Top 50 Gluten-Free Spots to Discover in San Diego

Jolene Theresa

TLDR: specializes in gluten free! very celiac friendly My celiac friend and I were in town and made sure to scope out all of the restaurants she could eat at. Civico takes gluten free very seriously. Her pasta was delicious and I couldn't even really tell it was gluten free. Our waiter was very kind and even helped out with some wine suggestions. The bread is my favorite part. As the gluten eating friend, I often miss out on bread because we just don't get it for the table but Civico passes it over in a brown bag which is great for me to take to go but also great for my celiac friend because no stray crumbs will get near her! Yes, thats excessive but, for the serious celiac, it can be an issue. 10/10 highly recommend!

Joel Greenwald

C Golding

Dietary restriction diners beware. I ordered a vegan entree and was served dairy butter along with it, which luckily I was smart enough to ask the waitress about before taking a bite. If a diner orders off the vegan menu, and the entree comes with butter, WHY would it be non-vegan butter? However, the server was kind, the food was tasty, and the restaurant was nice. I appreciated how well labelled the menu was for dietary restrictions (I am also gluten free) but would hesitate to return given the severity of that error.

Robin K.

Great with Gluten free options. Even gluten free Key Lime pie for dessert. Service was wonderful. Sat out on deck with a great view. Very enjoyable. Thank you for a wonderful experience. It is a bit pricey but really with it. I had the Hot Pot...it was very, very good.

Eric Shaw

Angela Lindberg

Melinda C

The ambiance, atmosphere is great & very unique. This review is only for their gluten free options. It’s all very fried/unhealthy and not filling. I left feeling like we were just at an upscale version of Del Mar Fair except the fair is cheaper and I’d be more full. Everyone else at the table who didn’t need to eat gluten free had a delicious meal with so many options. I held off on eating here for over 8 years hoping to come when they had a better GF menu. I’d been in here for drinks and mocktails before and it was great. I waited until now bc they do have a couple more GF options than before. I love vegan food. I was sad that I left hungry and didn’t enjoy the food like everyone else did. I did pay a good amount for this food too.

Melissa Elkins

Only gluten free thing is bread :/

Briana Aurelia

My family and I went here for dinner and thought it was pretty good! The rest of my family got the normal BYO pasta and sauce, I got the gluten free spaghetti arrabiatta. I felt really jipped on my pasta and it was all broken apart. I’ve made gluten free spaghetti before so I think it was overcooked, and there was WAY too much sauce. Otherwise, everyone else enjoyed their food. I was a little confused too as to why the pesto had fresh ricotta mixed in, as that isn’t traditional of pesto sauce. Overall, nice ambiance and a good-sized restaurant, and the food tasted good, but I think the gluten free game for how they serve it to customers needs to be improved a bit.

ME MC

I loved it!! They have a gluten-free menu ❤️ and vegetarian options. The coffee is delicious!!! Their gluten-free bread is delicious!

Juana Adams

Dhea Powers

Gluten free waffle cone and ice cream.... felt like I was I Heaven!!! Such a special treat.... YUMMY!!! Thank you for having gluten-free options... especially the gluten-free waffle cones!!!

Kel Mac

The food is luxurious! I got the Veggie Smash Burger, Smashtots and PB Cookie Shake. Tater tots are tossed in olive oil and rosemary! Perfectly crispy with soft center. The Veggie Smash was delicious. The gluten free bun I requested had nice flavor, body and texture. The requested toppings were customized to my request. The shake came in a frosted sundae glass with extra! I was fortunate to meet George, the manager. He was informative, kind and professional. The team member who brought my food was upbeat and professional. Overall, this Smashburger location was consistently high quality. I’ll be back.

Shavonne Mills

This was the best gluten-free pizza I've ever had. I loved it and would recommend it 100 times.

Miguel Sanchez

Was skeptical coming here as I thought it was only a Vegan place, however some of their food can be made to be vegan or gluten free. The Carne Asada was flavorful in the big breakfast burrito. My favorite thing was the Vegan Horchata Latte. I will be dreaming about that drink until the next time I come back to San Diego to visit.

Alfred Myers

Clara Morgan

Esperanza Hunt

Erin Moore

The people working there are always so great, I had a problem accessing my free bday cupcake online and they took care of it in person. Their gluten-free red velvet is the best! And I love that they're having more gluten-free options too. They have the cutest Irish coffee green frosting cupcakes right now for Saint Patrick's Day.

Arthur Thomas

Linda Cohen

Frank O'Connor

A nice bit of indoor and outdoor seating, everything was clean and well-kept. All the staff were very helpful and generally friendly and attentive. The burgers were all very good and the fries got rave reviews. It is nice having a place with legitimately good gluten-free offerings, and even vegan cheese for those that avoid dairy. Parking is street parking but there’s plenty of small side streets nearby. Prices were very good when compared to more mainline burger places.

Pamela Allen

Dave Washington

Richard Tate

Lanie

First time we ordered from here, it was awesome, but second time, HORRIFIC. Both pizzas were on the thinnest gluten free crust ever, it felt like we were eating pizza on a saltine. The hillcrest pizza had raw egg on it - couldn’t eat it. The egg white part was so raw that it was clear still and the whole thing jiggled as the box moved. I thought the arugula salad was fantastic until I felt myself crunch into something hard - it was a metal staple!!! Imagine if I had swallowed that. Will not be ordering from here again. Extremely disappointed.

D'yan J DeBruin

So happy they have gluten free French toast and it was delicious with strawberries and whip cream!!

Jeffrey Minor

Tanya Dantus

Been bringing my networking group here- friendly & lots of options for those with special dietary needs (gluten or dairy free), but also yummy stuff. Haven’t tried but their scone with creme Fraiche & honey looks ah-mazing!

GlutenFree InSanDiego

Great selection of sandwiches and salads. Gluten free bread is offered for the sandwiches!

Rosie Smith

Anastasiia Zhidkova

Fantastic pizza! Great employees. I had a wonderful experience and look forward to my next visit. They understand gluten free.... No cross contamination here!

Claire Jeffers

Went here with friends because it had GF marked menu items. We were there for breakfast so I can’t speak to the lunch menu, but there were really no breakfast options for someone with a gluten allergy (celiac). I ordered the steak and eggs that were marked GF, and the Waitress advised me that the potatoes were made in a shared fryer. So we subbed potatoes for fruit. When the food came I took a bite of the steak and noticed it had a marinade. I asked what the marinade was (because with celiac you cannot have regular soy sauce, only tamari) and she didn’t know. She went was to check with the kitchen but they weren’t entirely sure because the head chef was out. I asked if it had soy sauce specifically and after like 20 mins she came back and we had to ask again about it. The marinade did have soy sauce in it, so the only part of this dish that is GF are the eggs and my substituted fruit. The chilaquiles were another GF option but the chips are also fried in a shared fryer. I would be very cautious if celiac and eating here…

John Cardinale

Great restaurant! Very good Thai food Service was amazing They have a few gluten free options well labeled!

Selam H

Excellent food made fresh with gluten free injera. The flavors were vibrant, portions were good, and the service very accommodating. Highly recommend!

LeslieMyStylist Leslie

Consistently fantastic food, drinks & service! We have never been disappointed dinning & drinking at the bar. Ultimate bonus for me is the gluten free bun!

Frank Garcia

This is probably one of my favorite coffee shops in San Diego! Where do I begin...well first let me say I have a very up and down relationship with coffee (body doesn't always react well to it 😞) but I LOVE COFFEE! And my absolute favorite coffee drink of all time happens to be sold here, The BB Code 👑. It's cold brew coffee with their house made banana milk 🤤. Now I can't always have it because it's cold brew and I get kind of jittery with too much caffeine 😆 but it is amazing! I get mine with chocolate sauce on the inside of the cup. I also like matcha and their orange creamsicle matcha is probably the best matcha drink I've ever had (unfortunately it's a seasonal drink) but hopefully they bring it back 🙏. They also bake all their pastries in house lots of unique flavors but everything I've ever tried has been great! Plus they always have a few gluten free/vegan options daily which my son loves (he's on a strict diet). And lastly the staff is super friendly, they always make you feel welcome. I love this place and always look forward to my Friday forum trip.

Diana Stocker

Best chai tea and love the gluten free food options!

Nick Velador

Got a gluten free pepperoni, sausage and jalapeno with garlic knots. Everything was delicious.

Daniel McKeegan

Amazing gluten free tacos and breakfast margaritas! Friendly staff and cool atmosphere!

Albert Mc

Allen Horton

Catalina Engstrom

Edward Hoefler

Luckily we went there early on a weekday, before it was too crowded. Food was awesome. My fiance ordered a Gluten Free pizza and I ordered the chicken piccata. We didn't have to wait very long. Prices were good too. Highly recommend 👌

Julia Anderson

Maryann Burke

Toni Thompson

This is an awesome locale to find lots of healthy, including gluten free and vegan, foods to take home and to enjoy a meal or snack in outdoor table. A vegan chocolate blackout cupcake drew us in and we topped it with a green smoothie containing ginger, kale, and spinach and an orange smoothie with sweet potato and carrots. We found several items like Lily's Chocolate on sale, sweet potato and potato chips, vegan chocolate sauce for ice cream, and international foods. The deli section offers breakfast omelets, sandwiches full of quality meats or veggies smothered in lettuce, tomatoes and sauces. They offer lots of canned and bottled drinks, bottled wines, pizzas, and cute charcuterie fare. They offer well marked gluten free and vegan items. They have a kids shopping cart. This is an Accessible venue with fairly wide aisles, legible printed menus. Accessible parking in free street parking that gets crowded on weekends.

Marci Prag

For all my food allergy people stay away. The menu claims to have options for vegan and gluten-free, but doesn't have safeguards in place to accommodate people. A great example is when I ordered the one thing on the menu I was told was safe for me and I was served gluten, my allergy. The waitress wasn't the issue, it was the kitchen. I specifically picked this restaurant for its Sunday Jazz and because they had the menu marked up as gluten-free. Out of the 4 of us who were in my party I didn't get to eat anything because the chef claimed he couldn't serve me safely. My question is why mark your menu up with accommodation being available and not be educated enough to accommodate? The food that my companions ordered looked so so. The feeling I got from the restaurant is that it's popular, but a lack of effort from the back of the house is going to hurt the front of the house. It's a no for me. Never again

perry hall

Upon ordering, I asked if the dressing in the salad was gluten free. The employee was very helpful, went back to check and even showed me a picture of the ingredients. When the salad came, there were 2 slices of bread on it. The bread was not listed as being included in the salad. I advised the server who was apologetic and said he would notify the kitchen. When the salad was delivered again, at this point my dining companion was nearly done eating, the grilled chicken that I ordered was not on the salad. Again, I waited for the grilled chicken. When it arrived, my companion was finished with their meal. Overall, was not a pleasant dining experience.

C.A.M.

Good gluten free options, the shrimp and grits is excellent.