The restaurant opened by Elon Musk has fallen out of favor.

Is Musk's catering plan going to "fail halfway"?

In July last year, Musk opened his first Tesla restaurant, Tesla Diner, in Los Angeles. When it first opened, it was extremely bustling. People who wanted to have a taste had to wait in line for 13 hours.

Some die - hard fans of Musk even drove for 6 hours just to experience and check in at the restaurant. Musk praised it as "the coolest check - in spot in Los Angeles" and planned to expand globally.

However, as the hype faded, this internet - famous restaurant began to show another form.

The long queues that used to wind around the block, with hundreds of people waiting for hours, are gone. The Tesla Optimus humanoid robot, which was heavily promoted and served as the "traffic magnet", has also disappeared.

Even the signature bacon strips and other special dishes in the restaurant have been taken off the menu one after another. The star chef, Eric Greenspan, has quietly left. Now, there are only a few customers in the restaurant. The number of cleaning staff even exceeds that of diners, and the utilization rate of the parking lot is less than 50%.

Who would have thought that the once - popular Tesla restaurant would turn from "the coolest check - in spot in Los Angeles" into an out - of - date internet celebrity in less than half a year after its opening.

01 Less than half a year since opening

After a on - the - spot visit, the UK's The Guardian gave an evaluation - Musk's Tesla restaurant has returned to reality.

In this restaurant, which Tesla calls "retro - futuristic" and covers an area of more than 9,000 square feet, only a few customers enter now, either ordering a burger or a hot dog, or inquiring about the surrounding merchandise.

The terrace on the second floor of the restaurant, called the "Space Deck", is empty except for two employees hanging holiday lights. The number of employees busy wiping fingerprints on the chrome - plated walls and cleaning up the garbage even exceeds the number of customers in the store. The whole restaurant is clean but a bit deserted.

If we rewind a few months, it was a completely different scene here. At that time, Musk fans and curious passers - by flocked to check in. On social media, video bloggers rushed to check in at this new "retro - futuristic" landmark. The 80 V4 super - chargers were in short supply, and people had to wait in line to eat and charge their cars.

To have a burger at "Musk's restaurant", people queued up along the street for hours. A basic burger set cost $13.5, and if you added other items, it would cost an additional $2 - $3. The waiting time once reached 13 hours.

There were originally 32 humanoid robots, Optimus, acting as waiters in the store, providing full - process services from guiding customers to their seats to serving meals. They could also serve popcorn and pour milkshakes, which was extremely sci - fi.

Now, these elements have basically disappeared.

According to the report of The Guardian, they saw that the 32 Optimus robots had disappeared. Several of the most talked - about dishes, such as the maple - flavored "Epic Bacon" and the "Wagyu Chili Cup", had also quietly been removed from the menu. The "Space Deck" terrace on the second floor was empty, and there were more employees wiping the walls and collecting trays than customers.

Although the restaurant is still clean, bright, and well - organized, the atmosphere inside is in sharp contrast to that at the beginning of its opening.

Even the star chef Eric Greenspan, a graduate of the Le Cordon Bleu culinary school who helped create the "MrBeast Burger" chain brand, has long left. He left the restaurant in November.

He has deleted all the content about the Tesla restaurant from his social media accounts. Although he hasn't publicly stated the reason for his departure, he once told The Los Angeles Times that he left the Tesla restaurant to focus on preparing to open a Jewish - style deli called "Mish".

To maintain operations, the Tesla restaurant has even started to transform into a full - service restaurant model and tries to host various events. In mid - December, it launched a "Space Deck Holiday Bash" event. For a $75 ticket, you could enjoy unlimited food and drinks at the Tesla restaurant and watch a live DJ performance. However, it no longer has the initial popularity.

Interestingly, as the restaurant's popularity declined, customer complaints also decreased. A netizen left a message on the review website Yelp, saying that they visited the restaurant on a Saturday night recently and gave a pretty good review of the food. They also added, "The best part is that there's no need to wait in line at all."

In October, Tesla posted on social media that the restaurant had sold 50,000 burgers since its opening, with an average daily sales volume slightly exceeding 700. Even Musk said that the restaurant was operating very successfully and planned to open several more branches near Tesla's offices in Palo Alto and Austin.

02 The gap between the blueprint and reality is huge

It's a pity that as the novelty gradually fades, the situation of this restaurant is very much like a manifestation of Musk's own style: big ideas but hasty execution.

Problems began to surface at the beginning of its operation. Surrounding residents complained about the continuous noise, and protests against Musk occasionally took place in front of the restaurant. A few weeks later, more problems emerged. The robots were supposed to serve popcorn, but they were only on duty for 6 hours per shift, and there were frequent problems in actual operation.

Reports said that they were remotely controlled rather than dynamically sensing. The metal counter caused the 5G signal to weaken, and the robots often lost their internet connection. Spilled popcorn on the floor would cause slipping, and the robots couldn't handle these situations. Some customers also complained that the dishes were often sold out, and when they finally got one, it was cold.

The problem with the toilets was a major fiasco. Five single - room restrooms had to serve hundreds of customers, and two of them were located outside and required an app password to enter. Some customers complained that the toilet seats couldn't be lifted up, "because the design didn't consider men's needs". Some netizens also posted videos showing the dirty and messy sanitation situation, saying that it instantly looked like a "doomsday shelter".

Although Musk's original idea of setting up this restaurant was good: "Open a restaurant next to a super - charging station where people can eat, watch movies, and experience the future", and build a "Drive - In restaurant with an old - school roller - skating and rock - music style".

However, the initial popularity of the restaurant was mainly due to the novelty brought by the robot service and the retro - cyber style. When the novelty fades, it's difficult to support a capital - intensive, low - margin catering project in the long run just by relying on the brand halo.

Even Musk, who used to post more than a dozen posts on X every day, rarely mentions this restaurant anymore. He didn't even mention it in the subsequent Tesla quarterly earnings conference calls.

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