Petty Cash's Modern Taqueria Shutters Abruptly in Downtown's Arts District

Looks like the Arts District location of Petty Cash, Walter Manzke’s popular modern Mexican restaurant, is no more. In the end, it seems the Downtown location never quite caught on, despite massive volume at the Beverly Boulevard original.

Much like the restaurant that preceded Petty Cash in that space, the exceedingly short-lived Fifty Seven, the building itself may have proven to be too much to handle. The always-busy Bestia sits just around the corner but otherwise there’s not a ton of foot traffic floating by, and with a small, narrow entrance through the kitchen the restaurant wasn’t easy to see from the street. Once inside the dining area is rather cavernous, and while the large open kitchen certainly helped in that regard it seems there was never enough buzz to keep the place filled up.

Recently opening chef David Chavez had departed from the place, after Manzke brought over chef Fabian Gallardo from the original Petty Cash to try to shore things up, but it seems to have been too little too late. A call to reps confirms the Petty Cash closure, with tipsters saying that employees were only just notified that yesterday would be the final night of service.

There’s no indication of what may end up inside the now dark location, though it’s clear some big changes will be needed for that space to take off for just about anyone. Here's a statement below on the closure:

After a great run at our second location, we have decided to close Petty Cash Arts District. Chef/Owner Walter Manzke and longtime Chef de Cuisine Fabian Gallardo are excited to continue serving up longtime favorites at our Mid-City location on Beverly Blvd. In addition, the original Beverly location will be rolling out lunch for the first time ever, kicking off officially next week with hours ‪from: Wed - Fri 12pm - 3pm and Sat/Sun ‪12pm - 10pm.
Thank you to everyone who came out to support our new location and we'll see you for tacos and tequila at Petty Cash Mid - City!