At Tesla's newest electric vehicle charging station in Los Angeles, hundreds lined up to order diner fare delivered by roller-skating staff, grab popcorn from a humanoid robot and watch a movie from inside their cars.
The UFO-shaped drive-in diner, years in the making and billed as the first of many, serves a test of how Tesla might extend its brand beyond vehicles and integrate Superchargers into community-centered destinations.
Founder Elon Musk first teased the concept in 2018 as part of a vision to merge entertainment and convenience as developers race to add charging stations in and outside of California as more consumers switch to electric vehicles.
The long-anticipated Tesla Diner opened Monday at 7001 Santa Monica Blvd, converting a former Shakey’s pizza parlor into a diner, drive-in theater and EV Supercharger hub. Tesla acquired the 24,500-square-foot lot in 2022 for $17 million and built a 9,300-square-foot structure anchored by what is now the largest V4 supercharger in the region.
Conceived by Tesla’s longtime chief designer Franz von Holzhausen and run by veteran LA restaurateur Bill Chait, the spaceship-style venue blends midcentury kitsch with futuristic polish. The two-story building features a 24-hour kitchen, balcony seating, movie screens, and robot kiosks. Roughly 80 chargers fill the front and rear lots, compatible with any EV using the NACS standard.
“Consumers today expect retail to be entertaining at every touchpoint — and Tesla's new diner in LA is a perfect example of how brands can meet that demand," Nicole Larson, manager of national retail research at Colliers, told CoStar News. "By turning the traditionally mundane task of charging a vehicle into a social-media-worthy destination, Tesla is tapping into a growing consumer desire for experience-driven environments."
A place to dwell
Fans of Tesla and its founder — along with tourists and Los Angeles residents looking for their latest social media moment — have been watching the site for years, waiting for its grand opening.
At the Monday debut, more than 100 people lined Orange Street, snapping photos and streaming live videos as roller-skating servers delivered burgers in Cybertruck boxes. Two giant LED screens played an episode of "The Jetsons," piped into vehicle stereos. One fan drove a DOGE-themed Cybertruck in laps around the block.
Tesla Diner’s arrival boosts an already upwardly mobile stretch of Hollywood. The Sycamore District has transformed over the past five years from a district of warehouses serving the movie and music industries into a creative hotspot filled with five-star restaurants, cafes, galleries and boutique stores. High-end tenants include SiriusXM and Beyoncé’s Parkwood Entertainment.
CIM Group, a major local property owner, plans to redevelop a nearby former cement plant into 514 apartments, while Onni Group is pursuing a 14-story retail and office tower adjacent to the diner. Other residential projects nearby include two buildings totaling 255 units.
Hollywood’s retail market has seen shrinking inventory and rising vacancies as obsolete storefronts give way to housing and office projects, with retail space dropping by 69,000 square feet over the past five years and just 9,300 square feet now under construction, according to CoStar data.
The Tesla Diner stands out as one of the few new single-tenant retail developments in the region.
'Experience out of the everyday'
A host of charging companies are working with local real estate brokerages to add chargers to new and existing properties, especially in Los Angeles, which leads the country in urban EV ownership. California saw more than 100,000 EV sales in the first quarter of 2025, despite federal pushback on the state’s emissions mandates. Tesla remains dominant but is facing growing pressure.
Tesla's second quarter vehicle deliveries fell 13% year-over-year while Cybertruck sales have fallen short of expectations, showing a decline in the first quarter of 2025 compared to previous quarters. Tesla's stock price has fallen about 30% from its recent high in December 2024.
The diner’s debut comes amid this broader uncertainty for Tesla, which has faced increased competition from Chinese automakers. Analysts have questioned whether side ventures like restaurants and robots distract from its core electric vehicle business.
Still, it's not the only company tapping creative real estate pursuits to drive brand awareness.
Names from Netflix to Google are opening their own experiential concepts to capitalize on their shows and products. The Museum of Ice Cream is opening its first ground-up location in the nearby West Adams district in Los Angeles, combining entertainment, food and design in ways that extend beyond transactional retail.
"With financial caution still influencing behavior into the second half of 2025, shoppers are becoming more selective about where they spend their time and money," Larson said. "If you can create an experience out of the everyday, you're not just extending dwell time, you're making deeper engagement and driving incremental spend."