Fifty Years Later, Lakewood Landing Is Still Dallas Dive Bar Heaven

A slightly upscale dive (and by that, we mean they have Stella Artois), the Landing is dark, smoky, and did we mention dark? There's a jukebox, a pool table, plenty of wood paneling and ripped vinyl booths. A late-night, hand-dipped corndog from the Landing is practically a Dallas rite of passage.

The Landing, in Old East Dallas, has won awards for being a bar where you relive greatness or starve as an artist. It’s a joint my old friend Robert, nicknamed the official Mayor of Drink Town, first took me to a dozen years ago—and the bar feels the same. It’s a dive, beautiful with cluttered photos of patrons and owners and signs and junk. And if ever there were a place where smoking should be allowed indoors, the Landing is it.

Look up “dive bar” in the dictionary, and you might see a picture of Lakewood Landing. Wood paneling, dirty carpets, cracked couches and a burger called “The” Burger for $5.75 — it’s all here. It’s a neighborhood bar that attracts folks beyond the borders of Lakewood. This hole-in-the-wall is on everyone’s list of dive-bar favorites, thanks to no-nonsense staff, standard pours and an eclectic assortment of drinkers who swarm the patio when the weather cooperates.