Alabama white sauce smoked chicken is hickory-smoked chicken finished with a mayonnaise, vinegar and black-pepper sauce, the regional barbecue signature.
Big Bob Gibson invented white sauce in Decatur Alabama in 1925 to keep whole smoked chickens moist during long pit cooks. The mayonnaise, vinegar and black pepper combination became the signature of North Alabama barbecue and spread south to Birmingham in 2009 when Saw's BBQ opened in Homewood. The style remains distinct from Memphis tomato-based and Eastern North Carolina vinegar-based barbecue; Big Bob Gibson holds the canonical white-sauce origin and Saw's runs the Birmingham metro version.
3 editor picks for Alabama white sauce smoked chicken in Birmingham, ranked by editorial score. All Birmingham signature dishes · Alabama white sauce smoked chicken across every city.
Saw's BBQ ★ 4.5
homewood · 1008 Oxmoor Road, Homewood, AL 35209
Saw's BBQ in Homewood near Birmingham is the 2009 Mike Wilson original, the room that introduced Alabama white sauce on smoked chicken to the city.
Saw's Soul Kitchen ★ 4.5
avondale · 215 41st Street South, Birmingham, AL 35222
Saw's Soul Kitchen on 41st Street South in Avondale Birmingham is the 2012 sibling to Saw's BBQ, mixing Alabama white sauce barbecue with soul-food sides.
Demetri's BBQ ★ 4.3
homewood · 1901 28th Avenue South, Birmingham, AL 35209
Demetri's BBQ on 28th Avenue South in Homewood Birmingham has run a Greek-American meat-and-three since 1973, continuing the 1961 El Rancho BBQ tradition.