Longhorn Meat Market Reopens at New Austin Location with Fresh Offerings

Longhorn Meat Market reopens Friday at a new South Austin location with expanded retail and wholesale services.

The historic Austin butcher shop, which was originally established as University Meat Market near the UT campus in the 1920s, is moving to 9001 Brodie Lane, Suite A-1. Texas native Casey Rietz, a veteran of the Austin restaurant and butcher industries, has taken over as the new co-owner and managing partner to modernize the legacy brand.

Rietz purchased a majority interest in the business, though fifth-generation Leach family member James Leach remains a co-owner to maintain the family’s long-standing connection to the market. This transition follows a period of instability for the shop, which was briefly located on Menchacha Road after its longtime building on East Martin Luther King Boulevard was badly damaged during the 2021 winter storms.

“Butcher shops and small meat markets can be kind of intimidating, and I just want people to know that we don’t just sell beef, pork and poultry. We offer a service to our customers,” Rietz told the Austin American-Statesman.

Longhorn Meat Market Reopens at New Austin Location with Fresh Offerings

The move to Brodie Lane isn’t just a change of address; it represents a fundamental shift in how the business operates. The new site includes a commercial kitchen designed to blend the traditional butcher shop experience with a take-away cafe and neighborhood market. Customers can now purchase prepared meals such as pot roast, chicken pot pie, lasagna, soups, meatballs, mashed potatoes, and house-made bone broth.

Beyond prepared foods, the facility features expanded cold storage and increased processing capacity. The shop will provide in-house butchery, whole-animal offerings, and cooking classes, alongside an expanded selection of regional produce and specialty meats. The business continues to source from dozens of Texas producers, including Rosewood Ranch, Texas Iberico, Peeler Farms Wagyu, Greener Pastures Chicken, and RC Ranch.

Rietz aims to use this expanded infrastructure to reach a broader demographic while maintaining the personal touch that defined the original East Austin staple. He intends to preserve the identity that made Longhorn successful while making the offerings more accessible to a new generation of customers.

The shift toward a “grab-and-go” model is a strategic response to changing consumer habits, but Rietz is careful to distinguish the experience from modern big-box grocery chains. He views the business as a community hub where the staff provides expertise rather than just a transaction.

“They come in and we can teach them how to cook things, we can point them in the right direction. If they have a special holiday or special occasion coming up, we can source things for them,” Rietz told the Austin American-Statesman.

This emphasis on service is a direct contrast to the impersonal nature of large-scale retailers. Rietz noted the difference between his model and the experience of shopping at massive supermarkets where staff interaction is minimal.

“We know our customers, and they’re friends of ours. They invite us to cook outs, bring us baked goods, and we know their families,” Rietz said. “I just think that’s so important and different than going to these big-box places where you don’t really know anybody. You don’t talk to anybody. You grab a piece of beef out of a plastic-wrapped cellophane container.”

Longhorn Meat Market officially opens this Friday and will maintain weekday hours from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., with weekend hours from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

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