction site where Tesla's restaurant concept is taking shape. The retro futuristic diner with EV chargers appears to be near completion. Two looming movie screens can be seen towering in the sky from a few blocks away. Amid Elon Musk's recent blitzkrieg of government spending cuts, the billionaire Tesla founder has simultaneously been making quiet, breakneck progress on an entirely different business venture — the long-awaited Tesla Diner & Drive-In. The Los Angeles-based project dates back to 2018, when Musk first mused online about an old-school 24-hour restaurant spot that would serve diner food and provide entertainment options for Tesla drivers needing to charge their electric vehicles. Seven years later, Musk's vision of a dual dining-charging spot has come to fruition. Looming tall over a busy Hollywood block, the site boasts two towering 45-foot LED movie screens and dozens of V4 Supercharger stalls, as well as a saucer-shaped, open-air rooftop sitting under Los Angeles' reliable sunshine. As a former Business Insider reporter and West Hollywood resident, I spent one Friday morning earlier this month investigating the surprisingly quiet construction site ahead of the diner's still-unknown opening. Here's what I saw. The Tesla Diner & Drive-In sits on the north side of LA's famous Santa Monica Boulevard, which runs from the Sunset Junction all the way to the Pacific Ocean. The plot extends backward onto N Orange Drive. The site is near two of the busiest intersections in Hollywood, and only a few blocks from the 101 Freeway, where hundreds of thousands of drivers enter and exit traffic each day. The prime locale and easy freeway access plays in the diner's favor. Before being transformed into Musk's retro-futuristic restaurant, the land was home to a Shakey's Pizza. In August 2023, the Los Angeles County Department of Building and Safety approved plans for the Tesla diner. Construction had moved quickly in the year-and-a-half since. It appears to be nearly done. Tesla and the engineering and architecture firm working on the project, Stantec, didn't respond to BI's requests for information about the completion or opening date of the restaurant. I spent about twenty minutes perusing the diner's street corner, peering through the chain-link fence surrounding the entire enclosure. The graffiti-covered fence was covered by a tattered cloth, seemingly meant to keep looky-loos like me from snooping. Broken pieces of the cloth cover, however, allowed me a peek behind the curtain, where I observed four construction workers milling about. Two men stood chatting with one another on-site for the entirety of my twenty-minute visit, while two others worked independently on various projects around the building. The security guard, who was wearing an "Allied Universal Security" jacket, was standing on N Orange Drive, presumably watching over the site's side entrance. The nice young man told me he had "no idea" when the diner was supposed to open. Worth a shot! In an X post last month, Tesla investor Sawyer Merritt described the giant structures as 45-foot LED movie screens. Musk responded to the post, "It will be cool." I didn't bring my tape measure to confirm their measurements, but I can confirm they are looming in every sense of the word. A 2022 building permit for the diner said the screens would show half-hour-long films — just enough time for a Tesla driver to charge up, The New York Times reported earlier this year. More recently, Musk has said the screens will show old movie clips, contributing to the site's retro ambiance. In 2023, he posted on X that the vibe of the space will be "Grease meets Jetsons with Supercharging." The two screens sit on diagonal ends of the half-acre complex, both wrapped in a metallic exterior. I walked a mile from West Hollywood for my pilgrimage to the Tesla Diner & Drive-In. As I was approaching the site from a few blocks west, I first spotted the back of one of the giant video screens. I didn't know what the large structure in the sky was on my initial approach, but I snapped this pic on my walk back, after having witnessed the giant screens up close. This particular screen sits to the side of the diner building. The other screen is located out of lens, back and to the right. The building itself is a silver-toned, saucer-like structure with geometric flourishes. During my visit to the site, I saw dozens of shiny, white, Tesla-branded charging stations starting to be installed in the diner's paved parking lot. Eventually, the site will be home to more than 75 V4 Supercharger stalls, Merritt said in his March update on X. Musk's EV company has felt the burn of his foray into politics, with Tesla sales plunging 13% in the first three months of 2025 — the company's worst quarter since the first three months of 2022. Stock is down more than 36% in 2025. Meanwhile, Tesla vehicles, dealerships, and charging stations across the country have been the sites of vandalism and protests since Trump was inaugurated. When the diner does open, it'll be hard to miss — whether by drivers looking for a charge or protesters who have made Tesla locations ground zero for expressing their discontent at Elon Musk's growing political influence. Read the original article on Business Insider Sign in to access your portfolio
