Top 35 Gluten-Free Dinner Spots to Delight in Downtown Asheville

Iris Spik

My husband and I chose Strada for our wedding rehearsal dinner catering. Our wedding was originally the weekend of Hurricane Helene, but even amidst the chaos, the Strada catering team got in contact with us to communicate that their kitchen was down, and issued a prompt refund. When we rescheduled our wedding for June 2025, we reached out to see if they would be able to provide catering- this time, my husband was on a strict dairy, soy, gluten and egg free elimination diet. The Strada team worked with us to ensure he had a meal he could safely eat, and also worked to accommodate the vegetarians in our wedding party and my celiac disease. They clearly labeled every allergen, which made everything much easier when we served the catering at our venue- and the food was delicious. We were Strada fans before, but now we’re Strada stans! Highly recommend them for your catered event.

Iris Spik

My husband and I frequent Old Europe for their delicious cakes and coffee, so when it came time to pick a vendor for our wedding desserts, it was an easy choice! Abby helped us choose a variety of small cake flavors, and made sure each one was gluten free (I have celiac disease). She also walked us through customizing a larger cake for the two of us. Everything turned out beautiful, and our guests raved about how pretty and delicious our desserts were. Also of note- our original wedding was the day after Hurricane Helene. Old Europe made it super easy to reschedule for our new date!

Barbara Gulten

We had salads and pizzas delivered for our large group one night. They were fast and efficient. Salads were fresh and delicious (Greek salad). The pizzas satisfied our cravings and went perfectly with the wine we had at home. Solid crust and ingredients. We had a guest that was gluten free and she was able to pick her option and enjoy a great pizza alongside everybody.

Kim Erb

A great experience from start to finish. My cousin has a gluten allergy and our waitress Carly and the manager Ian personally made sure everything was safe for her to eat. We appreciated going above and beyond for that. Try the elote dip!

Ryan McDonald

I love this place. I've been here a few times and I like it more the more I visit. The food options are numerous for me (Gluten allergy) and I'm all about organic foods. They are also very conscious of allergies and accommodate accordingly. The staff is friendly and playful, too! They clearly care about the principles of this place. And atmosphere is nothing special, but gets the job done. 5 stars for sustainability though, with their steel cutlery and plates. Come check it out! Totally worth it.

Jaida Pollock

omg!! the pictures online do this place dirty 😭 i went here for brunch recently and I ordered the porky breakfast bowl. best food ive ever eaten. I have celiac and my waiter made me feel so safe. and the food was delicious. seriously. like oh my god. I had their cinnamon apples as a side and UGHH so good!! I highly recommend this place to any gluten free or celiac ppl in Asheville. :)

Amber Easterling

Had a wonderful brunch at Chestnut! The pimento cheese tater tots were amazing! I can’t wait to go back for dinner and try the fried green tomatoes! All gluten-free items are noted on the menu. The servers are very helpful if you have any questions!

Kat Duszynski

Beautiful gluten free fried (yes fried - with a designated frier)!

Rhys James

Great cocktails, great gluten free food for coeliacs (highly recommend the Buddha bowl), and so good for veggies and vegans too! Cool atmosphere would hands down recommend.

Mike LaBarbera

friendly staff and food was great. i briefly mentioned it was my girlfriends birthday and they surprised us both with this. very nice. gluten free options which is a plus

Bill L

Went there for a bite to eat before seeing a show nearby. There's a great selection of tacos, along with gluten-free & dairy free options for them. All of them were excellent! Plenty of seating, friendly & prompt service. We'll be back again!

Lo Hd

Buffet food is excellent& yummy server yatin help us for vegan & gluten free food thanks for plenty of choice

Autum Kirgan

Delicious! Everything. I took my staff there for a holiday gathering. Lots of variety, veg, vegan, gluten free. Food, drinks,and service were on point!

Erik Quintanilla

The gluten free cheesecake was amazing. My bf almost regretted getting the tiramisu but it was just as good to him. The drinks are great too, not too sweet but not bland. Staff was friendly and helped with recommendations too. The whole place is calm and lots of art and fixtures to admire. My favorite little cafe to come to when I visit from DC.

esther ortega

The gluten and dairy free food choices are amazing!! My pup loved his Pupalof ☺️ Will be returning for more.

Nathan Fisher

What a wonderful experience made possible by Michael and team. Reserved Table for a surprise engagement dinner and it far exceeded expectations. Michael worked ahead of time with me to pair down the menu to make things simpler for the kitchen staff. Pricing was a flat fee per person and we received that value if not more. Service was wonderful and we had the restaurant to ourselves by the end of the evening. The nut, dairy and gluten free member of our party was fully accommodated and even had altered appetizers brought out specifically for him. Can’t say enough about the food, still think about the hand made cavatelli and rabbit sugo. Michael even printed out a customized menu for us which we have since framed. Impeccable experience, wouldn’t have done it anywhere else. Cheers.

Josiah Kenyon

This is a great place to get a taste of Asheville and enjoy good southern cooking with a creative twist! I got the pork and WOW! I love honey and hot sauce, so this was absolutely perfect for me. With my gluten, dairy and sugar issues, there weren't a LOT of options, most things are fried (which my friends loved). But the pork was safe, fries, collard greens and a few other things.. just not a ton of options for my allergies. Cub took care of us and he was really efficient, cool, and made sure our waters stayed full (which was perfect cause we were dehydrated). They have a good bit of outdoor seating (shaded) and tons of space inside- along with a nice bar. If you're looking for a lunch or decent meal downtown, this is worth a stop! Spent about 30$ for a nice meal with 2 sides.

Drew Purcell

Very busy place but fantastic food and were extremely accommodating about my gluten free needs! Had sushi and Donburi.

Calvin Shanks

Just ok. Good beer selection. Gluten-free pizza crust was ok...I've had worse but I've had way better. Spices and flavors on the pizza were underwhelming. Not bad per say, just not great. The atmosphere was not quite what I was expecting either. Good service,

How it is Liz

The Lobster Trap is one of the best places for lobster and seafood options in Asheville! Delicious comfort food served in a fun, casual atmosphere. We were thankful to be able to book a late night reservation for a busy Saturday night on OpenTable. The host then gave us the kind courtesy of calling us an hour prior to our reservation, letting us know a table had become available if we wanted to come in early. We ordered the maple bacon scallops, lobster stuffed mushrooms, caesar salad, house salad, and the lobster roll, which we upgraded to the overstuffed option. One point to mention for those on a budget is that the overstuffed option adds around 30 dollars to the original 31 dollar price, making it a 60 dollar hefty sandwich in more ways than one. It's so good, it's worth it! Great drink options, vegetarian options, and gluten-free choices! There is something here for everyone!

Rhys James

Jessie was an amazing server - really helpful with advising on gluten free options, (I recommend the beef burger which is available as gfree on the day & late night menu). Good vibe, loads of TVs, great food and drink. Thanks Jessie! - from the British guys.

Gregory Anderson

Food is pretty good. Have a few gluten free options. Has excellent cider.

Susan Eckelman

I have celiac and a soy allergy. Other members of my party have seafood, fish and nut allergies. We were able to eat here safely having no health issues! The safest for celiac and soy are the curry dishes. Yellow curry is my favorite!! But a party member got the red curry and loved it! And one member got the duck curry too! Delicious meals! And the curry sauce is one I could just drink one it’s own! Love love love!!

Michael Micholic

Kind. Accommodating. Delicious. Dog friendly. Kid friendly. Celiac and Gluten Free friendly. Friendly friendly. Don't sleep on the coconut scallops.

Laura Horowitz

I think in terms of the Brazilian steakhouse this is the first Brazilian steakhouse where I've been so limited on the meat options. As someone who is celiac I can say that the only options you can have here are the stake. Which is totally fine but I would have liked to have more options than just the steak The salad bar is extremely fresh and nothing I eat was anything less than wonderful. It is also very clearly marked what is gluten-free and what is in gluten-free. The fried bananas are gluten-free and that was the best thing of them all. So is the cheese bread which was okay. I've had better. Overall I had a nice experience but I definitely would like to see more gluten-free meat options available. The house special was by far the best if you like something fatty. Everything else was just okay.

Helen Earley

Michelle Kater

I have always loved Zambra and come here to celebrate special occasions. Last night my husband and I came here to celebrate our 5th year anniversary. It was my husbands first time coming. Our experience here was disappointing from the beginning. We had a reservation and was seated almost 40 minutes later. By the time we got our food it was 9. The food combinations were awful. All the tables around us received bread and we did not. I asked for a gluten free menu which they provided. I ordered yellow tuna crudo and it was so awful. It was drenched in pepper and couldn’t taste fish. I also ordered chicken liver mousse, they said could be made gluten free. All they did was give me the mousse with nothing to put the mousse on! They expected me to eat straight with a spoon. Then we also ordered sautéed mushrooms which came with a very under cooked egg. If was supposed to be that the yolk would just pour out in the food but also lots of raw egg white oozed out with it. My husband ordered a tapa with beef and that was okay. But all and all we spent over $100 on food that was garbage. I’m honestly very disappointed. So much that I’m writing this review. I never write bad reviews. Literally the only good thing that came from last night was our bartender Janae when we were waiting for our table and the drinks. So incredibly disappointed in everything else. Update; the owner reached out to me personally and sincerely apologized for our experience. Validated it and made no excuse. She offered a refund or free meal on then. My husband I will go again in a couple weeks and update this experience and review. Recent update: I went back last night with my husband and my experience was very different. The owner had wanted to make things right and had offered us a refund or a meal on them. I had always loved Zambras so we went back there yesterday for my husband's birthday. We were immediately seated, the service was great, and the food was the best. Im really thankful for a wonderful meal last night with my husband and how serious the owner took my experience and made an intention to keep us customers. We will be back. The swordfish and lamb were our favorite!

K. Hope

Yum yum yum!! This is the place to be. Super fresh fish! Yummy non pink Pickled ginger. Wasbi was very potent though probably still horseradish based. They even can make a seaweed salad roll. I guess locals don't care for it by itself. Lots and lots of different options as well. If you're gluten free just let them know so they don't add crunchies but they are super nice about it. We thought we would be the only people in right when they opened but more people came pretty fast. There is also a cute market behind them that runs on Saturdays so worth getting something to eat and walking around or vice versus!

E L

Interesting menu, very good and thoughtful with dietary restrictions, from the wait staff to the kitchen. I had a gluten free, dairy free cod with roe and i needed it to be sugar free so they made the sauce compliant. A little heavy on the salt but that might just be my palate. I would have wanted more greens on the plate. But again, that might just be me. Tasted very good. Service is great.

Reggie Gonzalez

Did the New Year’s Eve 5 course tastings meal and my friend has strict diet restrictions. No gluten, no soy and no dairy and they hit this right out of the park without a single misstep. I didn’t even bring up she can’t have legumes or tomato and they still managed to put together dish after dish of absolutely delicious dishes she can eat. I on the other hand was able to take advantage of the amazing gnocchi with beef cheeks and flourless chocolate cake. Everything was absolutely perfect. Service was timely. Not overly intrusive in conversation yet still very attentive. Amazing job. Thank you!!

Doctor Mentary

Had an okay experience at this restaurant in Asheville. We arrived at maguro during the afternoon and were sat almost immediately. When we got to the table we noticed that there was an unusual smell and it immediately was a problem. We pressed forward with the meal but after we ordered we asked to move because the table was sticky with food from a preview diner. They just moved us to a new spot. There was some confusion with our server and our order and possibly because they didn't write anything down. However, the food we ended up getting was good. Even if it wasn't exactly what we ordered. There weren't a lot of gluten sensitive menu items, which was a disappointment. Considering all of the other places in town that accommodate people with digestive issues. It's 2025 and you would think a sushi place would be more understanding about those people who can't eat wheat. It seems easy to make the adjustment and almost 25% of customers prefer to eat gluten free food these days. However, when we left we felt mostly satisfied with our food, but we'll probably consider somewhere else next time we want sushi in Asheville, North Carolina.

Kelly S

Menu well labeled for gluten-free people. Excellent creative drinks! Great views of Asheville. Would come here again.

M.E. Gray

Okay this is an institution locally in Asheville. We can never get in but were able to snag a two top for our engage-anniversary. Firstly the Margaritas were excellent and well worth the price. We had the combo Ceviche and it was tasty - 3 different types with different seafood. I am gluten free so I was limited on menu items. I ordered the vegetarian chili relleno - it was okay - interesting let's say. My husband had the enchiladas - the sauce on this one was very good. They restaurant gave us a little sparkling wine and chocolates which was nice! I do like the ambiance in there.

Carol R

Wow! We only had breakfast there but my goodness was it good. The home fries, incredible, the gluten free bread was amazing and of course the egg dishes were on point. We ordered the any style eggs, the bec sandwich and it was delicious!

Demetrius Kelley