Some towns have a signature dish. Elgin has an official title. In 1995 the Texas Legislature named this town east of Austin the Sausage Capital of Texas, and anyone who has pulled up a chair at one of its smokehouses understands why. The tradition here runs well over a century deep, carried forward by families who still tend the pits and stuff the links the way their grandparents did. If you are settling into a new home at Cedar Grove Apartment Homes, consider this your delicious introduction to the local food scene, starting with the two names every Elgin resident knows by heart.

How Elgin Earned Its Reputation

Elgin began in 1872 as a railroad stop, and for a while it went by a far more colorful name: Hogeye. Brick making brought the town prosperity in the early 1900s, but it was sausage that gave Elgin its lasting identity. German and Czech families who settled in Central Texas brought their smoking and curing traditions with them, and those methods took root in local meat markets. By 1882, a butcher named William Moon was loading fresh links onto a horse-drawn wagon and selling them door to door. Decades later, another family with German roots began smoking sausage behind a small grocery store in town.

Those two stories became Southside Market and Meyer's, and together they built the reputation that eventually earned Elgin its state-sanctioned title. The best part for locals is that you can taste all of that history in a single afternoon, since both restaurants sit along Highway 290, just a short drive from our Elgin neighborhood.

Southside Market & Barbeque: Where It All Started

Southside Market traces its roots to William Moon's door-to-door sausage business. A few years after he started, Moon opened a market in downtown Elgin and sold barbecue out of the back. The business has changed hands only a handful of times since, and the Bracewell family has owned it since 1968. In 1992 Southside moved into the former Security National Bank building on Highway 290, adding a pit room, kitchen, and meat plant. You can dig into the family's milestones on Southside Market's history page.

The star of the menu is the original Elgin hot sausage, known to locals simply as hot guts. It is all beef, coarsely ground, packed into a natural casing, and seasoned with cracked black pepper. It remains the restaurant's best seller, and the Elgin location goes through roughly 1,400 pounds of it on a busy Saturday. Brisket gets a simple salt and pepper rub and more than 14 hours over post oak, and the menu rounds out with pork steaks, ribs, turkey, and a jalapeño cheddar sausage for anyone who likes a little extra heat. Save room for a scoop from the Blue Bell counter, and stop by the meat market on your way out if you want fresh links to take home for the grill.

Meyer's Elgin Smokehouse: Four Generations of Family Recipes

A little farther down the highway at 188 Hwy 290, Meyer's Elgin Smokehouse tells a different but equally rich story. Henry Meyer came to Texas from Germany in the late 1800s and taught his family's sausage recipe to his son, R.G. Meyer, in 1915. In 1943, R.G. and his wife Hermina bought the Rock Front Store in Elgin, where he smoked sausage in a backyard smokehouse and later built a second one on the store's roof to keep up with demand. By 1949 the operation had grown into Meyer's Sausage Company. The fourth generation, brothers Gregg and Gary Meyer, took over in 1989, and in 1998 they and their wives opened the smokehouse restaurant. The full timeline is worth a read on the Meyer family's story page.

Meyer's is known for its German farm-style smoked sausage with a coarse grind, served alongside slow-smoked brisket and ribs. The family touches are what make a meal here memorable. There are Buddy Meyer's beans, a barbecue sauce from the family matriarch the Meyers call Mam-Maw, and a German chocolate icing recipe that dates back about a century. Longtime fans also swear by the banana pudding. Regulars often point out that Meyer's sauce leans more peppery than Southside's sweeter version, so the only fair way to choose a favorite is to try both and decide for yourself.

More Ways to Eat Like a Local

Barbecue may be the headliner, but Elgin's food scene has plenty of supporting acts. When you want a break from brisket, local favorites include Aviator Pizza & Brew Company, The Owl Wine Bar & Home Goods, and family-run Mexican spots like La Parrillada. Downtown's Depot District, established in 2024, also lets you sip locally purchased beer and wine within designated areas, which makes an evening stroll past the historic brick storefronts even more relaxing.

If you want to see Elgin's sausage pride at full volume, mark your calendar for the 39th annual Hogeye Festival on Saturday, October 24, 2026. The free downtown celebration nods to the town's original name with a BBQ pork cook-off, live music on two stages, handmade arts and crafts, kids' activities, and the famously quirky Cow Patty Bingo. A Friday night street dance on Depot Street kicks off the weekend. It is one of the easiest ways to meet your new neighbors, and it arrives the very same month that the first residents begin moving in at Cedar Grove.

Your Seat at Elgin's Table Is Waiting

Living in the Sausage Capital of Texas means legendary barbecue becomes part of your regular routine instead of a special road trip. At Cedar Grove Apartment Homes, you can come home from a smokehouse lunch to a brand-new one, two, or three bedroom apartment home with full-size appliances, a kitchen island, and a pantry ready for all those links you picked up at the meat market. Browse our floor plans to find the layout that fits your life, then join our priority list to reserve your new home before first move-ins begin this October.