The diner inaugurated in Los Angeles (Tesla on X)
“I drove six hours to eat, charge my car and relax at the newly opened Tesla Diner. My family is ecstatic right now” writes a user whose name on X says it all Teslaconomics. His feed is a long stream of enthusiastic posts about Elon Musk’s products. So it’s no surprise he and apparently his entire family went all in to attend the year’s glorious event, the inauguration in Los Angeles of Elon Musk’s new venue. The Tesla Diner, the “retro futuristic” restaurant where you can eat, watch movies outdoors, and charge your electric car at the same time.
The promotional video launched for the inauguration clearly shows what services and atmosphere Elon Musk’s venue aims to offer. A two story building designed with soft lines and neon lights. The aesthetic recalls the future imagined by our parents in the mid twentieth century. “This place captures the quintessential elements of the optimistic futurism of the fifties. The spirit is a stance against the brutalist pessimistic ethic that had taken hold in our culture” describes one user whose message Musk reshared on X. Indeed it seems to convey confident optimism in a hyper technological future. Upon arrival you park your Tesla or any other electric car at one of the eighty electric charging stations, then enter the circular building. Inside you immediately see tables for dining but also for working together as glimpsed in the promotional video, likely with the intention to implement co working elements, or the classic tall stools for eating or drinking a strictly American coffee right at the counter. On the panoramic terrace, besides ordering a hot dog or a milkshake, you can stop to watch a movie on the giant outdoor screen similar to those at famous drive thru cinemas.
The restaurant opened at 4:20 PM local time, a recurring tongue in cheek reference that Musk has repeated on several occasions (in internet subcultures the number 420 indicates cannabis). From the start the diner has been popular with patrons arriving in droves to experience it.
“When I entered the destination on the onboard computer” writes a user on X, “It asked if I wanted to order food showing me a menu. It’s crazy”.
https://x.com/DennisCW_/status/1947498687175020998
At Tesla Diner you can order classic (and some reinvented) American dishes, from iconic cheeseburgers served in a Tesla shaped cardboard box, to waffles with breaded chicken, from fries cooked in lard to the immortal apple pie in Grandma Duck style. And all ingredients come strictly from local farms as Musk emphasizes in promoting his latest venture on X.
From posts published on X by early visitors and brand fans you can almost feel ecstasy. Among enthusiastic videos filmed in the bathroom it “feels like being in space” notes one and popcorn served to excited kids by a robot Optimus specimen, it’s clear the novelty has been received with obvious enthusiasm. What we will discover over time is whether the diner will endure and gather enough traction and lasting enthusiasm to fulfill Musk’s promise. “If our retro futuristic diner proves successful and I believe it will Tesla will install it in major cities worldwide as well as long distance charging sites” he stated on X.