On a recent midday visit to the Tesla Diner, Elon Musk’s two-story Space Age eyesore of a restaurant in West Hollywood, the soundtrack modulated between modern dance tunes and classics like the Beatles. But it may as well have been the sound of crickets.

Sure, there were about a dozen cars parked in the surrounding charging stations while an animated film played on the two giant movie screens. A handful of diners were inside, seated at the long, curved bar or at gray-and-white retro-futuristic booths, trying the fried chicken sandwiches and other diner-style fare. But the real image of Tesla Diner today, some eight months after its opening, is this: Just outside, a lone staff member spent the duration of my time there slowly cleaning an empty red carpet leading up to the front door.

The scene was a far cry from the hoopla surrounding the opening last July, after years of construction and social media teases. Customers lined up and waited for hours to try burgers served in Cybertruck-shaped boxes. Of course, the timing of the restaurant’s debut was also a moment of severe anti-Musk sentiment, arriving in the wake of his brief term running the so-called DOGE, or Department of Government Efficiency, for the Trump administration. Protesters came out in force for opening day, some brandishing inflatable Musk balloons wearing his signature black baseball hat and giving Nazi salutes as cars whizzed by on Santa Monica Boulevard.

This being Musk, the doors to the Tesla Diner opened to customers at precisely 4:20 p.m. that day.

Turns out, the hordes of previous protesters now care as little about the Tesla Diner as LA diners do.

It’s already been reported that the diner has been on the struggle bus for some time: Only a few weeks after opening, it slashed much of its menu, with then-head chef Eric Greenspan telling Eater LA that the cutting of items like biscuits and cinnamon rolls was due to “unprecedented demand.” Even Greenspan, a longtime LA chef and founder of New School American Cheese (still used on the menu), was short-lived as the culinary face of the enterprise. Less than six months after the opening, he left the diner entirely to “focus on the opening of Mish, my long-desired Jewish deli,” according to the Los Angeles Times.

Also gone is the Tesla Optimus humanoid robot (nicknamed “Poptimus”) that once served popcorn. Even the hours seem to have been whittled back shortly after opening. After famously promoting itself as a 24/7 operation, within two weeks after its debut, the Tesla Diner’s dining room was only open from 6 a.m. to midnight — although in-car dining is still available at all hours of the day.

Given the middling success of the LA version, whether future locations will come to fruition remains to be seen. But it’s telling that these days, even Musk himself has moved on from talking about Tesla Diner.

In a recent think piece that drew some local pushback, Eater LA’s Matt Kang asked, “Is It Okay to Like the Tesla Diner?” It’s a squishy question, and one entirely dependent on a person’s appetite for handing some of their money, however passively, to a person they may not agree with culturally or politically. At Tesla Diner, bored workers find time to keep the restaurant sparkling clean, and food arrives well-made and piping hot. Everyone inside was friendly to me, for whatever that’s worth, and the upstairs deck has some nice views of the Hollywood Hills.

Besides, there are endless burgers and fries to be found in this rich burger city. In fact, here are 52 great ones. And given that a double cheeseburger, fries and a fountain drink at the Tesla Diner came to nearly $40, there are less expensive ones to be found, too.

If the Tesla Diner plans to stick around, it needs a shot of … something. Electricity, maybe. Or a new owner.

Tesla Diner, 7001 Santa Monica Blvd., West Hollywood. Open for in-house dining from 6 a.m. to midnight. In-car dining available 24 hours a day.