When a restaurant’s in the same part of town the owners grew up in and still reside, it can really add something. Make the food taste more like a home-cooked meal and less of a product or way to pay bills.

Sarah Douglas and son Carlos Burwell grew up in north Huntsville. Both graduated from Johnson High School. Ten summers ago, Sarah and Carlos opened Sac’s Kitchen in north Huntsville, in a space between a beauty parlor, boutique and tax service in a brick building at 6008 Mastin Lake Road.

Before Sac’s, they’d been selling plates of fried chicken, fish, sides and more out of Sarah’s home. “The clientele built up from there,” Carlos says. “We had a lot of business built up coming from just the house itself.”

About two and a half year after starting Sac’s, they bought their entire building from the previous owner. “We started getting busier,” Sarah says, “so we needed more room.”

More than 10 years in, Sac’s Kitchen now sells around 50 orders of fried chicken a day.

It takes Sac’s cooks about 15 to 20 minutes to cook each fried chicken order, and they do all of it made to order. The wait is worth it. Each piece a balletic balance of succulent insides and tongue-tickling crispy coat. “Simplexity” at its finest.

“There’s nothing like fresh fried chicken,” Sarah says. “We don’t like to cook it and let it sit.”

Earlier this year, I ranked Sac’s number one in AL.com’s best fried chicken in Huntsville list. You can get Sac’s fried chicken in your choice of two or three pieces. Breast and thigh are my jam.

Sac’s cooks their chicken in canola oil. Another vital component, the flour is spiked with Sarah’s own seasoning blend. “It has a little bit of lemon pepper in it, a little bit of garlic in it,” she says. “That’s about all I can tell you.” She also has her own seasoning for the fish, pork and beef Sac’s serves.

Sarah learned how to cook fried chicken and a lot more from her mom. Sac’s uses her mom’s recipes for their turnip greens, cornbread dressing and other stuff.

“Everything we do at Sac’s is from scratch,” Sarah says. “The greens, the coleslaw, the potato salad, the mac and cheese. Nothing’s bought. Everything’s made in that little kitchen there.”

Besides the friend chicken, top sellers at Sac’s include their fried catfish, and the chicken and dressing. They do daily specials off a steam table located in the restaurant’s cozy front-of-house.

Sac’s Kitchen is set up on a to-go and pick-up chassis. If you want to stick around, they have a nice bar out back called Sac’s Lounge where you can also order from the restaurant.

At Sac’s, Sarah oversees the food and cooks while Carlos looks after day-to-day business operations. “If I have to get in and do some cooking I will, but I try to stay out of that part,” Carlos says with a laugh.

Sac’s employes a staff of around 30. The includes Carlos’ 20-year-old daughter Sarah Burwell, whose roles include cooking, cleaning and customer service.

“I love being a part of his family and just being here,” Sarah Burwell says. One day, she’d like to run Sac’s. She’s already eyeing the future. “I want us to have different places, maybe down South Parkway or something like that. I want to expand it.”

Away from Sac’s, matriarch Sarah Douglas likes to go out to eat at other local restaurants and watch old movies at home. The 1991 Robert Townsend musical drama “The Five Heartbeats” is one of her fave flicks. Carlos, a self-confessed “gym rat,” is a fitness enthusiast. Young Sarah Burwell likes to play with her dogs and to shop.

Back when she was a child, Sarah’s nickname was Sack. Whenever someone in the family would bring groceries or other shopping bags into the home, she’d frequently ask, “What’s in that sack?”

When it was time to name her and Carlos’ restaurant, they took the K off so it could also stand for “Sarah and Carlos.”

There was a family nod to the mother and son’s previous business together. They had a little bar called LeCardia’s, a reference to Carlos’ middle name, which also served sandwiches and pizzas.

“To me,” Carlos says, “it’s a blessing to have a partner as a mom. Everybody think of businesses as far as mom-and-pops so something, but the dynamics are different. She’s a best friend. That’s a blessing to have somebody that’s that close to me as a business partner. Those go hand-in-hand.”

And of her namesake granddaughter, Sarah Douglas says, “I’m super proud. She can cook like her grandma.”

MORE ON LOCAL CULTURE:

The Texans who brought killer beef brisket to North Alabama barbecue

What’s next for Huntsville’s best young singer/songwriter?

The origins and continuing impact of Huntsville’s signature beer

How a great New York-style pizza place ended up in Huntsville, Alabama

These Huntsville burgers have superpowers

Huntsville’s best tacos: Our top 5

Huntsville’s best mac and cheese: Our Top 5