Southside Market in Elgin: A Road-Tripper’s Guide to the “Sausage Capital of Texas”

Ask a Central Texan where to find a proper link of smoked sausage and sooner or later somebody’s going to point you east on U.S. 290 to Elgin. The Texas Legislature made it official back in 1995, naming the little Bastrop County town the “Sausage Capital of Texas,” and the place most responsible for that reputation is Southside Market & Barbeque, which traces its roots to 1882.

It’s a sausage-first kind of barbecue joint, a working meat market and a road-trip stop all in one. Here’s what to know before you pull into the parking lot.

A long history in one small town

Southside counts 1882 as its starting year, when the business got going in Elgin under William J. Moon, who is said to have sold his smoked links door to door. Historians have pointed out that the earliest records are a little fuzzy, but there’s no question meat markets have operated under this lineage in Elgin for well over a century, and the Southside Market name itself dates to 1918.

The Bracewell family has been the steady hand on the business since Ernest and Rene Bracewell took over in 1968. The restaurant moved to its current home on U.S. 290 in 1992, and today the third generation of the family runs things. That kind of continuity is rare anywhere, and in the barbecue world it’s close to legendary.

The sausage that put Elgin on the map

If you only order one thing, make it the sausage. Southside’s original all-beef link, often called Elgin “hot guts,” has been around since the early 1900s. It’s credited to a longtime employee named Bud Frazier and is made with beef, beef tallow, salt, black pepper and cayenne. It’s coarse, juicy and snaps when you bite it, the way old-school Texas market sausage is supposed to.

The sausage is still made in-house every day in Elgin, and the volume is impressive. Texas Highways reported the restaurant goes through roughly 1,400 pounds of beef sausage on a Saturday alone. If you’ve got folks back home who’d like a taste, the market also ships nationwide, and you’ll spot Southside sausage in grocery stores in Austin, Houston, San Antonio and Dallas–Fort Worth.

What else to order

Sausage gets the headlines, but the pits turn out a full Central Texas spread smoked low and slow over post oak. Plan on finding:

• Brisket, the Central Texas standard
• Pork steaks, a Southside specialty you won’t see on every menu
• Pork ribs, chicken and turkey
• Sides and house sauces, with bottled sauces for sale to take home

The dining room is big and family-style, which makes it an easy pick when you’re traveling with a carload of kids, grandparents or a youth sports team. There’s also a fresh meat counter and an ice cream counter, so you can pick up links for the grill and dessert for the drive in one stop.

Making a day of it in Elgin

Southside sits right on the highway, but it’s worth the few extra minutes to roll into old downtown Elgin. The town was founded in 1872 as a railroad junction and is also known as the “Brick Capital of the Southwest,” and you can see why: rows of late-1800s brick storefronts line the historic district. These days you’ll find boutiques and shops tucked into those old buildings, plus a Depot District where, since 2024, you’re allowed to carry a beer or glass of wine around designated areas.

If you can swing a trip in late October, Elgin throws its biggest party of the year. The Hogeye Festival returns October 22–24, 2026, for its 39th year in downtown Elgin. Expect a hog-calling contest, a pig-themed art show, a dessert contest, a Friday street dance and a full Saturday of live music on two stages, a barbecue pork cook-off, a car and bike show, a kids’ pet parade, vintage farm equipment and the always-popular cow patty bingo. It’s billed as free and family friendly.

Getting there

Elgin is about 25 miles east of downtown Austin on U.S. 290, roughly 30 to 40 minutes depending on traffic. From Houston, figure about two hours west on 290; from San Antonio, about an hour and 45 minutes. Dallas folks should budget around three hours.

Southside also has locations in Bastrop, Hutto, Leander and north Austin, so if Elgin isn’t on your route you can still get a taste. But there’s something about eating sausage in the town that made it famous. If you’re building a barbecue road trip, Elgin pairs nicely with our Lockhart barbecue guide to the south and a Saturday morning run to Snow’s BBQ in Lexington to the north.

Hours, dates and prices can change. Check the official website before you head out.

Barbecue joints come and go, but a place that’s been feeding Texans sausage for well over a century has earned a little respect. Bring an appetite, grab a few extra links for the cooler and take a slow lap through downtown before you head home.

Featured photo: Dave via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0.