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Oldest barbecue joint in Texas opens drive-thru restaurant in Austin suburb

Southside's barbecue is the same menu as the Elgin original.

Courtesy photo

The oldest barbecue joint in Texas has a brand-new restaurant. Southside Market & Barbeque opens in Hutto on Thursday, October 15.

The new restaurant may be bigger and flashier (it spans over 7,000 square feet), but it's still firing up the same menu as the Elgin original. Southside's famed barbecue by the half pound comes with choices like Original Beef Sausage, USDA Prime brisket, chopped beef, jalapeño cheddar sausage, chicken, pork, and ribs, offered along with classic barbecue sides like coleslaw, beans, corn on the cob, potato salad, and mac 'n' cheese. Sandwiches and salads are also available for both lunch and dinner.

Of course, no meal of Texas barbecue is complete without a Southern-style dessert. Southside's sweet treats run from classic cobblers to hand-dipped ice cream.

"Southside Market is our family history, our legacy, our everything," said Bryan Bracewell, third-generation pitmaster and owner of the 138-year-old barbecue restaurant. "We are excited to serve and meet our new neighbors. When selecting where to open our fourth location, we feel very blessed to have found another community of kindred spirits in the City of Hutto."

Southside Market's newest location — the brand's fourth — is part of Hutto's new Co-Op District, a 35-acre, mixed-use development off U.S. Highway 79. Along with restaurants and shops, the sprawling development is the new home to the two-story Hutto City Hall, City of Hutto offices, and the Hutto Public Library.

"The Co-Op District is the proud center of Hutto, and the renewal of this area allows residents to stay, work, and play in Hutto while offering a big-city experience with a small-town quality of life," said Bob Wunsch of MA Partners, developer of The Co-Op District. "Southside Market, with its strong national reputation and history, is a welcomed natural fit for the community. As a family-owned Texas business, Southside Market is a perfect match, and we are excited to have the restaurant in Hutto."

Southside Market & Barbeque's Hutto location is open daily at 106 Co-Op Blvd., from 10 am-8 pm. To begin, Southside Market & Barbeque will open with limited capacity. The restaurant's sprawling patio is available for outdoor dining, and the restaurant has distanced tables to maintain at least six feet between parties. Per statewide ordinance, all customers are required to wear face masks when not eating.

For those not quite ready to eat out, Southside is also offering takeout and curbside services as well drive-thru ordering.

barbecue openings

Back to the Plow

Homey Austin jam and bake shop closing and returning to farmers market

Confituras/Instagram

Confituras Little Kitchen is closing its brick-and-mortar store, but feeling optimistic about the future.

A famers market find is returning to its natural environment after six years in a brick-and-mortar location. Confituras Little Kitchen, which specializes in locally sourced preserves, is closing its jam and biscuit shop after service on Sunday, December 22. However, it will continue selling goods at the Barton Creek Farmers Market and via retailers.

Confituras announced the change in a newsletter to its customers in December. The letter called the news "bittersweet."

"Although the brick and mortar will no longer be, the good news is that this will be a fresh new start for us – we are bursting with energy and creativity at the thought of being back out in the community where it all started for confituras," it said.

The kitchen is closing because the lease is up, and the team has decided to "give up the chase." The newsletter emphasized the ups-and-downs of business over the past several years — ones that were chaotic for just about any business, let alone a small, fairly niche food operation.

"So much has happened since we decided to open a brick + mortar – a wonderful kickstarter fundraiser, THE PANDEMIC, the AFTER-EFFECTS OF THE PANDEMIC, and an ever growing city," the letter says. "We tried so very hard but never really got our footing. We know we are not alone, many small business are in the same boat. We renewed our lease during the pandemic because we were hopeful we could make it work - the changing times had other ideas."

Finally, it shared how customers could keep enjoying Confituras creations:

The Barton Creek Farmers Market is open at 2901 S. Capital of Texas Hwy. every Saturday from 9 am to 1 pm.
A list on confituras.net compiles retailers including Royal Blue Grocery, Farmhouse Delivery, and Antonelli's Cheese Shop.
Jam share and Table22 subscription customers will have more instructions coming soon about picking up their goods in January at the same space, 2129 Goodrich Ave.
Customers may also reach out to inquire about continuing to order meals directly.

The kitchen also hosted frequent events and workshops, but the letter did not address this aspect of the business.

A shorter message shared on Instagram has inspired 63 comments so far, five days later. Customers eulogized the shop for its community feel and providing a sense of regularity during the height of the pandemic thanks to weekend pick-ups.