Home / Neighborhoods / Lakewood
East Dallas · 75214 · 75218
Lakewood
Tudor rooflines, a nine-mile lake loop, and more coffee per square mile than anywhere else on this side of Dallas. Lakewood is the part of the city that still feels like it was built before the car took over.
The feel
Old trees, short blocks, and a lake at the end of the street
Lakewood sits east of Central and wraps the western shore of White Rock Lake. The streets curve instead of gridding, the canopy is genuinely old, and most of the housing stock went up between the 1920s and the 1940s — which means brick, arched doorways, and original oak floors under whatever the last owner put down.
The commercial core clusters around Abrams and Gaston, with a second node at Mockingbird and Abrams. Everything is walkable if you live near it and a five-minute drive if you don't. Downtown is about fifteen minutes without traffic.
Coffee
Where to get a decent cup
Lakewood got a wave of new shops over the last few years. These three are the ones worth the detour.
JuJu's Coffee
6038 La Vista Dr
Started as a 1962 Airstream during the pandemic and grew into a small brick-and-mortar tucked down an alley. Pink floors, a retro espresso machine, mostly grab-and-go. The Otis latte is named after the trailer.
Merit Coffee
4124 Abrams Rd
San Antonio roaster, minimal interior, excellent espresso. Shares a parking lot with Hudson House and a taco joint, which makes it the easiest stop in the neighborhood to get in and out of.
White Rock Coffee
6312 La Vista Dr
Dallas-based, roasts its own. This location is drive-thru and walk-up only, which is exactly what you want on the way to the lake at seven in the morning.
Eat & drink
Dinner without leaving the neighborhood
Hudson House
4040 Abrams Rd
Oysters, burgers, and a room that reads casual until you look closely. The default answer when someone asks where to go.
Due' Cucina
1900 Abrams Pkwy
Counter-service Italian with fresh pasta made on site. Order at the kiosk, take the patio, don't skip the cannoli.
Birdie's Eastside
6221 E Mockingbird Ln
The patio is the point — big, with fire pits, and dogs are welcome. Late happy hour when the weather cooperates.
The Heights
2015 Abrams Pkwy
Small, dim, and reliable. Brunch on weekends, steak frites at the bar on a weeknight.
Lake House Bar and Grill
7510 E Northwest Hwy
Right off the trail, patio out front, dog bowls on request. Where you end up after a lap around the lake.
[Your pick]
[Address]
[Add the one you actually send people to. A first-hand recommendation is worth more than the five above combined.]
Outside
White Rock Lake is the whole argument
Nine-plus miles of paved loop, open six in the morning to eleven at night, and the reason property values on this side of town hold the way they do.
The loop
E Lawther Dr
Paved, rolling, and busy from dawn on with runners, cyclists, and dog walkers. You can do the whole circuit or pick up a section from any of the lots along Lawther.
Dallas Arboretum
8525 Garland Rd
Sixty-six acres on the east shore. Ticketed, but the seasonal plantings change enough that a membership pays for itself if you go more than twice a year.
Free things
Costs nothing, still worth doing
The bald eagles
A nesting pair has been living around the Stone Tables area on the east side of the lake. Bring binoculars and go early. It is genuinely strange to watch an eagle fish ten minutes from a highway.
The spillway after rain
At the south end of the lake. Usually a trickle, occasionally a real waterfall. Worth checking the day after a big storm.
Sunset from the west shore
The Dallas skyline sits directly behind the water from the Lawther side. The most photographed view in East Dallas, and it costs a parking spot.
White Rock Creek Greenbelt
Trail access north of the lake off Skillman. Shadier and far quieter than the main loop if you want to run without dodging cyclists.
The houses
Mostly pre-war, mostly brick, rarely original inside
The dominant stock is 1920s through 1940s — Tudor Revival with steep gables and arched entries, some Spanish Eclectic, some Colonial Revival. Lots run narrow and deep. Ceilings are lower than a new build and the rooms are smaller and more separated.
Almost everything has been renovated at least once, often two or three times, which is where the money is made or lost. A 1930s house with a 2004 kitchen is a very different purchase from the same house untouched, and the difference is not always visible in the listing photos.
Thinking about Lakewood?
We'll tell you which houses are worth the renovation.
Buying here usually means inheriting somebody else's remodel. We can walk it with you and tell you what's good, what's cosmetic, and what's going to cost you.
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