Tesla

• Tesla’s retro-futuristic diner is open for business.
• The California diner has burgers, movies, 75 Superchargers and an Optimus humanoid robot.
• If you drive a Tesla, movies playing on the big screen can sync to your vehicle and you can order food from the car’s display.

Back in 2018, Tesla CEO Elon Musk promised that Tesla would open up an “old school drive-in […] restaurant.” You know the type—roller skates, rock and roll and just general 1950s soda jerk vibes. Seven years later, and it has finally become a reality.

Tesla officially opened the doors of its retro-future Hollywood diner to the public today after breaking ground in 2023. Located on historic Santa Monica Boulevard, the mid-century-meets-Blade-Runner restaurant blends movies, diner-style eats, and fast charging into a single package. It’s sure to bring in Tesla owners stopping in for a quick top-up or tourists who (maybe) want to watch Optimus serve up some fries.

No, this isn’t some Tesla-exclusive hotspot (although it might seem like it if you count the 75 Supercharger stalls in the parking lot). The diner is open to motorists of all makes and models, though driving a Tesla does grant you some special amenities.

While charging, cars can enjoy an exclusive app that enables vehicle occupants to watch whatever is playing on the big screen at the theater—and, yes, it lines up the playback so audio and video are in-sync with the two 45-foot movie screens playing films in the parking lot.

Folks can also order food while they wait, which is kind of the entire point of a 24-hour diner. But if you drive a Tesla, you can order directly from the car’s infotainment screen. Perhaps the most fun part of the entire experience: the food is served in cardboard boxes shaped like tiny Cybertrucks.

The menu is curated by chef Eric Greenspan and prolific restaurateur Bill Chait. It includes classic diner food—think: hamburgers, hot dogs, chicken wings, fries, milkshakes and more.

While this does seem like some sort of Elon Musk theme park, I’ll confess that I think it also kind of rules. The diner itself has no business existing, which also makes it weirdly perfect to attract just about everybody as a customer—a blend of EV nerds, foodies and tourists who are there just for the experience. I mean, c’mon, you have to admit that it’s not the worst thing Tesla has put out in recent years.

Musk says that if Tesla’s diner does well, the automaker will plan to open more of them in major cities around the world, as well as areas that could be identified as rest stops on long road trips. I’ll admit that it’s definitely an interesting business decision, but it wouldn’t be Tesla would diversifying beyond cars as an income source. I mean, hey, even Volkswagen has sausages.