Somewhere near Temple, Texas, in a tiny Czech community called Zabcikville you will find the best sausage kolaches in the country. Back in 1946, Green's was opened by Jerome and Della Green as a grocery store for the farming communities in the surrounding Blackland Prarie region. It wasn't long, however, until the little shop called Green's Sausage House became known for its delicious sausage which Jerome made from a Czech recipe handed down from his family.
Videos by Wide Open Country
All About Green's Sausage House
In 1960, the biggest change in this humble store's life happened when it moved across the highway to its present location where it still operates as a café, bakery, meat market, and deer processing facility.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BWbSbI3BHr3/?taken-at=285751720
Today the little cafe is run by brothers Charles and Marvin Green, but not much has changed since the business changed hands. "We inherited a good reputation from our parents," Charles told Texas Highways. "And when it comes to the business, we have a simple philosophy. We listen to people and offer the best product we can."
Due to their insistence on listening to people, Green's is known for unwavering quality above all else. Inside, there's not much else to recommend the place. Simply furnished with 10 tables and several vinyl-covered booths hugging the wall, this out-of-the-way cafe is about as down-home as it gets.
The food, too, is hearty and satisfying. The menu includes cheeseburgers, chicken-fried steak, fried catfish, spicy boudin balls, beer-battered onion rings, and rib-eye sandwiches. The cafe also serves up cheese tots, hamburger steaks, a sausage plate, and a mean steak sandwich.
Perhaps though, the best thing on the menu is a kraut sausage burger. After all, the place is known for its sausage. Essentially, this sandwich is a grilled sausage patty on a bun with mustard, pickles, onions, and a helping of juicy sauerkraut. To be a perfect meal, all you need is a beer and some potato salad.
Don't forget to head over to the meat counter to take home some specialty meats before you leave. Green's has everything from summer sausage, scrapple, jalapeno cheese pork meat sausage, Canadian style bacon, to pork breakfast smokies and boneless ham.
A Cultural Experience
https://www.instagram.com/p/BHqgQKMAyfE/?tagged=greenssausagehouse
A meal at Green's, however, is more than just food in your stomach. Within this establishment's four walls, a touchstone of rural Texas culture is preserved. From farmers to bikers, everyone who enters Green's doors is looking for a taste of home in a changing world.
"This place is special," David Anderson told Texas Highways. "Not many places like this are left. The food is real. The people are real. There are no phonies here. That's why I keep coming back."
And keep coming back you will once you've tried Green's. From sausage to kolaches, there's more than enough to tantalize your palate and satisfy your hunger. However, you'll be hard-pressed not to wander over to the meat market and bakery after you've enjoyed your lunch. With six kinds of bacon, just as many types of cheese and homemade bread, as well as a variety of jams, jellies, and salsas, you may find yourself loading up a basket in preparation to reenter our fast-paced society.
However, on your way back home you'll look in your rearview mirror and remember that you can find a little taste of authenticity waiting for you when things just get to be too much.
