Courtesy of Bill Rossell
Audio By Carbonatix
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.”
He was put on a waiting list and got a call, but it turned out to be a false alarm. When the second call came, in a state of hopelessness, he feared it was another false alarm and wouldn’t go. Nelson drove to his house to get him. “He came over and picked me up, threw me in his truck and took me,” Rossell says of Nelson.
A decade later, the anti-rejection drugs he’s taken since that transplant have severely damaged his kidneys.
Rossel posted on Facebook earlier this week to explain more:
Lakewood Landing Facebook
Rossell goes on to explain in the post what is involved in testing and kidney transplants. He’s a patient at UT Southwestern, which handles all the logistics, questions and screening.
Rossell realizes this is a big ask, “It’s not lost on me.” But if donating isn’t something a person can do, then sharing the post, talking about it or, he writes, “Pointing me toward someone who might be open to learning more,” are all options.
Get more information about kidney transplants through UT Southwestern.
