Walking into Boogie’s Chicago Style BBQ, customers will notice walls the colors of ketchup and mustard bottles, few tables and a chalkboard menu stretching from ceiling to counter. Owner and Chicago transplant Lamont Waits has used his hometown’s techniques to draw customers from around the Houston area since 2006.

He opened his Missouri City location in 2014 at 1767 Texas Parkway, and he launched a food truck in July.

“We get a lot of business in the downtown area, Katy area, [and] Cypress area,” Waits said. “So we said, ‘hey, we should try to capitalize on that with a food truck.’”

Waits moved to Houston from Illinois in 2002 working as a logistics coordinator for a health company, but he said he always enjoyed cooking. He was dissatisfied with the smokier barbecue more characteristic to Texas and yearned for the “heat-infused” taste of Chicago-style barbecue.

“Traditionally, in Chicago it’s more grilled. But when I transcended here I adopted the craft of smoking it,” he said. “But I learned how to do it without so much smoke and more heat.”

With his wife, Nicoya, Waits began cooking and selling from a trailer around Houston. He opened his first location on West Airport Boulevard in 2009 but closed it in January in favor of a food truck to better serve sprawling customers.

Wherever they hail from, Boogie’s patrons needed to be coaxed to try his signature rib tips and burgers, Waits said. He built a pit to cook the meat on-site and makes his own sauces, sausages and boudin balls.

“It just took off,” Waits said of the rib tips. “We kind of have a can’t-miss menu.”

Boogie’s offers takeout and catering only as Waits said it is easier and faster than dine-in service. He said customer service is important.

“I’m real personable with my customers,” he said. “That’ll give them the feeling that if something is wrong then ... [staff members] are approachable.”

Boogie’s relies solely on word-of-mouth and does not use advertising to grow the business. A Missouri City resident, Waits said he chose to open on Texas Parkway because he wanted to stand apart from the chain restaurants concentrated on Hwy. 6.

“I want to be a household name, if not over the entire city, at least where we reside,” Waits said.