Petty Cash Taqueria

<p>Petty Cash Taqueria drew a direct line between Los Angeles and Tijuana, translating the Baja border city's taco culture into a gourmet, chef-driven format that sat somewhere between street food and serious cooking. The concept came from Walter Manzke, whose repeated trips to Tijuana informed a menu built around handcrafted tortillas — pressed daily from masa prepared by Mexican women in East Los Angeles — and fish sourced from a local Japanese supplier at sushi-grade quality. Those two details alone signalled that the kitchen was operating with more precision than the casual setting implied.</p> <p>Chef de Cuisine Fabian Gallardo, whose background ran through Italian kitchens on the East Coast, brought a forager's discipline to the sourcing, working farmers markets for local and seasonal produce. The result was a taco menu that moved well beyond the Baja canon: beer-battered mahi-mahi, char-grilled octopus with chipotle aioli, tempura acorn squash, and an aguachile bar that invited customisation at the table. Critics noted the food made no claim to strict authenticity — the Tijuana inspiration was real, but the execution was chef-interpreted rather than traditional.</p> <p>The restaurant's name carried its own cultural shorthand, referencing Johnny Cash and Tom Petty in a way that matched the space's tone: irreverent, Californian, and aware of its own position as a creative riff on a border-city tradition rather than a document of it. That self-awareness gave Petty Cash a coherence that many taco-adjacent concepts in Los Angeles lacked. Petty Cash Taqueria closed permanently in 2023 and no longer operates.</p>

How it compares

• Petty Cash Taqueria

  Awards

  1 recognition

  Price

  —

  Notes

  Dining

• Guerrilla Tacos

  Awards

  1 recognition

  Price

  —

  Notes

  Wholesale District, Dining

• Mariscos Tocho

  Awards

  1 recognition

  Price

  —

  Notes

  Dining

• Daughter’s Deli

  Awards

  1 recognition

  Price

  $$

  Notes

  Crescent, Jewish Deli

• Gracias Señor Taquería

  Awards

  1 recognition

  Price

  $$

  Notes

  Brentwood, Vegan Mexican

• Dr. Hogly Wogly’s BBQ

  Awards

  1 recognition

  Price

  $$

  Notes

  Panorama City, Tyler Texas BBQ