--- title: "Tesla Diner Patio Covering Collapses, Smashes Mother on Head and Barely Misses Baby" description: "It appears that Tesla's new Los Angeles diner is about as sturdily made as a Cybertruck — which is to say, not at all." date: "2025-08-01" modified: "2025-08-01" authors: - name: "Noor Al-Sibai" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/nooralsibai" url: "https://futurism.com/tesla-diner-patio-accident" categories: - "Advanced Transport" - "Tesla" tags: - "construction" - "los angeles" - "restaurants" - "tesla diner" --- # Tesla Diner Patio Covering Collapses, Smashes Mother on Head and Barely Misses Baby ![It appears that Tesla's new Los Angeles diner is about as sturdily made as a Cybertruck — which is to say, not at all.]() *\Image: Patrick T. Fallon / AFP via Getty / Futurism\* It appears that Tesla's new Los Angeles diner is about as [sturdily built as a Cybertruck]() — which is to say, not at all. As [*TMZ* reports](), a pair of young parents are mighty perturbed after a large, pole-bound outdoor patio covering on the Hollywood diner's roof came loose and struck the mother in the head, missing their baby's head by inches. In an interview with the website, George, the husband and father, said that the massive contraption briefly knocked out his 21-year-old wife Valentina and left her confused after it "brutally" struck her cranium. After the couple alerted the diner's staff, video footage of the incident was reviewed and they confirmed it to be real, which is apparently how they handle customer service and safety at the "[epic bacon]()"-peddling restaurant. The Los Angeles Fire Department was also called, and although the woman had slight swelling on her head, she wasn't bleeding and declined to take an ambulance to the hospital. The couple said they plan to file a lawsuit against Tesla, which did not respond to comment when *TMZ* reached out. CEO Elon Musk also doesn't seem to have responded about his restaurant's snafu either, though considering the [bad press]() it's gotten since opening a week ago, that's not all that surprising. Along with having an infuriatingly expensive and basic food menu and weird customer service, the Tesla Diner has apparently been a nuisance to live near since 2023. In [interviews with *404 Media*](), people who lived near the retrofuturist restaurant on Route 66 said they have for [nearly two years]() dealt with everything from massively bright floodlights and illegal middle-of-the-night construction to destructive guests and protesters alike. Kristin Rose, a former resident of an apartment building next door, told her building's management company back in February 2024 that living next to the Tesla Diner construction felt "like we're at the world's worst rave" due to the bright strobing lights going off at the site all night. She told *404* it was "absolute hell" to be near, which is why she no longer lives in her previously well-located building right by LA's famous Santa Monica Boulevard. (Tesla, [naturally](), didn't respond to *404*'s request for comment.) In the end, the Tesla Diner serves as a metaphor not just for the way the company builds, but also for the way it handles issues: by building an eyesore, operating outside legal boundaries, and without any consideration for the people who have to deal with it. **More on Tesla:** [*The Cybertruck Is Aging Like Fast Fashion on Temu*]() ## Author At Futurism, I've often been drawn to unpacking the narratives that underlie technological, scientific and medical progress, with a special interest in areas of conflict and ambiguity that end up setting agendas and steering the fates of both elites and the hoi polloi. I'm a committed generalist, but I often find myself returning to work involving NASA and the private space sector, the effects of AI on media and society, and the mechanics of the pharmaceutical industry, with a specific focus on the spread of GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy. Prior to Futurism, I worked for publications ranging from Media Matters and Truthdig to Raw Story and Bustle. I'm also the author of "Myspace Scene Queens," a 2024 title in Instar Books' acclaimed "Remember the Internet" series. My work at Futurism has been cited by outlets including the New Yorker, Slate, Nieman Lab, the Verge, the MIT Technology Review, the Sunday Times, and the Daily Beast. I grew up in North Carolina, attended the University of North Carolina at Asheville, and now live in Brooklyn, New York. In my free time, I'm an avid reader and music fan; you can probably find me at a local poetry reading, concert, underground rave, or DJ set. I'm the proud parent of an ineffable orange cat named Mee-Mow. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()