Santa Monica Pier

Santa Monica was the first stop on our Southern California gluten free road trip this Spring. We spent the day on Santa Monica pier and wandering along Venice Beach. I was pretty excited when I came across a couple of fantastic grocery stores filled with gluten free products.

One Life Natural Foods (on 3001 Main Street) has a bunch of gluten free options. I had a wander around the store and they have gluten free bread, crackers, bars, pizza bases, pastas, tinned goods, cereals, flours, snacks, ready meals and plenty of other gluten free goodies. They also have a small take out area which offers gluten free sandwiches. If I lived in this area I would definitely be coming here for supplies.

Santa Monica Farms is another good store, also on Main Street (2015) which offers a bunch of gluten free options. They have many of the same things as One Life but not as big a selection.

Signage I love to see!

Lots of gf options!

We finished our day in Santa Monica eating at True Food Kitchen, a fantastic restaurant with a good variety of gluten free options. Celiac friendly options are clearly marked on the menu and servers are knowledgeable about celiac disease and the seriousness of cross contamination. True Food Kitchen is located at 395 Santa Monica Place, at the edge of an open air mall and very close to the famous pier. Currently they have two other locations in Newport Beach, Orange County and Scottsdale, Arizona but our server told me that the plan is to open a bunch of other locations next year, including Denver and on the East Coast.

Many of their starters and salads are gluten free, almost all of their entrees and they also do gluten free pizza. It’s great eating at a restaurant with a real gluten free selection instead of just one or two things. I went for the asparagus and artichoke pizza as I often feel there isn’t enough pizza in my life and I was very impressed. It was really creamy and tasty. Dessert was flourless chocolate cake with ice cream and caramel. Super delicious! They also have some pretty good wine choices. John was driving so I enjoyed a couple of glasses of chardonnay and giggled a lot on the drive to Newport Beach.

Amazing gluten free pizza!

I didn’t find a whole bunch of other gluten free dining out options in the area but I found a few. Interim Cafe ( on 530 Wilshire Blvd) offers various gluten free options clearly marked on the menu. Some of their soups and salads are gluten free and before midday they serve a variety of breakfast options served with gluten free bread, breakfast potatoes or gluten free french toast.

In nearby Venice is The Gluten Free Goddess, a wheat free, gluten free bakery. They have a booth at the Venice Farmers Market (on N Venice Blvd) every Friday from 7am-11am. They also sell their goods at various other locations throughout the area including a couple of stores/restaurants in Santa Monica.

In Marina Del Rey C&O Cucina ( on 3016 Washington Blvd) can substitute gluten free pasta in many of their pasta dishes.

Good selection in One Life Natural Foods

GF sandwiches in One Life

Have you lived or travelled gluten free in Santa Monica? Share your celiac friendly findings in the comments below..

Gluten Free Chile Fried Catfish!

Awe-some!

Portland is a lovely city full of friendly locals and lots and lots of bikes. I spend a couple of days there last summer on the way back to San Francisco after getting married in Iowa. Portland is a fantastic city for gluten free travellers. There are so many eating out options that no celiac headed to Portland will need to worry about finding something safe and delicious to eat. Through research I did before arriving in Portland, recommendations from friends who live in the city and simply walking past and being excited by gluten free menus I found a whole bunch of gluten free breakfast, lunch, dinner and dessert places in the city. Thank you Portland, Gluten Free Traveller was very impressed with your selection.

We ate an amazing gluten free meal at Hawthorne Fish House (on 4343 SE Hawthorne Blvd) Everything on the menu can be made gluten free and sounds amazing. I can’t remember the last time I ate fish and chips so this was pretty special. All fish and chips are 100% gluten free because the fish is flash fried using brown rice flour and nothing gluten containing is fried in the same area meaning no issues of cross contamination. Our server was very knowledgeable about celiac disease and gluten free eating which was great and their Chile -Fried Catfish was amazing, especially with jalepeno tartar for dipping! Two sections on the menu to watch out for are the tacos and sandwiches as they are made in the same place as their glutenous counterparts.

The Berlin Inn (on 3131 SE 12th & Powell Blvd) is a German restaurant which does a whole bunch of amazing sounding gluten free appetizers, entrees, desserts and drinks. This place is first on my list next time I”m in town. Their wheat free symbol indicates gluten free dishes and they can also make some of their other menu items gluten free on request.

Blossoming Lotus (on 1713 NE 15th Ave) is another restaurant offering lots of celiac friendly options. Their menu clearly marks gluten free selections with ‘GF’ and there are lots to choose from. Gluten free entrees include a Live Falafel Wrap and Winter Squash Red Curry.

Andina (1314 NW Glisan) is a Peruvian restaurant in the city of Portland. They have a separate ‘sin gluten’ menu which includes a whole bunch of tasty sounding dishes.

Cravin Raven Bakery (on 8339 SE 13th Ave) is a 100% gluten free bakery in Portland! As everything they bake and sell is gluten free, celiacs don’t have to worry about cross contamination. Yay! They offer muffins, cakes, cup cakes, scones and cookies. All products are also free from dairy, corn and soy. I really want to try their roasted pineapple muffin and chocolate cupcakes!

Get excited, there is more than one completely gluten free bakery in Portland! Now this really is a special city. New Cascadia (on 1700 SE 6th Ave) is another dedicated gluten free bakery which sells bread, pies, cinnamon rolls, cupcakes, muffins and various other awesome gluten free goodies.

We only had a couple of days in Portland so there were plenty of gluten free restaurants and bakeries I didn’t get to experience. Portland isn’t too far from San Francisco however so I’ll certainly be back for another visit in the not too distant future to discover more of Portland’s gluten free gems.

Have you lived or travelled gluten free in Portland, Oregon? Share your gluten free findings in the comments below…

The Gluten Free menu

A great place for blind coeliacs!

When I first heard that a restaurant called Carlos O’Kelly’s had a gluten free menu, my American friends all laughed. They told me it was a Tex Mex restaurant and they would never have expected them to cater for Coeliacs. Luckily for me, they do and their gluten free menu has lots of tasty things to choose from!

My first (and so far only) experience of Carlos O’Kelly’s was during Ragbrai when myself and a few friends ate dinner at the one in Waterloo, Iowa. A sign on their door said ‘Braille and Gluten Free Menu’s available’. A blind, coeliac’s dream and pretty good news for me too!

I called the restaurant prior to going to reserve a table and to ask whether they prepare gluten free dishes separately from non gluten free meals. I was told that they did.

Their gluten free menu is pretty varied and includes starters, taco salads, fajitas and enchiladas. The gluten free sides which come with most of the dishes are black beans, corn or a dinner salad. All of their chips and salsa are gluten free and lots of this comes free with your meal.

Chips and salsa

Shredded Beef Enchiladas

I ordered the shredded beef enchiladas, which are made with corn tortillas topped with chili con queso, cheese, sour cream and chives and a side of black beans. When our server brought my friend’s meals she informed me that the kitchen had accidentally put rice on my plate and were starting over again. I’m guessing the rice is not gluten free as it wasn’t one of the options for me so I was happy to hear that they were preparing me a fresh and safe meal. My enchiladas were quite the cheese fest but a very tasty treat and completely gluten free.

The Red Avocado

I’d been meaning to try The Red Avocado for a while but we always seemed to be in the vicinity between the hours of 2pm and 5pm, when it’s not open. It’s a vegan restaurant in Iowa city and I’d heard that they do quite a few gluten free dishes too. I haven’t found too many gluten friendly restaurants in Iowa that also have personality so I was very excited to try this locally inspired, organic place.

I emailed the restaurant to find out about their gluten free options. They didn’t provide information on which of their dishes were gluten free as their menu is bi-monthly and focuses on local and seasonal ingredients. They did say however that a number of things are gluten free and others can be adapted to be. They also said to mention that I am coeliac when I call to reserve a table.

Vegetable Peanut Satay

Quinoa Fiesta

The red Avocado’s menu is awesome. There serve a wonderful variety of delicious sounding dishes, filled with interesting vegetables, grains and spices. It was extremely difficult to decide on what to choose as I wanted to try everything. After more pondering I decided on the Vegetable Peanut Satay, which came with tempeh and quinoa. Fantastic! My boyfriend ordered the daily special (also gf) of quinoa salad with corn chips and black bean hummus with a side of corn and coconut soup. Again, scrumptious!

It’s not the cheapest of restaurants but the organic, locally produced, fresh deliciousness of each of their dishes makes it worth the price. I can’t wait to return and try something else!

The menu

Corn and Coconut soup

The Gluten Free Registry Site

Today I came across a website that excited me very much!  Gluten Free Registry. It’s a huge, free, searchable database of gluten free restaurants, searchable primarily by State and then by City, the aim being  ’to put people and gluten-free friendly restaurants, bakeries, caterers, grocers and more together’ (mission statement) Their terms and conditions state that to appear on the registry restaurants must indicate gluten free selections on their menu, provide a seperate gluten free menu or offer gluten free replacement products. Caterers must have previous experience preparing gluten free food and grocers must clearly identify gluten free selections. The database contains a great deal of information for eating gluten free throughout the States but they also have a  fairly large variety of links to gluten free friendly businesses in various other countries.

Looking through the database I was so happy to discover the huge number of places that cater for Coeliacs throughout the USA, especially the larger cities. In a couple of weeks time I am travelling to, and willl spend the summer in, the United States and I will keep checking this fantastic source of information as I  move around the country. I am starting off in New York and Boston before travelling to Iowa, Minneapolis, Vegas and a variety of other cities and towns during the summer. With the help of Gluten Free Registry I will keep you updated on how I find gluten free travelling in the United States of America.