That is not exactly the slogan any restaurant wants on the wall, unless it has fully given up.
Why was the visit such a letdown?
The Tesla Diner opened in Los Angeles, California, in July 2025 as Tesla’s first diner concept, built around the idea of drivers charging their cars while ordering Tesla-themed food and watching entertainment on a large outdoor screen.
The company has attracted plenty of attention, especially from people curious to see whether the company could turn waiting for a battery charge into something closer to a classic American roadside stop.
May was not convinced. He called the outdoor screen a “gimmick” and suggested it would become redundant once Tesla adds Netflix functionality inside its cars.
“The food was mediocre, it was overpriced, the dine-in movie element was pointless, and the interior was quite cleverly designed, but it was sterile,” he said. “And you had to order your cookie on an app even though I could see it on the counter in front of me.”
May said it missed the American diner spirit
May, long nicknamed Captain Slow by viewers, also said the experience did not feel “very true to the spirit of the American diner.”
That criticism gets to the real sting of the review. A diner is supposed to feel easy, human, and a little lived-in. May’s complaint was that this version felt controlled, expensive, and strangely joyless, despite all that design work.
He said he became bored enough to end his car’s charge earlier than planned.
“I hate being disappointed in things like that,” he added. “There was tonnes of security, what did they think we were going to do? Steal some electricity? Support your local diner!”
The concept still has curiosity value
The Tesla Diner probably will not be the last glossy brand experiment that splits opinion. Some will go for the novelty, some for the charging, and some simply to see whether a company best known for electric cars can make a convincing hot dog.
May’s answer, at least on this visit, was a fairly firm no.
For anyone more interested in oversized fast food than app-ordered cookies, Las Vegas is also expecting the world’s biggest In-N-Out Burger to open “soon” on top of a massive shopping mall.
