Lakewood Landing Duo Opens Tejas BBQ + Tacos, Sets Sights on State Fair

Antonio Guevara and Tifany Swulius first met in 2012 at the quintessential Dallas dive bar, Lakewood Landing. Guevara works in the kitchen, and Swulius works behind the bar. Swulius is also known for her baking skills. Both have been in the East Dallas service industry for over a decade, making many friends and loyal customers along the way.

Now the pair have partnered for an even bigger endeavor: Tejas BBQ and Tacos (1318 Peak St.) and, potentially, the State Fair of Texas.

“It's a good feeling to see the people that we've served in different capacities come and show us that they believe in us too,” Swulius says of their new venture in East Dallas. 
Guevara’s work in the busy kitchen at Lakewood helped him hone his skills, but daily specials allowed him to experiment with a small smoker behind the restaurant. He started with tacos and developed into barbecue from there. In late 2021, Guevara began running weekly pop-ups at bars like The Balcony Club, Charlie’s Star Lounge and Three Links, which he manned alone. Revenue wasn’t high, but he persisted because he wanted to establish himself.

“I was trying to be consistent, you know, in getting the name out there,” Guevara says. “You just gotta keep pushing and keep pushing, so people don't forget, like, ‘Oh yeah, that guy's here every Monday, I've had his stuff,’ and that was the biggest goal for me.”

All the while Swulius became the Landing's baking queen. In 2019, she entered a batch of cookies in the State Fair of Texas bakeoff and took home third place. Her test market? Lakewood Landing customers.

In 2024, Swulius and Guevara decided to combine forces and apply for a coveted spot as a vendor at the fair. While they didn't make it last year, they were invited to join the Big Tex Business Masterclass, a course designed to prepare the next generation of vendors on the arduous (but potentially fruitful) concessionaire business. The duo received feedback and strengthened their business plan. While their main goal is still to get Tejas BBQ + Tacos at the fair, for now, they're honing their skills at this to-go-only spot.

If accepted at the fair, they will use their storefront to prepare food. If they don't, the goal is to continue working towards a dine-in restaurant. Either way, they will continue to grow their business model because, they say, failing isn’t an option.

Currently, their menu offers brisket, sausage, tacos, sides, specials and, of course, baked goods. The menu, written on a blackboard, is very flexible. For mains, the focus is on brisket and sausage because they want something “good and simple” for the fair. They like leaning into the Tex-Mex part of their brand to separate themselves from the competition.

“I grew up very Tex-Mex, so I was like, ‘Alright, let's do Tex-Mex barbecue,’ and that's kind of what I did with the sausage, just putting like cumin and oregano in it, instead of doing something traditional, like kielbasa or whatever,” Guevara says. “I feel like that's what defines a barbecue place: their sausage. And we offer charro beans, and obviously, we do tacos, like chicken tinga which is straight-up Mexican.”

The baked section of the menu is beckoning for a spot at the fair with jalapeño bacon corn cookies.

They also hope to partner with a delivery business so that can add that into the mix as well.

“Immediately, the nervousness comes in, and it's like, ‘Whoa,’ Guevara says of opening this new space. “But if there's no risk, there’s no reward.”

While their brick-and-mortar could help them establish themselves as a dining destination or lead them to the fair, their strong partnership and ambition compel them.

“The past year just reinforced that, with every little pop-up we've done and taking that class together,” Swulius says. “Yeah, just every single time, like, ‘Confirm, confirm, confirm,’ this is the right path.”

Tejas BBQ and Tacos, 1318 Peak St. Tuesday - Saturday. 11 a.m. - 6 p.m.