Elon Musk’s long-awaited diner and drive-in opened Monday in Hollywood, California. And even though the venue didn’t open until 4:20 p.m., customers were lined up early to get in.
The Tesla Diner & Drive-In is many things in one. The venue includes a restaurant, a movie theater, and a charging station. It also manages to be both futuristic and retro—and is definitely over the top.
In addition to charging their Teslas, customers can enjoy hamburgers (with or without “Electric Sauce”), milkshakes, and other classic diner food that comes in Cybertruck-like boxes. Two 45-foot LED movie screens, which sync with Tesla speakers, hope to attract moviegoers to the scene. And in keeping with the futuristic-retro theme, the establishment showed reruns of the 1960s animated TV series The Jetsons during its opening.
In typical Musk fashion, the venue looks a bit like a spaceship—perhaps a hint that the experience aims to be out of this world. There is, of course, tons of Tesla-branded merchandise on-site, as well as an Optimus robot serving popcorn. On Monday, a Cybertruck with DOGE vehicle wrap featuring images of Kabosu, the Shiba Inu of internet meme fame, was spotted parked at a charging station.
Just before the opening, Musk was already projecting the project to be a huge success. “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,” the CEO posted on X.
Burgers are hot, but Tesla sales—and Musk’s image—are cooling
While the lines of smiling, eager customers seemed to imply excitement over the opening, it’s tough to miss that it comes amid a fair amount of public scrutiny of the Tesla CEO. Musk’s work with the Department of Government Efficiency—which facilitated mass layoffs and gutted funding for vital organizations like Medicare and Medicaid, the National Institutes of Health, national parks, and more—has made him even more of a polarizing figure than he already was.
More recently, Musk fell out of favor with President Trump, resulting in the head of DOGE being ousted from his government role. A feud played out publicly, with the two men posting pointed attacks on social media. Musk blasted Trump’s “big, beautiful bill,” and just weeks ago Trump said he was even mulling over potentially deporting the Tesla CEO.
And while Elon Musk himself has been the subject of tons of scrutiny over his work for DOGE, the role may have impacted the Tesla brand, too. Tesla sales have slumped this year. From April to June, sales fell to 384,122 vehicles—more than a 13% drop from 443,956 in the same period last year. Musk has acknowledged that sales have slumped but brushed off bigger worries that the brand is doomed. “The stock wouldn’t be trading near all-time highs if things weren’t in good shape,” he said while speaking at the Qatar Economic Forum in May.
Still, given the Hollywood location, the showiness of the venue, and the multipurpose nature of the facility, consumers may just put aside their distaste for the CEO long enough to enjoy it. Burgers, fries, and movies are not hard sells, after all. The lines outside Musk’s new venue certainly show that people are excited. Still, it’s hard to say whether the enthusiasm will hold.
In April, Wedbush Securities analyst Dan Ives slashed Tesla projections and noted at the time that Musk’s government work had done irreversible damage to his brand. Ives added that Teslas are not just a car; they have “become a political symbol globally.”
