Tesla Diner Announces Major Menu Change After ‘Unprecedented Demand’

Tesla’s first retro-themed diner in Los Angeles has dramatically reduced its menu weeks after opening.

Tesla Diner chef Eric Greenspan told Eater Los Angeles that the menu was “forever evolving,” and that the team scaled it down to improve efficiency amid “unprecedented demand.”

Newsweek contacted Tesla for comment via email on Friday outside regular working hours.

Why It Matters

The Tesla Diner opened in July and was widely viewed as a bold experiment in brand extension, combining EV charging with nostalgia-driven dining. The project attracted intense public interest, with TikTok and Instagram users flooding the location for content and cuisine alike. It also attracted protests from critics of Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who has sparked numerous demonstrations over his association with the Trump administration.

While the diner appears to be a hit with consumers, the menu cuts reflect the challenges of running a restaurant—even for tech giants such as Tesla. Behind the scenes, staff struggled with technical and supply chain issues, long preparation times, and the sheer volume of orders, The Guardian and InsideEVs reported.

What To Know

Musk first teased the idea of a Tesla Diner in 2018, and seven years later, a sleek, retro-futuristic two-story space designed by Franz von Holzhausen, Tesla’s head of design, opened on Santa Monica Boulevard.

Originally launched with a full-service menu, the diner has now reduced its selection to a simplified list of five sandwiches, two sides, two pie flavors, shakes and a few soft drinks, Eater reported.

The restaurant removed the popular Epic Bacon—maple-glazed strips dusted with black pepper, according to Eater, that could be ordered as a stand-alone item. Regular bacon remains available as an add-on to burgers or grilled cheese sandwiches.

Other dishes dropped from the Tesla Diner menu include the market salad, club sandwich, hash brown bites, biscuits with red gravy and chocolate chip cookies. The veggie burger option has also disappeared, Eater reported. Breakfast items such as waffles, once advertised as “all-day breakfast,” are now available only in the mornings.

Greenspan told Eater that soft serve ice cream should return later this week once the supplier caught up with the demand. He added that biscuits would return as a special “sooner rather than later.”

The diner’s retro-inspired fountain drinks, including Shirley Temples and Creamsicles, have also been cut.

The diner comes with Supercharger stations, two drive-in movie screens, and indoor and outdoor seating for up to 250 people.

The meals are served in novelty Cybertruck-shaped boxes by roller-skating staff and Tesla’s humanoid robots, Optimus. Customers can order in its sit-down space or via carhop service while charging their electric vehicles.

According to Tesla, the restaurant is open 24/7. However, The New York Times reported, citing an employee, that those hours are reserved for Tesla drivers ordering from their cars through an app. The restaurant’s operating hours for everyone else are 6 a.m. to midnight.

What People Are Saying

Tesla CEO Elon Musk wrote on X on July 21: “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.”

What Happens Next

Tesla has not announced whether the diner’s full menu will return. Greenspan told Eater that the restaurant would occasionally add special menu items.