YouTube: James May's Planet Gin
James May ripped into the Tesla Diner in Los Angeles, calling it a “dismal” experience after parking up to grab some food.
Back in July 2025, Tesla opened it’s first Tesla Diner in Los Angeles, California, giving Tesla owners an exclusive place to park up, charge their cars, and grab some Tesla-inspired food while they wait.
The car and technology brand has since branched out, opening a few other Tesla Diners across the globe. Despite that, plenty of people still flock to the original in California to see what all the fuss is about.
That includes former Top Gear and The Grand Tour presenter James May, who wasn’t best pleased by the experience that he’d had.
The first Tesla Diner has opened in Hollywood
It features 24/7 access, 80 supercharger stalls, 66ft movie screens, humanoid serving robots, and Cybertruck burger boxes pic.twitter.com/HSd6AO1vy7
— Dexerto (@Dexerto) July 22, 2025
James May disappointed by Tesla Diner
The TV presenter visited the Tesla Diner for his James May’s Planet Gin YouTube channel, ordering a hot dog, rating it as a “three or four” out of 10, and questioning the “massively expensive” price of everything.
“This is a bit dismal. Sitting in a baking hot car, eating a slightly s*it hot dog, and it’s cost about £50,” May said. He also called the Diner’s outdoor screen a “gimmick” that would be replaced once Tesla adds Netflix functionality in their 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, and you had to order your cookie on an app even though I could see it on the counter in front of me.”
Timestamp of 8:00
Captain Slow also added that it wasn’t “very true to the spirit of the American diner,” and he even got ‘bored’ and ended the charge on his car a little earlier than planned.
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“I hate being disappointed in things like that,” he continued. “There was tonnes of security, what did they think we were going to do? Steal some electricity? Support your local diner!”
While the Tesla Diner won’t be for everyone, if you find yourself in Las Vegas, the world’s biggest In-N-Out burger is set to open “soon” and is based on top of a massive shopping mall.
