Want to make sandwiches? Create charcuterie for guests? Top a few crackers as a snack?

You’ll probably need cheese — fragrant, savory, downright yummy — and hey, we’re definitely on board for that. People in Alabama have plenty of options for a cheese fix, but if you’re looking for something exceptional, Garden & Gun recommends a specialty shop in Birmingham.

The Son of a Butcher, 2810 3rd Ave. South, Suite 100, made the magazine’s recent list of “Seven Southern Spots for Cheese Lovers.” The idea, Garden & Gun said, is to point readers to “Farms, shops, and restaurants (that) welcome you to just brie yourself.”

Randall Felts, owner of Beautiful Rind in Chicago, made the picks for Garden & Gun. Felts had some definite ideas on this topic, as a former cheese buyer for Whole Foods and cheese-loving cook and pastry chef at Hot and Hot Fish Club in Birmingham. (“While there he fell in love with the flavors and stories of cheese,” says Felts’ bio on the Chicago Gourmet website.)

Here’s what Garden & Gun had to say about The Son of a Butcher:

“Meat and cheese combine at this specialty shop run by the real-life son of a butcher, Addam Evans. The cheese team here doesn’t just make sight-unseen decisions about what to bring in; they meet each producer in person. Highlights include Thomasville Tomme cheese from Sweetgrass Dairy in Thomasville, Georgia; Stilton from Neal’s Yard Dairy in London; and burrata from Maplebrook Farms in Vermont.”

The shop, which touts its ability to supply “quality provisions for the common cook,” opened in the Pepper Place district in 2020 and is linked to Evans Meats and Seafood. Addam Evans is the son of J.T. “Butch” Evans Jr., who founded Evans Meats and Seafood in 1998.

Along with meats and cheeses, The Son of a Butcher sells sandwiches on Wednesdays and Saturdays, according to its website. Customer favorites are listed there: Beef n Blues, Chop Cheese, Jambo Beurre, Chopped Italian, Pressed Cuban and Philly Cheesesteak. The shop also has a monthly Cheese Club.

The Son of a Butcher is in good company in Garden & Gun’s list, which was published this week. The roster includes Culture & Co. in Nashville, St. James Cheese Company in New Orleans, Bacchanalia in Atlanta and more.