R.G. began making his family recipe for smoked sausage that was taught to him in 1915 by his father, Henry Meyer who immigrated from Germany to the United States in the late 1800s. R.G smoked the sausage in a little smokehouse located in their back yard, and with a growing customer base for the delicious sausage, he then constructed a second smokehouse on the rooftop of the store.

R.G.'s son Buddy Meyer worked with his dad from 1955 until R.G.'s passing in 1959. Buddy's wife Betty joined the business in 1959. Buddy stuck firmly to his family's commitment to quality, and through modernization and two additional expansions, the company continued its growth. In 1964, the new processing plant was built and is the current operating manufacturing plant today, located at 600 S. Main just steps from the Rock Front Store which underwent demolition in 2016.

In 1998 Gregg, Gary along with their wives Denise and Becky Meyer purchased Bigger's BBQ restaurant and opened Meyer's Elgin Smokehouse. At the restaurant, you can savor Buddy Meyer's beans, Hermina's flavorful barbecue sauce, along with savory slow-smoked meats featuring Meyer's mouth-watering spices. Over the last 26 years, the restaurant was expanded on 9 different occasions.