Seven years ago, Elon Musk casually posted on Twitter that he was “gonna put an old school drive-in, roller skates & rock restaurant at one of the new Tesla Supercharger locations in LA.” In 2023, the South African-born financier returned to the social media platform that he had then recently bought to tease his fans further on the concept, describing it as “Grease meets The Jetsons with Supercharging.” Unlike his many promises that show no signs of coming to fruition (Tesla is still taking $50k reservations for a roadster promised to consumers in 2020), Musk’s stated vision on this project appears to be approaching reality.
Forbes reported in September 2023 that the city of Los Angeles had issued several permits for the proposed site on Santa Monica Boulevard. Another report with the New York Times published last Friday shows a building near completion at the address, its metallic exterior rising behind a graffiti-adorned perimeter fence.
However, as the Times notes, we are not dealing with the 2023 version of Elon Musk. His innocuous teasing of a futuristic diner in LA that year was a far cry from the two “Sieg Heil” salutes he made at Trump’s inauguration in January, his illegal mass layoffs of federal employees, and his promises to cut Social Security (which keeps more than 20 million Americans out of poverty, most of them elderly) based on spurious claims of fraud. Having entered the political arena with breathtaking disregard for the public interest, Musk has shed whatever broad appeal that he has apparently taken for granted up until this point for other ventures – just ask the protesters at Tesla dealerships around the country, or the handful beyond that who have taken to vandalizing his cars. His restaurant’s success or failure will ride on the hard power of his wealth, not the soft power of his now-tattered image.
Musk is apparently aware of what many people might have to say about him and, according to the New York Times, is subjecting prospective restaurateurs to stringent nondisclosure agreements that forbid those who sign them from even acknowledging their existence. One who declined his offer mentioned that she was trading in her Tesla for an electric BMW because of how the Silicon Valley magnate is “affecting everybody’s daily lives” despite never being elected to any office. Conversely, the owners of République, one of LA’s poshest eateries, have been catching hell on social media for declaring their support for Musk in the Times’ write-up, issuing a peacemaking statement on Instagram that blew up in their faces before disabling comments.
Others are striking while the iron is hot to pile on the plutocrat in the wake of the Times’ report, with the food media giant Eater writing up a menu for Musk’s diner, featuring “small plates not meant for sharing because that’s communism.”
As of this writing, no opening date for the restaurant has been announced.
