Gluten Free Lisbon: The Best GF Restaurants (for Celiacs)

The Best Gluten Free Restaurants in Lisbon: A Complete Guide

There are a couple of places that don’t advertise gluten free options (or even mark them on their menus) but get good reviews from other Celiacs that we ended up skipping because we ran out of time, and had other dedicated gluten free priorities. 

The two main ones were Cervejaria Ramiro and Alfama Cellar. Make sure to double check with the waitstaff immediately to confirm that they can meet your needs (or better yet reach out in advance).

If you’re concerned about communicating your needs in Portuguese (many people in the service industry speak English, but not all), I’d recommend investing $10 in the Portuguese gluten free restaurant card from Jodi over at Legal Nomads.

I personally bring this exact card with me because it helps me feel more secure and confident in navigating a language barrier (Portuguese is hard even though I speak both Spanish and French decently well). 

Over the years, we’ve realized that it’s important to us to prioritize supporting the businesses that support the Celiac community.

And that means doing our best to make it to every single dedicated gluten free restaurant and bakery in a city to include it in our guides. 

In this case, Matt did it (with one or two exceptions)! 

Generally speaking, I’m not someone who is going to wait until I show up to a restaurant to spring my questions on them and expect them to be able to serve me UNLESS it’s a place that gets great reviews from other people in the gluten free community. 

I use a combination of Google Maps, Instagram, and Findmeglutenfree to find restaurants that have been recommended by other Celiacs, and I go from there. 

An important rule for me: I don’t do pizza places or bakeries that are mixed gluten and gluten free, because I have recently gotten into baking bread and making pizza at home and flour ends up EVERYWHERE. 

It must be impossible to keep them separate in a normal kitchen unless you have a completely separate prep area and oven, which most places just don’t have. 

While there are certainly more options, depending on your risk tolerance, this is a collection of places that we feel offer the best shot at getting food that is both gluten free and delicious in Lisbon.

And now, let’s get into our favorite gluten free eats in Lisbon.

Where to Find the Best Gluten Free Pastel de Nata in Lisbon

Before we get into the full guide below, I wanted to take a second at the top to address pastéis de nata, the famous egg custard tart that you’ll find everyone in Lisbon – locals and visitors alike – scarfing down at all hours of the day. 

At the time of writing, there are two places where you can get a gluten free pastel de nata, and I went to both of them on the same day so that I could directly compare them. 

As of a few years ago, Zarzuela was the only place where you could find a gluten free pastel de nata in Lisbon, and they were…disappointing. 

Sure, great to have an option to try them, but my companions, who had done their own pastel de nata taste comparison with the glutened versions, remarked that they were hardly even the same product. 

Fast forward to 2025, and Zarzuela has changed hands and is now called Bali do Cais (they were unable to credibly answer a few questions about the rest of their menu, which is why they aren’t in the guide below), though the gluten free baked goods remain, including the pastéis de nata. 

The other place that has gluten free pastéis is Rice Me Deli, which is a 15 minute metro ride from Baixa or Rossio and is a welcome addition to the gluten free pastel de nata scene.

I think the challenge with the pastel de nata and gluten free ingredients is that you’re going to be hard-pressed to get that buttery, flaky texture of the pastry, which is a struggle when it comes to croissants and the like (though some places are really nailing it now, which is amazing).  

The Rice Me version’s custard is excellent, and the pastry part is about as good as I think you’re going to get if it’s not fresh out of the oven (which the ones I had weren’t). 

My take is that the texture of the custard of the Bali do Cais (formerly Zarzuela) version is…off. It’s almost like watery jello, and it literally squirted water on me when I took a bite. 

Honestly, I would skip it and head straight to Rice Me, which was a much better version (in my opinion), though it does require more of a journey. 

With that out of the way, let’s get into the rest of the guide. 

Rice Me + Rice Me Deli (Dedicated Gluten Free)

Rice Me and their deli are right next door to each other up on the northern end of the city center, in what I can only assume is Lisbon’s version of a financial district based on the number of people walking around in suits. 

It’s not particularly convenient if you’re a tourist in Lisbon, though it is only a ~10-15 minute metro ride from Baixa, so it’s definitely doable if you’re in desperate need of gluten free baked goods (which are hard to find in Lisbon). 

There are essentially two parts to their offering, and both are 100% gluten free. 

The first is the bakery and deli, which is on the corner and is more of a counter service situation. 

I went here twice during my latest trip, and it’s pretty clearly the best (and basically only) gluten free bakery in Lisbon.

They have a wide variety of pastries – sweet and savory – including the famous pastéis de nata, the egg custard tart everyone who visits Portugal raves about. 

They also have a good lunch deal, where you get their dish of the day (it was a lasagna when I was there last), a drink, and a coffee for around €10. 

Is it the best gluten free bakery in the world when it comes to pastries? Probably not. Is it the best available in Lisbon? I think so, yeah. 

Onwards to Rice Me, which is a full service restaurant next door to the deli.

Here, the whole menu is based around rice. Think rice bowls, rice noodles, and rice pudding for dessert. It’s relatively simple and a good option. 

I had the arroz de pato (duck rice), which is a Portuguese specialty.

It was okay, and I imagine if I were to order it somewhere else, it would be more elaborate and flavorful. It was just kind of missing something. 

Despensa N.6 (Dedicated Gluten Free)

Despensa N.6 is a 100% gluten free bakery that is focused primarily on pastries, and it’s pretty far out of the way. But again, Uber is relatively cheap, and I would 100% recommend making it up north to try one of their tarts. 

It’s an unassuming location on a residential street about 15-20 minutes north of the historic center of Lisbon.

They focus on “healthy pastries,” which means they avoid refined sugars, corn, refined oils, or other artificial ingredients. Most importantly, they don’t use gluten. At all. 

The menu is a combination of sweet and savory brunch-y options, like crepes, toasts, and eggs, and pastries of all kinds.

When we were there, they had sweet tarts, cheesecake, brownies, and more.

We opted for a mango-passionfruit-peach tart, which turned out to be spectacular, and a salted almond cacao tart, which reminded me of a more salty version of a peanut butter cup, but better. 

The other thing we ordered was a crepe, which turned out to be massive – plenty of food for two people to share (especially if you get a pastry or seven alongside it).

We got the hummus crepe, which was basically a salad topped with hummus folded into the soft, slightly warm embrace of a french-style gluten free crepe. 

A note here: Their pastries are certified gluten free by the Portuguese Celiac Association BUT they do use oats in some of their products. 

Tapioca World (Dedicated Gluten Free)

In every big city, there’s usually at least one place that makes tapioca crepes, which come from Brazil and tend to be gluten free because the crepe is made of tapioca pearls. 

Montreal, San Francisco, Amsterdam, and New York City all have them, and given that there is a big Brazilian population in Lisbon thanks to the shared history (most of it not great) and language, I was certain I would find a place here. 

Turns out, I was right! Tapioca World is a Brazilian cafe tucked away in Baixa (Lisbon’s “downtown”) where, at the time of writing, everything on the menu is gluten free, including the cakes in the case for dessert. 

My favorite version of the tapioca crepe is usually a pesto filling, and that’s what I opted for here, stuffed with cured meat, pesto, tomatoes, and cheese. 

I also got talked into the carrot cake with cream cheese frosting, which I’m absolutely a sucker for. It was good – a little dry, but that certainly didn’t stop me from eating it in two minutes flat. 

Grom (Dedicated Gluten Free)

I first discovered Grom, a 100% gluten free gelato shop (even the cones) in Rome.

If you’ve read any of my guides about visiting Italy, you’ve almost certainly come across a mention of Grom, which is a 100% gluten free gelato chain with shops all over Italy (and even some locations in other places like Paris and…Lisbon). 

They have a location right in the middle of the action in Chiado, which you will almost certainly walk by on your trip to Lisbon (especially if you follow our Lisbon itinerary). 

You might think that the scale they’re producing gelato at means that the quality is lower, but I actually think Grom is really good gelato, gluten free or not. 

A few years ago, I did a tour-de-gelato in Rome, trying all of the 100% gluten free gelato shops in the Italian capital (and there are a bunch — four or five at the time of writing). 

Grom came out tied for first place in that head-to-head tasting (I tried the pistachio flavor at all of them, and then a wild card flavor that looked good over two visits). 

One of the key things to look for when searching for high quality gelato is whether they store their gelato in covered stainless steel containers — a sign that the gelato is fresh and uses fewer stabilizers than the ones you see piled up out of the container.

Grom does that, which is generally a positive sign. 

I really like the pistachio and hazelnut, though the chocolate hazelnut (“gianduia”) is the flavor I find myself going back to over and over again. 

Last time I checked, the cones they use do have gluten free wheat starch in them, so if you have a wheat allergy, you’ll have to get it in a cup. 

Scoop Gelato (Dedicated Gluten Free) 

Scoop is another dedicated gluten free gelato spot out near Belém that is worth a stop on your trip to see the Jerónimos Monastery or the Torre de Belém.

Everything in the shop is gluten free, including the cones, and they also have gluten free pastries, waffles, and crepes (which I didn’t try). 

I had a mint chocolate chip gelato here that, while not the most authentic flavor, was delicious. 

They also have a full allergen guide on their website, which is helpful if you have other food intolerances or allergies. 

Café do Rio (Dedicated Gluten Free)

Café do Rio is a burger spot close to the river in Baixa, which makes it a fairly convenient location for visitors to Lisbon. The only thing that contains gluten in the entire restaurant is the beer on tap. 

The way they serve burgers to avoid gluten is not actually having gluten free buns available, but is foregoing the bun altogether and serving all of their burgers bunless.

Every burger they serve is essentially two patties with the toppings stuffed in between. 

Now, full disclosure, I did not eat here myself. Mostly because I’m not super into beef these days, and my favorite part of a burger is often…the bun (and the sauces). 

They do have vegan burger options, but I’m also not super into vegan burgers.

So I just decided to skip it and spend my meals elsewhere, but that doesn’t mean you should because it is a safe gluten free option (it’s accredited by the A.P.C.). 

The menu is also clearly marked for dairy free options, if that’s something you need. 

Chez Béa

Outside of Italy, where completely separate prep areas for gluten free and not gluten free is fairly common, I’m not sure I’ve seen a better example of a kitchen set up to serve Celiacs safely. 

Chez Béa’s thing is crepes and galettes (a savory version of a crepe that comes from Brittany in northwestern France), but like many places in France that I’ve encountered, the gallettes are made with buckwheat – which is gluten free – and the crepes are made with wheat flour. 

Many places, and I’ve asked probably ten in Paris alone, prep and prepare the crepes and galettes on the same equipment, rendering the galettes at high risk of cross-contact with gluten. 

However, at Chez Béa, they ecstatically walked me through their kitchen setup, showing me separate labeled containers for the salted caramel, butter, and other ingredients to be used in the gluten free versions, along with equipment. 

They have three circular flat top grills for preparing them, and the one on the far right is completely gluten free so that they can serve Celiacs safely. 

The couple behind Chez Béa first started a crepe restaurant in Buenos Aires before they relocated to Barcelona, and then to Lisbon, bringing their little slice of Brittany along.

The two owners were the people working when I was there on a sunny spring day, and they were incredibly friendly and helpful. 

I love galettes, but given how difficult it can be to find them prepared safely, I rarely get to have them.

I had a lovely lunch here, and enjoyed the Jorge, which was cheese, ham, and sesame seeds that added a nice savory punch. 

McDonalds

Although I was never a huge fan of McDonalds even pre-diagnosis (except their Oreo McFlurry, which I remember being life changing), you can get a safe gluten free meal at McDonalds in Portugal.

So I had to try it. For science, of course. 

On my latest trip to Lisbon (spring of 2025), I was trying to remember exactly when the last time I had McDonalds was.

It, obviously, was outside of the United States, and I quickly remembered that it was actually in Lisbon on the tail end of our long Portugal trip a few years ago. 

Since then, things have changed slightly, but the idea is roughly the same. 

The APC – the Portuguese Celiac Association – has worked with McDonalds to offer some gluten free options that are safe for Celiacs.

Here’s the sign that they have posted in the stores. 

There are two things to know here. 

First, only the burger offerings on the sign above are “accredited” (I’m not sure what the right word is here – guaranteed felt too strong) by the APC. 

They are prepared in a separate part of the kitchen, and require a little extra time to prepare (which the person who took my order told me). 

They do have other gluten free options like fries and ice cream, but the risk of cross-contact is going to be a little higher because they don’t have processes and procedures in place to manage that risk. 

Second, you have to order at the counter if you want a gluten free item, which makes sense to me.

If you try to order it on the machine, it tells you to go to the counter. 

I had a gluten free Big Mac, and I was reminded that McDonalds is kind of like Starbucks – the quality is never going to be great, but it is certainly consistent. 

Would I eat it every day? No. Do I think it’s cool that, if you loved McDonalds prior to going gluten free, you can get a taste of it in Portugal? Yeah, I think that’s pretty cool. 

The fries in Portugal are also gluten free. The best discovery of the trip to McDonalds was their curry sauce, which is absolutely fantastic for dipping fries. 

Now that we’ve done gluten free McDonalds, I think Portugal should do Taco Bell’s Crunchwrap Supreme next. 

Potato Project

Potato Project does one thing and one thing only: fries. 

Places like this are fairly common in Amsterdam, where I spent nearly two weeks last spring and routinely found myself walking the canals with a cone of freshly fried potatoes. 

Here’s how it works. You pick your cone size, you pick your sauce and toppings (avoid fried onions and teriyaki, which both contain gluten), and then they fill the cone up with fries (at the time of writing, fries are the only thing that go into the fryer) and they plop some sauce on it before handing it to you. 

Pro-tip: Make sure to grab one of the little forks, which makes eating the fries significantly easier. 

However, a word of warning here. 

I knew going in based on reviews that they had a few things that contain gluten, namely their fried onions and their teriyaki sauce. 

When I asked the front counter about gluten free options, they only mentioned the fried onions. I followed up to ask about the teriyaki, and the person there said “is soy sauce gluten free?” 

I still ate the fries, and they were good, but I would keep it simple in terms of what you order. 

Miss Can

Miss Can is a small shop in Alfama that basically sells one thing: canned fish. When you think of canned fish, you’re probably thinking about gross canned tuna that you’ll find in the US. This is not that. Not even close. 

Canned fish in Portugal is a delicacy, and they take it very, very seriously.

Portugal is at the top of the list of countries that eat the most fish per capita, and for good reason: some of the best fish in the world is found in the waters in and around Portugal. 

At its core, Portugal’s history and culture is intertwined with the sea, and said sea contains a bounty of fresh fish that rivals any other place in the world. 

Miss Can makes fantastic canned fish using wild caught fish to protect the resources of our oceans and use them sustainably. 

You’ll find everything from sardines, tuna, and cod, to stuffed squid.

There are a variety of sauces – we liked the spicy olive oil and the garlic olive oil the best – double check that any sauce you choose is gluten free (at the time we visited, all were). 

You can eat there – the only thing in the shop that contains gluten is the bread – or get them to go and take them back to your apartment / hotel to enjoy over a slice of gluten free bread from the store. 

The latter would be our recommendation – you really need the bread to soak up the delicious sauces!

Gluten Free Groceries in Lisbon

Coming off of a leg of a trip in Italy that can only be described by the phrase “how do you say ‘what even is a vegetable’ in Italian?” I was happy to have an apartment with a kitchen in Lisbon so that I could cook for myself a little bit. 

The correct answer to “what store has the best selection of gluten free items?” is, without a doubt, El Corte Inglés, which is a 10-15 minute metro ride from Baixa (here on Google Maps). 

The selection is incredible, with a full wall of gluten free breads, cookies, and crackers, and then a whole other section of pastas, rices, flours, and more. 

They also have items that are gluten free – think pesto, pasta sauce, cured meats – in their respective sections in other parts of the store. 

I’m familiar with El Corte Inglés from my travels in Spain, where it is a similarly great place to get gluten free groceries. 

There are several other spots in central Lisbon to get gluten free groceries – here’s our take on where to go. 

Pingo Doce is our top pick aside from El Corte Inglés. Both in terms of number of locations, and in terms of gluten free selection.

They have a dedicated gluten free section with several products from Schar like bread and knockoff gluten free Oreos, though that’s about it. 

Continente is another option, but it’s not as easy to find, at least in Baixa, where we stayed. The selection is roughly similar, and the shopping experience is about the same as Pingo Doce. 

Go Natural is a great option with a much wider array of gluten free products, all helpfully arranged in their own section of the store.

They have pasta, bread, crackers, and more, all displayed together in their own section.

The downside is that there are only a few locations – though there is one in Chiado near Convento do Carmo – and the prices are higher than other places. 

BioMercado is in Lisbon’s financial district (at least that was our impression), and focuses on exclusively organic products.

They have a small selection of gluten free items, including bread, baguettes, and focaccia from Schnitzer, a German brand. But the selection was fairly poor, and the prices were fairly high.

Plus, if you only have a couple of days in Lisbon, you probably won’t be making it that far north. 

Gluten Free Lisbon, Mapped

Tips for Visiting Lisbon and Eating Gluten Free

Here are a few tips for visiting Lisbon with Celiac Disease. 

The Portuguese Celiac Association… Exists

After multiple trips to Spain and five stints in Italy over the past several years, I have undoubtedly been spoiled by their active and helpful Celiac Associations in each of those countries, so take this section with a grain of salt. 

The Portuguese Celiac Association (Associação Portuguesa de Celíacos) is not at the same level as those two countries, and I was only able to find a handful of restaurants or bakeries in Lisbon that were accredited by them. Which is odd in a city as big as Lisbon. 

I am, however, glad that they exist – we have nothing near this level in the United States, for example – and hope they continue to accredit more places. 

They have a list of certified restaurants (which you can find here), and general tips for visiting Portugal as a Celiac. I’d recommend that you read both. Many of the spots above are certified by the APC.

Be Skeptical of Any “Gluten Free” Beer

There’s a lot of gluten free beer to be found in Lisbon. Which I was excited about on that first trip a few years ago! 

Until, of course, I read the labels and saw “barley malt” on every single label. Barley, as you may know, is one of the grains that contains gluten.

Which means these beers are made with barley, then an enzyme is added to break up the gluten, which interferes with the test for gluten’s ability to detect gluten. Seems sketchy, right? That’s because it is.

In both Canada and the US, you can’t call these beers gluten free. They are called “gluten-reduced” beers here at home, and are generally considered unsafe for Celiacs. 

It’s legal in the EU to label these beers as “gluten free,” and often the only way you’d know it contains barley is by looking at the ingredients.

Here’s a quick read on the difference, and why people with Celiac Disease shouldn’t drink gluten-reduced beer. Here’s another one. And I loved this open letter. 

Get a Portuguese Gluten Free Restaurant Card

A lot of people in Lisbon, especially in restaurants, speak English.

But if you don’t speak Portuguese (I don’t) and you’re worried about communicating your needs, Jodi from Legal Nomads has a solution for you that will make eating gluten free in Portugal significantly easier.

She has a gluten free restaurant card in Portuguese that is specifically designed for gluten free travel in Portugal.

It clearly communicates our needs as Celiacs, including cross-contact and specific hidden sources of gluten found in Portugal.

It will cost you $10, which is nothing in the grand scheme of your trip, and it will save you tons of stress and anxiety and help you get safe gluten free food in Portugal regardless of how much Portuguese you speak.

Head over to Legal Nomads and pick up a Portuguese Gluten Free Translation Card to travel safely and confidently with Celiac Disease.

I personally use these when I travel, and they have helped me confidently and comfortably communicate my needs in the face of a language barrier.

I’ve used them in Germany to eat safely (I don’t speak German, only romance languages for me!) and also down in Colombia and Mexico, and they saved me several times in situations where my 2nd grade level Spanish wasn’t quite cutting it.

They are well worth the small investment to help you feel more comfortable and confident traveling with Celiac Disease.

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