Albert Johnson, owner of the Black-owned smokehouse No Sauce AZ, speaks with pride when talking about his barbecue.
“I study meat. I’m really into what I do,” Johnson said, explaining what sets his restaurant apart from other barbecue spots across the city. “I like pulling a [rib tip] off of the smoker, cutting it and eating it. And if you can’t do that, I don’t feel like you’re doing quality.”
Offering sauce as an add-on instead of a necessity, Johnson believes that grilled and smoked meats should be good enough to stand alone. Anyone who agrees with this sauce sentiment can soon find No Sauce AZ at its new South Side location at 133 E. 75th St. The smokehouse’s name is a nod to Johnson’s time in Arizona where he built up the courage — and experience — to start his restaurant
Local BBQ aficionados might be interested to know that the smokehouse will sit just blocks away from Lem’s Bar-B-Q, a South Side staple located on Chatham’s popular Restaurant Row on 75th Street. Lem’s, which boasts lines of up to a half hour even in the winter, originally opened in the 1950s. That kind of dedication bodes well for more barbecue, says Johnson.
“I just said, ‘when I went over there and I looked at the foot traffic, this would be a good look because it gives the people a choice,’” Johnson said of the opportunity that came to him in a stroke of luck.
The new location comes after Johnson closed his original Auburn Gresham site at 2055 W. 79th St. this past August. There wasn’t “enough foot traffic” in the Damen and 79th Street corridor, he said, describing the former location as a “dead area.”
Johnson said he learned about the 75th Street opportunity after the landlord sought out Johnson’s nephew, who is the owner of the S2 Grills. The nephew suggested No Sauce AZ as a potential tenant.
“[The landlord of the new site] visited my restaurant at least six times and then he called me, and he was like, ‘I think that would be a good fit for you. I see your work ethic,’” Johnson said, adding that he had also considered moving his business to the North Side.
Along with Lem’s, Chatham’s Restaurant Row is also home to community staple Soul Veg City, as well as Black-owned sweets shop Brown Sugar Bakery. Johnson will enter a corridor that’s adored by South Siders for its Black cuisine options and expects to gain a customer base who will appreciate his smoking techniques and give the area more “options.”
“[Lem’s] has barbecue, we got smoked meat. I have a vegan tip as well that I created. They don’t do fish. I do fish, I do a lot of stuff that they don’t do,” Johnson added.
Smoking meat is a technique that typically takes longer than barbecuing and involves cooking the meat by fire indirectly. The technique is also used by the recently opened Sanders BBQ Supply Co. in Beverly.
On a Monday night, hungry customers lined up in and outside of Lem’s as The TRiiBE visited to get the family’s thoughts on their new neighbor. William Lemons, a third generation co-owner of the establishment, said he was unaware of a new barbecue place moving closeby but said he’d happily support another Black-owned business on 75th Street.
“My grandfather always told me, there’s enough money for everybody to get some,” Lemons said. “We welcome it to the community; we’ll support him too.”
No Sauce AZ runs as a grab-and-go establishment, but Johnson says there will be limited seat options for roughly four people who may want to sit down and eat while enjoying TV in his storefront. The new location for No Sauce AZ is in a strip mall on 75th where it can be found in between a convenience store called Big Sam’s and Beauty Line beauty supply store.
Johnson said he plans to experiment more at his new location, stating that being on West 79th Street was like “college” where he learned what did and didn’t work and dealt with trial and error.
“I’m gonna do $10 entrées, for two hours or something like that. I’m gonna run it like a happy hour without the alcohol,” Johnson said regarding the various specials he expects to run after opening.
Getting his start by cooking for family get-togethers and participating in “barbecue night” at various nightclubs, Johnson said he initially enjoyed grilling as a hobby but didn’t think his food was good enough to sell. He perfected his technique in Texas and Arizona while working as a car transporter. Western barbecue experts took him under wing.
“I got under them to get their technique, to figure out ‘how are you guys doing this?’ And I learned that. And then I took our seasonings and put it together and then, No Sauce was born.”
Johnson began his business in October 2018, selling his smoked creations out of his pickup truck before upgrading to a food truck. He also entered various competitions, meeting his would-be mentor who taught him how to better prepare his cuts, before he went on to sell out during a contest in Yuma, Arizona.
“I didn’t even place in the contest. It kind of bothered me, but what gave me a little comfort was the fact that I sold out. I made like, $8,000 that day,” Johnson reminisced.
Johnson expects to be open at the new location by the end of October. He is currently working on beautifying the space by painting the walls and adding new flooring.
He’s excited for the next phase of No Sauce AZ Smokehouse and expects to do well despite being close to another legendary BBQ spot.
“I continue to get people asking me that question, and I say the same thing over and over again: McDonald’s is right across the street from Burger King. We both sell barbecue, but we’re different. We’re definitely different,” Johnson said. “So we’ll see.”
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