Birmingham Breadworks

Birmingham Breadworks sits on 7th Avenue South in the historic Southside district of Birmingham, Alabama, where owner Mike McElwain has built the bakery around a stripped-down philosophy: bread should need very little beyond flour, water, and salt. That approach shows up in the shop’s naturally leavened sourdough loaves, which skip artificial preservatives, coloring agents, and texture additives in favor of long fermentation and traditional technique. McElwain has spoken about the bakery’s commitment to keeping ingredient lists short and recognizable, a philosophy that runs through both the Signature and Farm sourdough lines the shop bakes in multiple sizes.

The daily bread lineup includes sourdough batards, sandwich loaves, and French baguettes, alongside sweeter items like cinnamon rolls, chocolate croissants, almond pastries, turnovers, and fruit-topped danishes. Breakfast service runs from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. and includes coffee, espresso drinks, tea, juice, and an assortment of pastries and breakfast items, making the early part of the day the bakery’s busiest window.

Lunch takes over from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., with soups, salads, pizza, and a list of sandwiches named after Birmingham itself, including the Alabama Bird, the Bham, and the Alabama Rancher. Each sandwich comes with a side of popcorn, with the option to upgrade to soup or salad, and prices sit in the seven to ten dollar range for most of the lunch menu, with the Alabama Bird running $9.00.

Breadworks is closely tied to Red Cat Coffeehouse, the Pepper Place and Railroad Park coffee shop also owned by the McElwain family. Breadworks handles the coffee roasting for Red Cat, a connection that quietly links two of Birmingham’s better-known independent food businesses under one family’s ownership. It is a detail that gives repeat visitors a fuller picture of how the city’s small food scene fits together, with one storefront’s ovens supplying another storefront’s cups just a short drive away.

The bakery is open Monday through Saturday from 6:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. and closed on Sundays. Online ordering is available for pickup, and the bakery also handles catering and offers space rental for private events, extending its business beyond the walk-in counter. Loaves like the sourdough batard, priced between $6.50 and $9.50 depending on size, are meant to be bought whole and taken home, while the cinnamon rolls and chocolate croissants from the morning case are better suited to eating on the spot.

For visitors staying near Southside or exploring the neighborhood’s restaurant row, Birmingham Breadworks works equally well as a quick coffee and pastry stop or a full lunch destination. The bakery’s commitment to a short, honest ingredient list gives it a different character than a shop leaning on shortcuts, and the connection to Red Cat Coffeehouse means the coffee served alongside the bread is roasted by the same family baking it. Between the two businesses, McElwain’s approach to bread and coffee has become a familiar thread running through several of Birmingham’s independent food spots.

A batard, the shape behind much of Breadworks’ daily sourdough, is the shorter, oval cousin of a baguette, wide enough to slice into sandwich-sized pieces rather than the long, narrow rounds a baguette produces. That shape shows up throughout the case alongside the sandwich loaves and French baguettes, giving customers a few different ways to bring the same naturally leavened dough home. As a family owned, locally owned business that also offers takeout, Breadworks fits into a Southside routine easily, whether that means picking up a loaf on the way home or sitting down for a full breakfast or lunch at the counter. The bakery’s willingness to host private events in its own space, on top of its catering menu, also makes it an option worth considering for anyone planning a gathering that calls for fresh bread and pastry rather than a standard catering tray.