Petty Cash Review: Fancy Tacos and Mezcal in Mid-City

More stunning is the ceviche negro, a take on ceviche that's both ballsy and brilliant. White sea bass is saturated in squid ink, with enough peach to give it a light sweetness. Chile de arbol is added for kick, and peanuts for crunch. Like much on the menu, the dish was inspired by similar dishes Manzke has eaten in Tijuana and Baja. He has, he says, tried to stay true to the traditions and soul of Mexico.

The menu's centerpiece, both literally and figuratively, is the aguachile en molcajete, which takes the traditional "chili-water" raw seafood preparation and gives it an almost ludicrously upscale spin in the form of luxury seafood ingredients. Presented in the Mexican stone mortar called a molcajete and bathed in house-made Clamato and wild Sonoran chiles, the seafood choices include clams, octopus, sea urchin and live Santa Barbara prawns. You choose three ingredients, or "the whole F'n ocean," which will cost you a breathtaking $65 (the three-ingredient version costs $23 to $38, depending upon your choices). It's a treat of royal proportions to have seafood this superior served in this manner. Yet the decadence of the thing is a little silly, and I'm not convinced either Peruvian bay scallops or fresh shelled oysters are best served in this manner.

The mostly tequila- and mezcal-based cocktail list is as varied as it is successful. Drinks guru Julian Cox presents outrageous concoctions like the Brixton — gin, poblano sorbet, habanero, lime and flaming green chartreuse — alongside simple twists on classics, like the aforementioned (and delightful) Oaxacan old-fashioned. There's a short, smart beer selection, and house wine — white, red or sparkling.

Location Info

Map

Petty Cash Taqueria

7360 Beverly Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90036

Category: Restaurant > Mexican

Region: Hollywood

Photos

0 user reviews	Write A Review
Save to foursquare

Details

Related Stories

• Petty Cash Taqueria Opens Tonight
  May 21, 2013
• Petty Cash Taqueria: This Week's Restaurant Review
  September 27, 2013
• 4 Great Baja Chefs Coming to Tacolandia
  June 6, 2013
• May Roundup of Restaurant Openings and Closings
  June 3, 2013
• West Hollywood's Ridiculous Fur Ban Met With Lawsuit
  September 27, 2013

More About

• Walter Manzke
• Bill Chait
• Anne Fishbein
• Eating Out
• Food and Cooking

Devising upscale street food is a transformation rife with sticky issues: economic, cultural, emotional, maybe even racial. In the end, the only way to judge a restaurant is to ask how well it's doing what it's trying to do. Petty Cash is aiming for a middle ground, somewhere between tradition and creativity, with all the trappings and fun of an of-the-moment Hollywood restaurant. In that regard, the place has succeeded mightily. And if that sounds like sacrilege to you, well, you're in luck. Because there are plenty of less fraught tacos to be had elsewhere.

See more of Anne Fishbein's Petty Cash photos.

PETTY CASH TAQUERIA | Three stars | 7360 Beverly Blvd. | (323) 933-5300 | pettycashtaqueria.com | Mon.-Wed., 6-11 p.m.; Thurs.-Sat., 6 p.m.-mid.; Sun., 6-10 p.m. | Tacos, appetizers, salads & ceviches $5-$17 | Walk-in only (reservations taken for parties of 8 or more; prix fixe menu required for large party reservations) | Full bar | Valet and street parking