Top 15 Gluten-Free Italian Spots to Delight in Santa Fe

Adam

Wow! I have had pizza from countless pizza joints in the past 22 years over my travels. Vegas, Nashville, South Beach Miami, Orlando and now Santa Fe, NM. The options in Santa Fe for pizza are plentiful and I have had 5 of them, although I won’t name them. The one I will name is Backroad Pizza! A little off the beaten path of downtown, it is well worth the small drive from anywhere in Santa Fe. It has been located @ 1807 2nd St #1, Santa Fe, NM for the entirety of its existence (parking in the rear). From the outside it just looked like a normal building that could have been anything, but step inside and enjoy the quirkiness of the layout and color scheme. The smell hits immediately! For such a small establishment, it was loaded with employees churning out pizzas in the middle of the afternoon and that told me something. I was greeted at the counter with a smile and a chalk board covered in menu items. From fresh salads to garlic knots and then all of the pizza options. There was a nice selection of locally brewed beer on tap. Margherita pizza, you got it. Green chile pizza, sold. Pizza of the moment with unique ingredients, of course. Pizzas made especially for the kids, gotta have it! Customize to your hearts desire, why not? I had the opportunity to speak with the owner, Piper Kapin, who could not have been more friendly. She informed me of her custom corn meal crusted thin crust pizza dough (her personal recipe), how all ingredients were fresh daily and sauce and salad dressings were all made in house. I was sold. She told me a little history and explained her passion for the industry, and showed me around. The property was a little bigger than I thought. There is an extra seating area on the second floor with a small balcony and what a large excellent patio for outdoor seating! (Which is dog friendly!)She (Piper) is very humble and did not even mention that she had been FEATURED on Guy Fieri’s Diners, Drive Ins and Dives on Food Network….. not once, but twice! I noticed it as I was looking over her website. By this point my mouth was watering watching everyone else’s pizzas go out. I got seated with a number on a small stand and a local cold beer off tap. There was a nice buzz from the locals enjoying their meals and chatting it up. I had ordered a small half new mexican with green chile and half pesto, fresh mozzarella, pepperoni. It only took about 10 minutes despite how busy it was. First thing I noticed - THE CRISPY CORNMEAL CRUSTED DOUGH. Extra thin, great texture, super crispy, foldable without toppings falling off, it looked and smelled delicious. Upon taking my first bite of the New Mexican pizza, I understood the hype. (Where is Dave Portnoy when you need him?) In my mind this just became my go-to pizza hub. So fresh, not bready at all and the toppings and crust shined and meshed perfectly. In the 10-20 minutes I had been seated, every chair in the shop filled up; so much so that I offered my table to an older couple so they didn’t have to stand and wait…and people continued to roll in. I gathered what I had left and boxed it up to go and thanked everyone on the way out. All in all the flavor and delivery is spot on, the staff is all smiles, the atmosphere is fun and it hit on all the high notes. I definitely recommend Backroad Pizza and will continue to provide my patronage! Oh, did I mention there is a gluten free dough option? Annnnd….This place has been voted #1 favorite pizza spot every year since 2012 except for 1 maybe 2 years. Just won 2024! You just need to go see for yourself!

Brian Finnerty

This place was a nice surprise, nice menu, great patio seating. The food tasted delicious! They even had some good options for gluten free. We weren't sure driving into the parking lot, but we gave it a shot, and glad we did!

Debra DeWitt

Great food! I have Celiac Disease and require gluten free food. Absolutely great options for gluten free individuals like myself. The food is delicious and service is great. Highly recommend!

Isela R

Gluten -Free pepperoni pizza with their own crispy crust! It would be a repeat of I were a local. I can always appreciate a place that makes their own crust instead of using the standard cardboard one the food service businesses sell them.

Amber R

Amazing food, full of flavor. I also loved the gluten free options.

Brian Urban

Based on my dish, the linguine con salsiccia, I'd rate this restaurant three stars: the dish was good, just not great. The hot sausage was hot but that was the only flavor of the dish; the sauce seemed very bland. In my opinion, the negronis were small and too watered down from the ice. The wife tried to order a diet coke but it was very flat and then the one other non alcoholic drink she could have, they didn't have in stock. BUT, the wife's dish was really good- she said it was the best gluten free crust she's ever had (and she's had a lot of different ones!). At first, she was afraid to eat her Pear & Pig pizza because she thought the crust was too good to be gluten free but it clearly was because she didn't get a response from it. The server stated the gf crust was made in house and her pizza was really tasty, so I'd recommend Pranzo based on that info.

Jose Ortiz

Went here for dinner. Place was dead on a Thursday night. Everything overpriced for the quality of the food. Website linked here gives an impression of an upscale Italian and far from it. Have no idea if wood fired, and highly doubt it. Margherita pizza was a basic boring cheese pizza I could have bought frozen in local grocery store. Meatballs were overcooked and dry. Local draft beer was good. Gluten free pizza with toppings was better. Shocking to me that a GF pizza tasted better. Menu prices (photos) posted here are way off. For the price of our total meal this place is not worth it. Edit: I discovered next day during daylight that I went into the partner operation next door, not the proper restaurant. That explains the disconnect with the atmosphere; however does not excuse the poorly done pizza and meatballs by Lino’s.

Maya Rosenblath

Their gluten free pasta is amazing 😍

Presley P

delicious food with gluten-free options, wonderful, wine selection, and great service and atmosphere!

Jeff Stovall

Gluten free crust is terrible, the worst I’ve ever had at a restaurant. For the price I expected something much better. They also cross contaminated or gluten free pizza with regular crust. The salad was excellent.

Ralph Fuller

Excellent all around. For my wife one of the best gluten free meals she has had.

Dorothy Ortiz

Prior to going into Papa Murphys on St. Francis and Zia to order a pizza I had just locked my phone, keys and purse in the car. I needed to borrow a phone so I went into Papa Murphys, ordered a dairy free gluten free pizza (forcthe first time). Denah took my order and asked how my day was going so I told her what had just happened. She offered the landline phone due to her personal phone being at 5%. I got ahold of my BF who would be on his way, but was 35 minutes out. I was trying to get balloons and cupcakes to my daughter at school, it was her birthday. I wanted to get home quicker than my BF could arrive. Denah came outside and asked if there was any other way she could help, willing to crawl through my trunk to unlock my doors, what a peach! But that wasn't going to work. She had charged her phone a bit so it was now at 9%, she downloaded the Ford app to her phone and I was able to sign in and unlock my doors from her phone. What a day, and she saved me!! On top of suggesting the best pizza for my allergic-to-dairy boyfriend! 😉 Pizza was awesome! We will be back again and again! Thank you Denah Valdez for going above and beyond for a pizza eater in distress! You rock!!

Deanna Lopez

Today was our first time trying Brunos, and it was delicious! The toppings are fresh, the red sauce is full of flavor, and the gluten-free crust is scrumptious. We will definitely return, and I highly recommend it.

Alex Haulman

Their pizza is the business! I went with a classic pepperoni, and my wife had the Rustica on their gluten-free vegan crust (rice flour based). They also have a cauliflower crust that does have egg. It's probably the best gluten-free crust I've tried. We couldn't believe how fast we got our pizzas, and they were piping hot straight from the wood-fired oven.

Kathy Vigil

Where do I begin ? Let’s start with the slow service. Service started out promisingly but quickly declined. We were a party of 4 and our orders arrived sporadically instead of all together. A member of our party ordered pizza with white sauce and was told 15 minutes after he ordered that his pizza was made incorrectly. The waiter apologized and said he would comp the pizza due to the mishap. The rest of our party proceeded to eat their dinner. I ordered linguini with seafood in a red based sauce over gluten-free pasta. The seafood was over cooked and rubbery and the sauce was mediocre at best. My partners pizza finally arrived almost 30 minutes after the other meals. We were also told by our waiter that he would give us one free dessert due to the pizza mishap. Put check arrived and much to out surprise we were charged for the pizza and also an $8.00 service charge for the gluten free pasta. Out waiter never mentioned an additional fee for gluten free pasta and the charge is not mentioned anywhere on their menu. We questioned our waiter about the charge for the pizza and we’re told because The pizza was eaten, they would have to charge us the full price. We also mentioned the fact that it was not noted on the menu and that the waiter never told us about the eight dollar up charge for gluten-free pasta. Mind you I am used to paying an additional 2 to 3 dollars for gluten free products, but eight dollars is absolutely absurd! We asked to speak to the manager/owner and were told he had gone home for the evening. I do not recommend this place and suggest you avoid it. The food was mediocre at best, slow service and very poor customer service.