Gluten Free San Francisco: A Complete Guide for Celiacs
If you didn’t already know before getting to this guide, I lived in San Francisco with Celiac Disease for almost 10 years, and spent many of my formative adult years exploring the city’s gluten free food scene.
Then we made a big bet, leaving our corporate jobs to travel for a year (after a lot of saving!) and betting it all on this website.
Know when we made that decision? February of 2020. It was a glorious six weeks of bliss (mostly spent in Colombia), and then it all came (temporarily) crashing down when we had to move in with Alysha’s mom and figure out what came next.
Fast forward five years and we’ve successfully made it work (with plenty of bumps along the way), and we have been all over the world, stuffing our faces with any and all of the gluten free pastries and meals we can find.
However, until recently, we hadn’t really revisited San Francisco, the place that we spent so much time living (it’s also where many of our major milestones happened over the course of 5 ish years, like our first date, moving in together, and getting married).
Revisiting the city’s gluten free scene was fascinating from an introspection standpoint.
It really highlighted just how much my palate and expectations have changed since devouring some of the best gluten free food in the world in places like London, Rome, and Madrid (three of my top five gluten free travel destinations, alongside our adopted home city of Portland).
With broadened horizons, some of my old favorites turned out to be a little disappointing, while some of my discoveries absolutely became new standbys anytime I’m in SF (and every single place seemed very pricey, which is something to keep in mind for San Francisco in general).
We talk about this a lot around Portland’s food scene, which is one of the best in the country. It really is difficult to have a thriving food scene full of innovation in a place where most people can barely afford rent, let alone to bet it all on the dream of opening a restaurant (which requires like $2 million in capital for the build out).
And, spoiler alert, we think that our theory holds true for San Francisco.
The gluten free food scene is fine (especially if you’re coming from a smaller town or place that doesn’t have many options), but not spectacular. It’s certainly no Portland or New York City, but it also has some really solid options.
In this guide, we’ll go through our picks for the best gluten free restaurants, bakeries, and more.
As an added bonus, nearly all of the places featured in this guide are dedicated gluten free, which makes them safer for Celiacs (like Matt) by reducing the risk of cross-contact with gluten, AND we’ve personally eaten at almost every single place on this list.
Our intention here is that, by the end of this guide, you’ll have a list of potential safe gluten free restaurants and bakeries in San Francisco to hit during your time exploring the city.
Sound good to you? Let’s get into it.
Disclaimer: Some of the links in this post, like hotel links, are affiliate links, meaning at no additional cost to you, we make a little bit of money if you click through and book. That being said, we would never recommend something to you that we don’t stand behind 100%.
Our Favorite Gluten Free Restaurants in San Francisco
And now, on to the restaurants and bakeries themselves!
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.
Generally speaking, I’m not someone who is going to wait until I show up to a restaurant to spring my questions 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 Find Me Gluten Free to find restaurants that have been recommended by other Celiacs, and I go from there.
A couple of rules for me: I don’t do pizza places or bakeries that are mixed, 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.
It’s worth repeating – your experience may be different than mine.
So much of being able to get safe gluten free food when traveling hinges on your ability to communicate your needs to servers and other waitstaff – whether it’s asking if the plantains are fried in the same fryer as tequeños, or asking if the gluten free bread is toasted in the same toaster as regular bread.
This is especially true in places that are not dedicated gluten free, where the risk of cross-contact is higher.
At the end of the guide, we’ll include a handy map of these gluten free restaurants and bakeries so that you can visualize how it all fits together and make plans for your specific trip.
While there are certainly more options in the city (depending on your risk tolerance), this is a collection of places that we feel offer the best shot at getting safe gluten free food in San Francisco.
BONUS: I’ve personally eaten at every single restaurant in the main section of this guide!
Montesacro (100% GF at Marina Location ONLY)
If you’ve spent any time at all in this corner of the internet – specifically in our gluten free guides – you may know that my two favorite countries to visit specifically for gluten free food are Spain and Italy.
Montesacro is a Roman restaurant – and, yes, Roman food is a distinct subcategory of Italian food, which we’ll cover in a second – in the Marina, and it’s one of their three locations in SF.
A phenomenon that I’ve seen in Spain specifically that I wish was more prevalent here in the U.S. is a chain with multiple locations where one location is completely gluten free (and the others are not).
For example, there’s a smashburger place in Madrid that has a few locations around the Spanish capital, and one is completely gluten free.
It’s SO MUCH BETTER than having all of the locations kind of half try to offer a Celiac-safe option while not really accomplishing that goal.
And that, my friends, is exactly what’s going on here. The location in the Marina is 100% gluten free as of relatively recently, and they shut it down for two weeks to clean out the kitchen and change out equipment before reopening with the new menu.
The reason? The owner’s daughter was diagnosed with Celiac Disease, and they wanted her to be able to eat their food (per the server when I was here).
This was my favorite meal on my most recent visit to San Francisco, though that is partially informed by my love for Roman food, which is simple yet delicious.
While here in the U.S. we tend to lump “Italian” food into one big bucket full of lasagna, pizza, and fettuccine alfredo, food in Italy is intensely regional.
The food you’ll find in Milan in the north of Italy is almost unrecognizable from the food you find in Rome.
This is driven partially by the fact that Italy is actually one of the youngest countries in Europe (unification happened in the 1860’s), and before that the Italian peninsula was a series of city states like Florence, Siena, and the Republic of Venice.
Roman food is simple, using relatively cheap ingredients like offal and less desirable parts of the pig along with pecorino romano and staples like tomatoes to create endless combinations of hearty, rustic food.
Anyway, the point is that the menu here has several Roman staples; suppli (NOT arancini, though they are essentially the same thing), pasta alla amatriciana, cacio e pepe, and more.
My favorite bite of food I had here was the amatriciana, which I make at home often and is emblematic of everything I love about Roman food.
It’s pasta in a rich tomato-based sauce made with guanciale (think pancetta) and pecorino romano (a salty hard cheese) to add complexity and richness.
When I make it at home, the sauce has literally six ingredients (none of them is garlic, another thing that you would never know based on Italian-American food), though you’d never know that by tasting it.
Overall, this is a lovely, safe spot for a delicious Italian dinner that, unlike many Italian-American restaurants, does a great job at sticking to the principles that make Italian food great (no cream in carbonara, please).
Xica (100% GF)
First of all, the pronunciation here is “chica.” Located at Levi’s Plaza (right off of the Embarcadero, below Coit Tower), Xica is a dedicated gluten free Mexican restaurant that focuses on northern Mexican food blended with influences from California and its bounty of high quality ingredients.
It’s a little pricey, but as we already mentioned, it’s San Francisco and we said that about nearly every single place we went to over the course of our last trip (clearly we’ve been un-acclimated to SF prices since we left).
The menu is split into three sections; Small Plates (self explanatory), Platos del Alma (“soul food”, like fried chicken and chile relleno), and Masa (dishes that focus on corn, like chilaquiles and tacos).
The highlights of the menu were the guacamole and plantain chips, the taquitos (our top bite of food during the meal), and the chile relleno con beef barbacoa.
They also have a mole dish and a fried chicken dish that we seriously considered returning for, but our journey took us elsewhere in SF and it didn’t make sense.
Save room for dessert, because the waffle churros are delicious, and the dulce de leche they’re served with was every bit as buttery and salty as I would hope for (it’s not just a boring caramel sauce).
The space itself is really beautiful, with a big open air atrium where one of the walls is adorned with a colorful mural that represents the life of the owner’s mother, who was born in Sinaloa in northern Mexico.
Heads up: Reservations for five or more people come with a $6 deposit per person that is refundable until 24 hours before your reservation, and you get it back as a credit at the end of your meal. We’re mentioning this because both us and our server forgot about the credit, and we had to ask them to help us retroactively apply it after we had already paid.
Camino Alto (100% GF)
We went to Camino Alto with friends (one of whom is a Celiac) on our last night in San Francisco (on our most recent trip at the time of writing), and it was a lovely experience from the atmosphere and ambiance to the food.
The food, I would say, is “Californian”, meaning that they are using the bounty of fresh ingredients that the Bay Area has to offer to make vaguely American food that is leveled up with interesting touches of texture or flavor (like the toasted hazelnuts in the carrot dish, which was perfect).
The menu is basically split into two sections; starters and mains. We asked about the right number of dishes to order for a group of four, and were advised to get three of each (we got three starters and two mains, and that was perfect).
The standout dishes for us were the carrots, which were glazed and had roasted hazelnuts to provide a nice crunch, and the rockfish with crispy rice, which also had a lovely contrast of textures between the silky fish and the crispy rice.
The thing about Camino Alto is that they are hyper-seasonal, so the menu is changing constantly and you may or may not find those dishes on the menu when you go.
Which we think is fun (but does mean you may not get to try one of the dishes you’ve read about, here or elsewhere).
They are also open for brunch on weekends, and the menu for that also looks good with chilaquiles and apple masa waffles being the two dishes that stand out to us.
They have Otherwise beer available – which is gluten free – if you’re craving a gluten free beer with dinner. More on them below.
Stoa (100% GF)
The second best bite of food I had in San Francisco on this latest trip? The chalupa at Stoa, a cool bar on Haight St (though it’s on the eastern end near Divisadero, which is more residential and less hippy) that has a 100% gluten free kitchen.
We came here around opening (because we were going elsewhere for a full dinner, but still wanted to try Stoa) and we sat at the bar.
We aren’t huge into drinking alcohol recently, so we ordered a non-alcoholic cocktail (they had a very good N/A amaro cocktail that we loved) and started perusing the food menu.
We had already looked at the menu and knew we wanted to try the fried squash blossom and savory mochi, so we ordered those and eventually decided on the chalupa to round out our trio of pre-dinner snacks.
My goodness, the flavor of the meat in the chalupa was fantastic. And the shell, which I asked about because the texture was so good (it’s masa and tapioca starch), was crispy on the outside and a little chewy on the inside.
One thing I didn’t realize before eating here is that the kitchen is also completely dairy free.
I know because I was wondering what kind of cheese they used in the fried squash blossom (also excellent) and was flabbergasted that it was actually whipped tofu!
The thing I will say about Stoa is that while the food and drinks are really good, the prices are high.
Not unreasonably so, but I do want to highlight that the fact that it’s a bar doesn’t mean you’re going to be spending less than one of the other restaurants for a full meal.
Mariposa Baking Company (100% GF)
At the time of writing, Mariposa is the only dedicated gluten free bakery in San Francisco.
Their location in the city is inside the ferry building (a must-do on your San Francisco itinerary, I think, especially for the farmers market on Saturday morning), and their production facility is across the bay in Oakland.
This is, perhaps, the best example of where my experiences eating gluten free in cities all over the world has changed my view on one of my favorites from when I lived in SF years ago.
At that point in my life, I basically only had real experience with gluten free bakeries in Seattle and San Francisco, two cities that, sadly, both lack an elite gluten free bakery. And I was still excited to have a safe, dedicated gluten free bakery within reach.
Now, after a bunch of traveling AND settling down in Portland a few blocks from one of the best gluten free bakeries in the country (New Cascadia – elite at all things bread, including pizza and real boiled bagels!), I came away less than impressed at Mariposa on this last trip.
It’s definitely not bad – I’ve been to plenty of bad gluten free bakeries – but it’s definitely not to the level of that top tier, whose pastries I dream about on a semi-regular basis. Especially given the price tag (~$8 for a pastry).
All that being said, I do think that it is worth a stop for breakfast or lunch, especially if you’re coming from a place that lacks a dedicated gluten free bakery.
Being able to order a croissant or apple cinnamon hand pie is amazing if it’s the first time you’re having that experience (especially for newly diagnosed kids!).
Plus, the thing I think they do really well is their sandwiches, both for breakfast (I liked their copycat McMuffin on a biscuit) and lunch (I also like their turkey reuben).
Otherwise Brewing (100% GF)
Otherwise Brewing is the only remaining gluten free brewery in the Bay Area (RIP Buckwild Brewing), and they opened up a taproom in North Beach relatively recently where you can find a bunch of their beers on tap.
I used to buy their beer at the Marin Farmers Market in San Rafael when we lived with Alysha’s mom for a bit at the beginning of this site, and I think they do some fun stuff.
They recently opened a cozy little taproom in the heart of North Beach (a block from the famous Italian espresso joint Caffe Trieste), and I tried to go right before their grand opening and found that they weren’t going to be quite ready yet.
When I returned in the fall, they were open, so it was a priority for me to make it here.
To reiterate, everything here – beer and food – is gluten free.
At the time of my visit, I wasn’t really drinking alcohol much for a variety of reasons, so I decided to just get a flight of three tasters to sample the beer.
The bartender was helpful, giving me recommendations when I asked and letting me try their new peach beer they had just released.
Overall, I think their beer is pretty good. To my uneducated palate, it doesn’t have that overwhelming sweetness that some gluten free beers sometimes have, and they have a range of beers from traditional offerings, like an IPA or pilsner, to more adventurous beers like sours and dubbels.
One thing I wish I had tried is their hot dog, which is the only substantial food item on the menu (they do have a few other snacks) and features a bun from Mariposa. They also have a vegan version from Beyond Sausage, if you’re not into meat.
The Game Parlour (100% GF)
Do you like board games? What about 100% gluten free waffles? If you answered yes to both, we’ve got a treat for you!
The Game Parlour is in the Inner Sunset, and is a board game cafe with a 100% gluten free menu and just about every board game under the sun.
Choose from savory waffle sandwiches (the King of New York is amazing – pastrami, coleslaw, and thousand island dressing), sweet waffles (bannanagrams with bananas, nutella, and whipped cream), and a couple of sides. The chicken bites and waffle fries are both fantastic.
This is an amazing way to spend an evening in San Francisco, gorging yourself on gluten free waffles and playing a new board game.
We recently fell in love with Ticket to Ride (we’d recommend the Europe version), and have been obsessed with it, playing several games a week!
Little Aloha (100% GF)
Little Aloha is an unassuming Hawaiian restaurant operating in a tiny storefront on Taraval Street in the Outer Sunset (which isn’t particularly convenient if you’re a tourist in the city for a few days).
The entire kitchen is gluten free, and this is legitimately the first time I’ve ever had Hawaiian food since my diagnosis more than 15 years ago at this point.
Though you should know that some of the Hawaiian snacks they sell in the “grocery” part of the store are NOT gluten free (check the ingredients!).
The menu is fun, and they have specialties like Spam Musubi (spam wrapped in rice and seaweed, kind of like onigiri) and pineapple sausage and garlic shrimp (they have a bowl that you can get split between the two).
We also had the hurricane tots – tater tots topped with furikake and spicy mayo – which were EXCELLENT.
It is worth pointing out that they do bring in a gluten-containing item every so often as a special, but they are made offsite and packaged and stored in a separate part of the kitchen.
You should also know that there is basically nowhere to sit inside the restaurant, and given the foggy and cold weather you tend to find out on the Avenues, it might not be super pleasant to eat on the single bench just outside the restaurant (or at the park nearby).
Firefly SF (99% GF)
Firefly came highly recommended by some local Celiacs years and years ago, and it took me a little while to get around to trying it because it is not 100% gluten free (more on this in a second).
After my first meal there, I knew it was going to be a staple going forward.
The atmosphere is perfect for (gluten free) date night, and most of the menu is gluten free by design. They even have gluten free bread to start (it contains oats though, so avoid it if you are sensitive to oats) and Groundbreaker Brewing gluten free beer.
The reason I say that it is not 100% gluten free is the fact that there is exactly one item on the food menu that contains gluten: the biscuit served with the fried chicken.
However, that biscuit can be easily substituted with a gluten free cornbread.
The highlight for me is always the fried chicken, but the crab cakes were a (surprise) close second.
Highly recommend Firefly as a date night spot for Celiacs or those who need to eat gluten free – they always take great care of me and make me feel super comfortable with cross-contact issues.
Eating Gluten Free at Oracle Park (the SF Giants)
Oracle Park – home of the San Francisco Giants (the baseball team) – is one of the only professional sports stadiums I’ve personally been to that offers a dedicated gluten free spot inside the stadium.
Hearth Table in Section 145 (under the scoreboard in left-center field) is a dedicated gluten free kitchen serving up flatbreads. Very limited cross-contact risk here, and it’s not just hot dogs!
I used to look forward to Giants games not because I like baseball (I’m a soccer guy – RCTID), but because the flatbreads here are legitimately good.
They’re expensive, but that’s kind of to be expected at a stadium.
In-N-Out Burger
When in California, you HAVE to go to In-N-Out Burger. It’s like a rite of passage in California (and now Oregon and Nevada).
There’s only one actually in the city – it’s in Fisherman’s Wharf – but there are a few just outside the city limits.
The fries and shakes are both gluten free (dedicated fryer), and you can find a detailed allergen menu on their website (though it doesn’t accommodate for cross-contact, more on this below).
The only thing that contains gluten is the burger buns, which present a bit of a cross-contact issue, as you can probably imagine.
However, unlike a lot of other fast food spots, they actually take great care to prepare their gluten free option in a way that minimizes the risk for that cross-contact and they have a solid allergy protocol (this may vary by location, but every location I’ve ever been to follows this process – I watch carefully every time).
Here’s how to order to minimize that risk and get a safe burger from In-N-Out: “I’d like a *burger type*, protein style, no special sauce (can I have a packet on the side?), with a gluten allergy.”
Yes, I know Celiac Disease is not “a gluten allergy” but that’s the terminology that triggers their allergy protocol, which involves changing gloves and utensils, a separate tray and bag, and potentially a new grill (which depends on the location and the space they have).
The reason for the packet on the side is the fact that they use the same spatula for the special sauce on regular burgers and your burger – I watched them do it once years ago, and now I always order the packet on the side.
They also grill onions on the same flattop as the burgers and buns, so I’d avoid those too.
Both of these also apply to animal-style fries (fries topped with grilled onions, cheese, and special sauce), which I would not recommend for Celiacs for the special sauce and onions reasons above.
I would try to avoid going to In-N-Out at peak times (12-3pm and 5pm-7pm, roughly) if you’re looking to minimize risk of cross-contact. Even with the most well thought out processes, when things are busy in a kitchen, corners get cut in the name of speed.
Other Great Gluten Free Options Near San Francisco
Outside of San Francisco, there are a bunch of great gluten free restaurants and bakeries, particularly in the East Bay and north of the city in Marin.
Flour Chylde (Novato): Their bakery and cafe is up in Novato, but you can also find them at the Marin Farmers Market. They’re a 100% gluten free bakery that makes all sorts of baked goods, but the highlight is their tortes!
They’re little mini cakes of different flavors – we LOVE the rustic orange torte, which is a sweet and zesty treat while you browse the other stalls at the farmers market.
Currently, you can find them at the Marin Farmers Market on Thursdays and Sundays, but you should check their website for the most up-to-date information.
Copita (Sausalito): First of all, they catered our wedding, which is probably the only endorsement you need. Great 100% gluten free Mexican food in Sausalito in an unbeatable location.
I highly recommend starting with a walk from SF across the Golden Gate Bridge and down to Sausalito, and a nice dinner here (complete with margaritas!).
Flour Craft Bakery (San Anselmo and Mill Valley): This 100% gluten free bakery has two locations in Marin. One in Mill Valley, about 20 minutes north of San Francisco, super close to some of the best hiking in the Bay Area on Mount Tamalpais and Tennessee Valley and the Marin Headlands, and one in the cute town of San Anselmo a little further north.
They’re one of my favorite gluten free bakeries in the country. They make a variety of gluten free baked goods, including cookies, scones, muffins, and donuts, but the star of the show is their breads.
Although I will say that their scones are among the best I’ve ever had.
The walnut sourdough and the brioche are outstanding, and are well worth the trip to Marin. I used to buy it in bulk and send it around the country to gluten free friends. It’s that good.
Avatars (Sausalito): The owners of Avatar’s might be the nicest people of all time. If you come in, they might come over to talk you through the gluten free options and tell you about their approach and their food.
It’s a mashup of Indian and Mexican food, which might sound a little weird at first, but it’s awesome food. If you’re planning on visiting Sausalito, you should stop in to Avatar’s for an affordable and delicious gluten free meal.
