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City Spotlight: Elgin
The “Sausage Capital of Texas.”
Of all the towns in Texas famous by reputation alone, there might be none so inviting than the official “Sausage Capital of Texas.” I’m talking about Elgin, which is east of Austin, but I can practically smell its world-famous hot gut sausage no matter where I am. Elgin has pioneered Texas sausage thanks to two brands of “sausage royalty” in town that make and sell hundreds of pounds of sausage every week.
Of course, there’s some beef between ’em. Locals, passersby, and barbecue snobs are fiercely loyal to one sausage stuffer or the other, and you can decide whose sausage is king after your day trip to Elgin.
Elgin’s Sausage Wars
On one side of the rivalry, you’ve got Southside Market & Barbeque, which claims to be the oldest barbecue joint in Texas. And at more than 140 years old, it might well be. Southside started in 1882 as a horse-drawn delivery cart loaded with freshly butchered meats. Whatever the butcher didn’t sell, he preserved by turning it into sausage. Over the generations, the Southside Market sausage recipe evolved, changed hands, and eventually became the famous Elgin “hot gut” sausage. These days Southside is a full-service barbecue joint, but if you eat there without trying a sausage you’ve missed the point. Polish sausage, spicy sausage, breakfast sausage, and (my personal favorite) the “sausage slammer,” which is a jalapeño stuffed with cheddar, wrapped in Southside sausage, wrapped again in bacon, and smoked. Killer stuff.
On the other side of town, you have Meyer’s Elgin Smokehouse. Now, Meyer’s sausage has a very different history from other Texas barbecue joints like Southside, because their sausages didn’t start as a way to preserve meat. Rather, the recipe is tracked all the way back to 19th-century Germany, which is where the Meyer family emigrated from. Their sausage smokehouse business expanded throughout the first half of the 20th century, and a larger barbecue menu was added at some point, but almost as an afterthought. Meyer’s sausages are more of a classic German style, but they also do a great hot gut sausage to feed the locals’ preference.
So as for the rivalry, there’s always gonna be dispute, but it’s all part of the fun. My take is this: You need to eat (and appreciate) both of them.
Downtown and Around Elgin
Although you’re probably in Elgin for the sausage tour, there are plenty of other excellent shops downtown that are worth visiting. Spend a couple hours just walking up and down the main street, explore the historic buildings, pop your head in here and there, and you’ll discover some neat stuff.
On my day trip, I found a lot of awesome businesses in Elgin, but there are two in particular that are especially fun. One is called Things Celtic. Everything is imported from Ireland, Scotland, and Wales, so if you want your family tartan embroidered on your kilt or are in the market for a paddy cap, this store is your place in Elgin.
The other spot is a very famous hattery called the Double R Hat House. They don’t do kitschy, costume-y, or even vintage-style cowboy hats. They’re all authentic, hand-creased, and made to order for local ranchers, rodeo folks, and anybody like me who has no cattle but still wants the real thing.
Lastly, a good way to finish out your day in Elgin is to drive a few miles north on Texas State Highway 95 to the Coupland Dancehall, which is a beautiful little inn that’s more than 100-years-old and has been repurposed for two-stepping and eating barbecue. (Surprise, surprise, they sell sausage.) It’s a great venue for Texans who love live country music, and two-stepping’s a great way to work off all that Elgin hot gut.
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