Lakewood Landing has served as a master blueprint for dive bars in Dallas since the ’60s. There’s a jukebox, a pool table and salty bartenders. The lights are low, the fixtures aren’t modern; there’s no Instagram wall, the bathroom “doors” are works of art. The deep pleather booths definitely have stories to tell. Did we mention the best bar seat in Dallas is the single by the door? Oh, and the late-night corndogs (served only after 11 p.m. and made with local sausage) are legendary.
We ranked the top 12 bars in Dallas, and Lakewood is No. 1. That’s how much we like it.
Bill Rossell has owned the humble white abode on Live Oak Street in East Dallas, specifically in the Lakewood neighborhood, since 1998. And now, he needs a little help.
The First Transplant
In a previous interview, Rossell told us that one of his bartenders, Roger Nelson, who passed away in October 2023, saved his life. “I got really sick, and I had to have a liver transplant, and it came to that point where it was around Christmas and they [the hospital] sent me home. There was nothing else they could do.”…