The original "Elgin Hot Sausage" is served on the other end of town at Southside Market, but most Elgin residents prefer Meyer's. They have fantastic smoked turkey breast. Their beef sausage and pork garlic sausage are delicious. The brisket....depends on the day. If you order the lean brisket, you may be pleased or disappointed. Ask to have a look at it before they cut it. Sometimes it is lean, sometimes it is fatty. It tastes the same, I suppose, but I just can't stand the texture.
I order meat by the pound (not by the plate or sandwich). It's a much better deal. It comes with pickles, onions, and white bread (if you want them) and you can make your own wrap or sandwich. There are plenty of tables - mostly wooden "picnic table" type, but heavier duty; antique farm implements and signs on the walls (plus a few stuffed critters); and a TV in the side room if you need to keep an eye on the game. The sauce is sweet and there's an extra "hot" sauce bottle with some kind of oily mixture that you can add to it as well. My husband uses it, but I don't think that it has enough flavor to make it worth bothering with.
The place is clean and well lighted, and the folks are friendly. It can get mighty crowded on the weekend and you may have a good wait to get to the meat counter, but you can always read the newspaper clippings that are framed and hung on the walls.
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