Gluten Free Seattle: A Complete Guide for Celiacs

Ghostfish Brewing (100% GF)

At this point, it probably looks like I am getting paid by Ghostfish to recommend their gluten free beer (100% gf!), brewery, and restaurant to every Celiac that visits Seattle.

At the top of the menu, it says “Literally everything is 100% gluten free.” What more can you ask for as a celiac? How about fantastic gluten free beer, great food, and a safe kitchen, so you don’t have to worry about cross-contact.

Ghostfish Brewing is a dedicated gluten free brewery in Seattle and restaurant in Seattle’s SoDo neighborhood near the baseball and football stadiums.

It’s a little bit out of the way if you’re staying in Downtown Seattle, but it is well worth the drive or bus ride to get there.

Ghostfish Brewing will always hold a special place in my heart because it was one of the very first 100% gluten free restaurants I went to after my Celiac diagnosis (which happened when I was still living in Seattle). 

There are two aspects to Ghostfish. They are both a 100% gluten free brewery (meaning they brew exclusively with gluten free grains, no gluten-reduced beer here!) AND a 100% gluten free brewpub. 

Let’s start with the food. 

The food they serve is a “cuisine” that’s sort of difficult to find gluten free (and safe for Celiacs); pub food. No worries about dedicated fryers here because the entire place is gluten free. 

If you’ve been craving a juicy burger and some crispy fries (along with a beer to wash it down), this is the place for you. 

We’ve literally been here more than 15 times – it used to be tradition that we would stop by on the way home from the airport when I would fly in to visit – and our favorite things on the menu are the truffle fries, the burgers, the fish and chips, and either the carrot cake or the churros for dessert.

They also have a rotating burger/sandwich that changes monthly, and I had a truly elite reuben sandwich a few years ago that I still think about sometimes. 

There’s also the beer. They have a range of styles of safe gluten free beer, and the menu is split between their flagship beers that are available year round (my two favorites are the Belgian Buckwit and the Grapefruit IPA) and their seasonal releases.

Of the seasonals, their Hazy IPA (if you’re into that sort of thing) and the Ghost Pepper Saison are the two that I actively look forward to. 

The location in SoDo near the two stadiums – where the Mariners, Seahawks, and BOO Sounders play – make it a great option for a pregame meal (and they do serve Ghostfish Beer at the stadiums if that’s where you’re headed). 

Here are my recommendations for you at Ghostfish, based on the 12+ times I’ve been there recently. 

• The onion rings and churros are the best things they make. The strawberry sauce for the churros is to die for.
   
• I love their fish and chips, which are beer battered.
  
• The BBQ Pulled Pork and Spicy Chicken Sandwiches are my most recent love, and I go back and forth between them whenever I’ve gone recently.
  
• The cakes for dessert are great – I love a good carrot cake!

PS Ghostfish, if you’re reading this, BRING BACK THE REUBEN!

A/stir (100% GF)

First thing’s first: A/stir used to be called Capitol Cider, which was (is?) a longtime staple in the Seattle gluten free scene. They still have an impressive cider menu with tons of taps of cider. 

Second thing’s second, I have had two of my favorite meals in Seattle at A/stir on my two most recent trips to Seattle, and I think it’s my number one pick for the food alone for two reasons. 

First, it’s right in the heart of Capitol Hill where Pike meets Broadway, which is one of my favorite areas in the city. 

Second, I think the food here is more interesting than Ghostfish, with a nice blend of Mediterranean influences using ingredients from the Pacific Northwest. 

I definitely think you should go to Ghostfish too, and Ghostfish is a must-visit if you’re into gluten free beer because they’re an OG, but I think if you only have time for one, I would actually choose A/stir.

It might be a recency bias, because I’m writing this the morning after my amazing meal there. 

I’ve been here a few times since the rebrand, and my favorite things on the menu are the deconstructed dolma (spiced ground lamb mixed with grape leaves and served over yogurt with a side of pita), the lamb burger, and the apricot-orange cake (which is the best bite of food I had on my latest trip to Seattle). 

The Chicken Supply (100% GF)

While I do have a soft spot for Ghostfish thanks to a healthy dose of nostalgia, The Chicken Supply up in Greenwood is actually my favorite gluten free spot in Seattle from recent trips (and they just announced a new location down in Tacoma!). 

I remember reading about them years ago before the first time I actually visited, and they were doing so well that you had to order the day before right when they opened orders to even have a shot of getting any chicken. 

The location up in Greenwood isn’t particularly convenient, but if there’s one thing you should know about me it’s that I will absolutely travel for gluten free food (I usually spend big chunks of my trips around the world on buses and trains between gluten free spots), and that is particularly true for gluten free fried chicken. 

The one thing about their gluten free status that you should know is that they do host pop ups every so often and they sometimes have dishes that do contain gluten.

For me, that risk seems relatively low (provided I’m not going to said pop up), so I’m fine with it, but I want to make sure you have the information to make that decision for yourself. 

Anyway, let’s talk about the food. Their main offering is their Filipino fried chicken, which is fried in a gluten free batter, which is truly excellent. Crispy on the outside, juicy on the inside.

Which is a nice difference from what happens when I try to make fried chicken at home (soggy on the outside, tough as nails on the inside). 

They have a regular batter and a spicy batter, and we always get the spicy.

They also let you choose what pieces of chicken you want – you literally order individual pieces and cuts like thigh, wing, etc – and they do have a chicken breast option that comes on a skewer if you only eat white meat like my mom (side note: why do you hate fun?).

I do love their blurb about the white meat version: “Listen, we get it, it’s white meat but do you really get joy out of eating one giant chunk of chicken? Can we at least cook it for you like our people do in the homeland, in smaller pieces and on sticks so that it stays juicier and has more of that crackly crust you’re looking for.”

The point here is twofold. First, the chicken is excellent. Second, the chicken isn’t even my favorite part of their menu. That would be their sides. 

The sides were the star of the show on all of our visits, and we usually get one of everything and enjoy the leftovers.

The standouts are the coconut collard greens and the monggo (spiced beans and rice). 

For dessert, they have housemade butter mochi, which is also worth ordering. 

Yeobo Cafe & Bar (100% GF)

When we first visited, Yeobo Cafe & Bar was brand new and operating out of a beautiful building on a sunny corner in the Madison Valley in Seattle.

The sign on the door reads “we are a 100% gluten free establishment…do not bring in open outside food or drink,” which is always a good sign (as is the FAQ section on their website that clearly shows that they’re trying to do their best to listen to the Celiac community).  

Yeobo is more of a cafe than a restaurant, with a robust drink menu (featuring lots of coffee and non-alcoholic drinks) and a food menu that shifts between breakfast sandwiches in the morning and more lunch-y options in the afternoon. 

There is a strong Korean-American influence here that I noticed well before my deeper research to write this guide with things like kimchi, japchae, and gochujang showing up across their menu. 

We’re suckers for a good breakfast sandwich – it’s surprisingly hard to find a good gluten free breakfast sandwich! – and we made the trek from my mom’s house in the suburbs specifically for their breakfast sandos. 

There were five options when we were there, and all were available either on their housemade rolls or English muffins (also something you don’t see too often –I’m not sure I’ve had a gluten free English muffin that I can remember). 

The Hot Mama immediately caught my eye – it also features the most of the Korean-American influence of their breakfast sandwiches, which I was into – and I got it on an English muffin. Alysha had the Wakey Wakey on a roll, so we got to try both bread options. 

Sankaku Onigiri Cafe (100% GF)

Sankaku is inside the Melrose Market in the Pike/Pine corridor on the edge of Capitol Hill closest to Downtown, which is a small food hall with a few different food vendors. Sankaku is one of just a few options inside, and it’s a small onigiri counter with limited seating that is really only open for lunch (12pm-6pm at the time of writing). 

Their main offering is onigiri, which are a great little Japanese snack that consists of rice wrapped around a filling and finished with a piece of seaweed. 

The protein in the middle changes, and they have different options like tuna, salmon, pickled plum, and roasted corn.

They also have a bunch of sides that I was intrigued by, like a sweet potato salad (it looks like a take on a potato salad, but with sweet potatoes, which I’m here for) and some salads. 

I got a couple of onigiri and a salad for lunch on a busy day running around Seattle, and it was the perfect amount of food between attractions. 

They also have a nice selection of sake, which we love (and we’ve fallen in love with sake recently thanks to Nina of Sunflower Sake in Portland). 

If you’ve never tried sake before, three things to know; you should try it, it’s not hard alcohol – it’s basically rice wine, and it has a wide range of flavors and styles similar to wine (we like the bright and fruity styles, which is not a surprise if you know us). 

Frelard Tamales

Frelard Tamales has been a mainstay in our trips to Seattle, and we almost always have a stock of their tamales in our freezer at home for a day where we don’t feel like making a production out of dinner. 

We often ask Matt’s mom to pick up frozen tamales from Frelard on her way home from work that we then cart in a cooler back down to Portland to have on hand for an easy (delicious) dinner. 

They started as a window on Latona Ave up near Green Lake (ironically less than a block from where Matt used to live in Seattle), and have recently expanded into a storefront in Fremont (and a location in Bellingham) that they share with their sister company, El Sueñito Brewing. 

Until recently, we had been to their Bellingham location several times, but hadn’t actually made it to their Seattle location. 

Since that expansion, their menu has grown and they now have starters, salads, and tacos in addition to their tamales. 

Their menu is clearly marked, and rather than using “gf” to denote items that are gluten free, they just have a “g” on the menu next to the few items that contain gluten. 

The last time I was here, the only things on the menu that contained gluten – aside from the beer – were the caesar salad (the croutons, specifically) and the tres leches cake (which is prepared offsite) but they do rotate through menu items seasonally, so it’s always good to ask. 

The best things they make are the chorizo and cheese tamale (we often JUST get a stack of chorizo and cheese for home) and their freshly fried chips (dedicated fryer, but double check) that are thick, crispy, and salty. 

Nuflours (100% GF)

Nuflours is in Capitol Hill, and it’s pretty clearly the best gluten free bakery in Seattle (though there’s a bakery outside Seattle in Snohomish that we also really like). 

Now, this is probably an “us” problem given that we live in Portland, land of the plentiful gluten free bakeries, but we’ve never been particularly impressed with Nuflours from a product or service standpoint. 

In fact, on this latest trip, I made the journey up to their location on the edge of Capitol Hill to see if my memory was correct, and I was greeted by a staff member who barely looked up from their iPad to greet me (and who I felt like I was inconveniencing by even being there). 

Putting that aside, this is the place to go if you’re looking for gluten free baked goods in Seattle, and if you don’t have a good gluten free bakery at home, you will likely enjoy the ability to order anything in the case with reckless abandon. 

They have a range of products, from breads to a rotating selection of pastries (their cookies and muffins are the best things they make, I think). They even have eclairs on occasion, if that’s something you haven’t had in a while! 

On this latest trip, I had a spinach feta hand pie, and it was a nice little snack as I walked back to catch the bus back to the core of Seattle. 

It’s a small space with a table or two to eat there, and they will heat up your items if you ask (in the microwave, it should be noted). 

Frankie & Jo’s (100% GF***)

Frankie & Jo’s does plant-based, gluten free ice cream out of a storefront in Capitol Hill.

HOWEVER, the reason for the asterisks above is the fact that, at the time of writing, every single flavor they had on the menu at the scoop shop had gluten free oats in them, which is a trend that I absolutely loathe. 

And gluten free oats, unless they are sourced very carefully and transparently, are a no from me. Not only do the flavors contain oats, the waffle cones are also made of oat flour. 

So I walked away from the scoop shop empty handed and a little angry, because they have to have heard from Celiacs who avoid oats and basically said “yep, don’t care.”

Which is fine – if you’re not Celiac and feel fine eating oats, you do you – but it sure doesn’t feel great as a Celiac avoiding oats. 

That being said, when I have had their non-oat flavors in the past, I have been impressed. It’s just that those don’t exist anymore. 

If you’re cool with gluten free oats, definitely stop by! If you’re not, skip it. 

Bamboo Sushi

I’ve known about Bamboo Sushi, which is over in University Village, for years, but only made it out there last winter when Alysha and I were headed up towards UW and were looking for a lunch spot nearby. 

We were pleasantly surprised with how much we enjoyed lunch here.

Almost the entire menu is gluten free – they mark the things that DO contain gluten on the menu, which is usually a good sign. And the items that do contain gluten are not sushi or sashimi, which means they’re prepared in separate parts of the kitchen. 

Which means… all of the tempura and soy sauce is gluten free!

They have great happy hour deals, which takes place between 4pm and 6pm, Monday to Friday. 

Menu highlights for us were the fried cauliflower tempura and the Green Machine (one of their signature rolls that the waiter recommended). 

They also are a great company! They have locations all over, including a bunch down in Portland (where we now live) and in the Bay Area and Denver.

They’re members of 1% for the Planet (as are we!), the Marine Stewardship Council, and other organizations promoting sustainable fishing. You can read more about their commitment to sustainably-sourced sushi here.

Great Gluten Free Spots Outside of Seattle

There are a surprising number of good options outside of Seattle itself, including the best gluten free bakery in Washington (we think) and a great Korean place (also 100% gluten free). 

Grain Artisan Bakery (100% GF)

This, my friends, is our favorite gluten free bakery in the state of Washington, and we will absolutely detour to go to their bakery on the main drag in Snohomish (which is ~40 minutes north of Seattle) where you’ll find a whole counter full of a variety of pastries. 

However, if you’re doing Seattle as a weekend trip (here’s our guide to how to spend an amazing weekend in Seattle), then you should know that they are at the Capitol Hill Farmers Market on Sunday morning, and the secret is out because they usually have the longest line at the market. 

The best thing they make, we think, are their (massive) scones, both sweet and savory. The flavors rotate, but they are almost always the star of the show when we get a range of their baked goods. 

The other thing to know here is that they are probably our top pick for getting a custom gluten free cake for a birthday or wedding (though they are pricey, which shouldn’t be surprising). 

K Fresh (100% GF)

We’ve now stopped at K Fresh in Everett on each of our last four trips north (and again when heading south), which I think makes it a tradition at this point?

We’ve become suckers for good Korean food recently, and this is a great option north of Seattle. 

It’s a small team – and I’m pretty sure the family who runs it live above the restaurant.

The hero here is the bibimbap, a rice bowl topped with your choice of protein and a bunch of sides and (ideally) served in a hot stone bowl so that the rice gets nice and crispy on the bottom. 

You get to choose a protein (they have plant-based options) and from a bunch of different sides, like cucumber salad and kimchi (among many other things). 

Pro-tip: Plan to eat there and wait about 5-10 minutes after they give you your bowl for maximum rice crispiness and minimum burnt mouth. 

I Can’t Believe it’s Bread (100% GF Bakery)

This place used to be called Wildflour, and they’re in a strip mall in Bellevue off of 520, which is not a location that many tourists are going to make it to. 

They have a nice selection of gluten free products, both things they make in house (I really like their biscotti around the holidays) and products from other brands that can be tough to find at a regular grocery store (like Maine Crisps, the GOAT gluten free cracker for a cheese plate). 

It’s a good option if you’re in the suburbs, but we probably wouldn’t try to find a way here if you’re just in town for a couple of days as a visitor. 

Other Gluten Free Spots in Seattle (That We Haven’t Been to)

Think of this as a section of places in the Seattle area that showed up in my research, but I haven’t personally made it to just yet. 

So I’m going to use this section as a place to house other recommendations I’ve gotten (or found myself) for gluten free restaurants in Seattle that I haven’t personally made it to yet, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t!

The Angry Beaver (100% GF): A 100% gluten free “hockey bar” up in Greenwood that reminds me of Ghostfish, but with poutine. They do have some beers on tap that are not gluten free, but they have gluten free beer and cider in cans, too. 

Pressed on Main (100% GF): A good stop out in North Bend if you’re on your way to or from a hike out there. They have sandwiches, juices, smoothie bowls, and more quick bites. 

Wren’s Nest Baking Co (100% GF): I’ve been trying to go here for about a year now on our drives between Portland and Seattle, but it hasn’t quite made sense yet because it’s in Ruston (near Point Defiance). It’s a 100% gluten free bakery that looks really good, with real sourdough boules and a nice variety of pastries. 

Gluten Free Seattle, Mapped

Here are all of the spots we’ve mentioned in this guide plotted on a map so that you can visualize how they might fit into your time in Seattle.

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