The Tesla Diner Grand Opening Was Surreal and Fun; the Food Was Good

Dozens of Teslas — of all models and colors — packed into the lot of Elon Musk’s new diner on Monday evening as West Hollywood’s newest restaurant celebrated its grand opening with fanfare, curiosity, and at least one protester.

The retro-futuristic eatery drew a pedestrian crowd that at times circled the block and provided a promenade for tricked-out electric vehicles. Diehard Tesla fans and curious onlookers alike stopped in for a bite to eat and a selfie with a popcorn-serving humanoid robot.

The unusual atmosphere paired a mix of nostalgia and science fiction: “The Twilight Zone” played on giant screens, servers dashed by on roller skates, and EVs and robotics were proudly on display.

“Aiming to be a fun experience for all, whether Tesla owners or not. Will keep improving,” Musk wrote on X following the Tesla Diner’s official opening.

While the buzzy diner was a bit chaotic, Business Insider’s Ben Bergman and Katherine Tangalakis-Lippert agreed: the architecture was eye-catching, the atmosphere was intriguing, and the menu, served up by celebrity chef Eric Greenspan, was tasty enough to warrant more visits.

Representatives for Tesla did not immediately respond to a request from Business Insider for comment.

A past-meets-future design

Tesla applied for permits for a “Tesla restaurant and supercharger station” in Santa Monica in 2018, just months after Musk first hinted at his plans to build a retro diner at a charging station. After years of waiting for construction to be completed, one would expect the Tesla Diner to be worth ogling — and it didn’t disappoint, especially at night.

The diner sits on a corner of Los Angeles’s famous Santa Monica Boulevard, aka the historical Route 66, and it features sleek, curved edges, a rooftop patio overlooking two 45-foot-tall drive-in screens, and retro neon signs.

The expansive parking lot has V4 80 Supercharger stalls, making it the largest urban charging hub in the world. Dozens of Cybertrucks — some polished, several modified for off-roading, and one adorned with a DogeCoin-themed vinyl wrap — paraded through the lot on opening night while other models of Tesla vehicles honked their horns or blew bubbles.

Inside, the restaurant looks like what you might expect an animator from “The Jetsons” would dream up: a vintage perspective on the future. The crisp white walls and shiny white tile floor stand in stark contrast to the black ceilings with neon blue lighting.

The seating is familiar to anyone who’s been to a diner, though few patrons stayed in the main dining area. Large clusters of customers formed around the “pick-up” area of the bar, waiting for their orders, while others ate upstairs on the Skypad.

Large, rounded windows fill many of the building’s walls, and artwork includes prototypes of humanoid robots created by Tesla: Bumblebee, a 2022-era droid, and iterations of Optimus, which the company is working to bring to market.

A classic diner menu, reimagined

Chef Greenspan, a James Beard award nominee and Food Network personality known for his imaginative takes on old-school favorites, took control of the kitchen for the Tesla Diner’s opening service.

The menu, available 24 hours a day, highlights classic diner fare: smash burgers, hot dogs, tuna melts, club sandwiches, chicken and waffles, tallow fries (wagyu chili and cheese optional), and milkshakes. Breakfast options, also available around the clock, include breakfast tacos, avocado toast, biscuits and gravy, yogurt parfaits with berries, and cinnamon rolls.

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Prices range from $9 to $15 for entrées, which come in Cybertruck-themed packaging, and sides run from $4 to $12. Kids’ meals are $13 a piece, and drinks start at $4. No alcohol is served on-site.

Though some on social media were quick to critique the price point, prices are comparable to other nearby restaurants, including the classic Astro Burger joint down the street, established in 1972, which offers similarly priced grub and retro vibes.

For dinner, one BI reporter and their date tried the Tesla Burger, Fried Chicken & Waffles, Tallow-fried fries with wagyu chili and cheese, Hash Brown Bites, Epic Bacon, and two milkshake flavors. At breakfast, another BI reporter had breakfast tacos, a cinnamon roll, and an iced latte.

Everything sampled was worth a second bite — there were decidedly no disappointments on the menu items tried. However, the food was somewhat inconsistent, as one might expect from a grand opening, when the kitchen is still working out the kinks.

Half of the Tesla Burger had a classic smash burger texture, while the other was so thick it was medium rare in the center. The bacon had some burned bits and some chewy ones, and the tallow fries varied in texture. The breakfast taco was tasty, but it was overpowered by too much cheese.

Several customers during the dinner service complained that their meals took upward of 45 minutes to be served.

Eater reported that Musk himself demanded every item on the menu be “epic” or be removed from its list of offerings. The “epic” bacon — with maple glaze and black pepper — was perhaps the least exciting bite of the meal, in one reporter’s view.

All told, however, the menu was solid diner fare: nothing revolutionary, but it hit the spot.

Still working out the kinks

The Tesla Diner was bustling within hours of its opening, with trash already strewn on the floor and foot scuffs highly visible on the light-colored flooring.

Greenspan could be heard shouting through the restaurant during dinner service, calling out orders to be re-fired or rushed as the kitchen dealt with wave after wave of guests flowing through its doors — typical for a grand opening.

For a place emphasizing technology and robots, there was also a lot of human help. Scores of helpful and friendly staffers guided drivers to their spots and helped handle all the traffic. As one reporter was eating their meal, a worker came over to ask: “How are you enjoying everything?”

Upstairs on the Skypad, an Optimus robot was serving popcorn to guests.

Staff gave conflicting information on whether the bot was controlled by a human operator. One said the bot was “legit” serving up the treats on its own, while another — who was serving as security for the bot when BI stopped by — said its human operator was no more than 30 feet away. The demonstration was meant to “mimic” what the real operations would look like when the bots were fully operational, the second staff member said. Tesla representatives did not immediately respond to questions about Optimus’ autonomy.

The diner is open 24/7, and for Tesla owners, it’s useful to have somewhere nice to go and grab a bite or just work on your laptop during the 45 minutes or more it can take to charge your vehicle.

During the opening, idle fees — which Tesla charges when a vehicle remains plugged into a Supercharger after reaching its limit and the station is at least half full — were waived.

Tesla drivers are supposed to be able to order food directly from the screen in their cars, though that feature was not available as of Tuesday. One worker said it would be ready on Wednesday after a “software update.”

Fans and curious passersby outweighed critics by a large margin. At least one anti-Musk protester was spotted outside during the dinner service, with a sign that read “Workers should have power, not the billionaires!”

While it remains to be seen how long the novelty of the Tesla Diner will linger at this location, Musk has said this is just the first of many souped-up Supercharger stations to come.

On Monday, shortly before the Los Angeles location opened its doors to the public, Musk confirmed in a post on X that he’s planning to build a second drive-in near SpaceX’s Starbase spaceport in Texas.

“If our retro-futuristic diner turns out well, which I think it will, @Tesla will establish these in major cities around the world, as well as at Supercharger sites on long distance routes,” Musk said in a separate post. “An island of good food, good vibes & entertainment, all while Supercharging!”

Whether the diner guests are primarily Tesla drivers or inquisitive onlookers, the Tesla Diner makes it clear that Musk is expanding his EV brand — and the food was pretty good.