Barbecue without the sauce? Chicagoan debuts Texas-style brisket at No Sauce AZ

I’ve written extensively over the past few months about Chicago barbecue, from the unique style found mostly on the South Side where the rib tip combo is king to the explosion of Texas-style barbecue in the suburbs. Now with No Sauce AZ, owner Albert Johnson is combing both: a native Chicagoan on the South Side serving Texas-style barbecue.

Despite its name, No Sauce AZ does have a barbecue sauce. But according to Johnson, he wanted to be clear about the kind of barbecue he serves.

“The thing is that if you have a good cut of meat that’s smoked and seasoned properly, it doesn’t need a sauce,” Johnson said. “But my sauce is good, you’ll want to try it.”

Johnson grew up in Chicago eating at the many barbecue spots on the South Side. Here the meat is often cooked in aquarium-style smokers where it is in the same compartment as the charcoal or wood, and where the sauce is considered more important than a dry rub. As he got older, he started making his own barbecue and was more than happy with the results. He was so confident that after moving to Arizona for work, he decided to enter some barbecue competitions. It did not go well. “I thought I knew a lot about the smoking game,” Johnson said. “I competed in a couple of contests, but I didn’t place. I thought, ‘What’s going on?’”

Instead of giving up, he started doing more research, including trying all the barbecue he could. It was in Texas when he had something of a smoked meat awaking. “I was at a transportation company, and one time I stopped in Texas to fill up at a gas station, and there was this little barbecue spot connected,” Johnson said. “It was so impressive. That’s what really got me going. Texas was the turning point for me.”

In particular, he was mesmerized by the extra slow-and-low style, which also focused less on the sauce and more on the barbecue rub. “I realized that indirect heat and the rub were the main part of the smoking,” Johnson said. “I created my own rub and I got it now — trust me.”

He got so obsessed that he purchased a food truck, which he took to farmers markets around Arizona. All that work paid off when he placed second at the Smoke on the Water barbecue competition in Hidden Lake, Arizona.

While business was going well in the Southwest, he decided to head back to Chicago so he could be closer to family. He still had his food truck, but when he saw a storefront available on 79th Street, he decided to try opening a permanent spot. He hooked up a Backwoods Smoker, which runs on charcoal with mesquite wood for flavor, and started smoking brisket, pork ribs and pork shoulders as he did in Arizona.

Eat. Watch. Do.

Weekly

What to eat. What to watch. What you need to live your best life … now.

Once again, it didn’t go well at first. “It was slow going after the grand opening,” Johnson said. “People didn’t know that style. I was serving brisket and pulled pork, but they only know about rib tips.” Realizing he had to adjust again, he started practicing with pork and turkey rib tips, until he was happy with the results. He quickly went from selling a case or two of rib tips a week to over 30. “Everything is picking up,” Johnson said. “A lot of new people coming through the door.”

While he had to adjust again to the local tastes, he hasn’t given up pushing brisket, which is his favorite kind of barbecue. “I’m educating my people,” Johnson said. “I even ran out of brisket last week. I’ve never done that before.”

Johnson wants to open a second location, perhaps in the south suburbs, where he can have a dining area and serve drinks. “I’m going to push brisket and ribs hard at the new location,” Johnson said.

It’ll be fascinating to see where No Sauce AZ ends up in a few years, as it’s very clear that Johnson is passionate about his job. “I really love what I do,” Johnson said. “And I’m serious about it. I will not let anything go out of my window that’s not 100%.”

2055 W. 79th St., 773-891-4684, nosaucebbqaz.com

nkindelsperger@chicagotribune.com

Big screen or home stream, takeout or dine-in, Tribune writers are here to steer you toward your next great experience. Sign up for your free weekly Eat. Watch. Do. newsletter here.