Gluten Free La Jolla

Beautiful La Jolla

La Jolla is a lovely place, located 12 miles north of downtown San Diego and I’m so glad we stopped by for a visit. I enjoyed a really tasty gluten free meal here in La Jolla and came across a bunch of other celiac friendly locations too.

We ate lunch at Lean and Green, which as you can probably tell from it’s name is a natural, organic cafe. They do a variety of things including breakfast options, salads, wraps (on rice tortillas), rice and quinoa bowls as well as shakes, smoothies and juices. As everything they serve is natural, much of what they have is gluten free. I had a black bean and miso rice bowl which was super tasty! So tasty in fact that it inspired me to make a similar dish at home as soon as I can find miso. John went for a gluten free wrap which was really good too.

Tasty rice bowl!

Gluten Free Wrap

Other places I came across in La Jolla with gluten free options include a Mexican street food place called Puesto (on 1026 Wall Street). Everything they serve is fresh and naturally gluten free so it’s a celiac friendly place. I went in to speak to one of the staff and she told me that all of their food is naturally gluten free. When ordering you choose either tacos, guisado bowl or salad bowl. You then choose your meat, fish or veggies and toppings, your choice of dressing or salsa and any sides. It’s simple and everything sounds really tasty. Prices aren’t quite like they were when I was in the wonderful Mexico City a few years back but hopefully they taste just as good as Mexican street food is some of the best there is!

I also found Cups Lounge (on 7857 Girard Ave), an organic cupcakery which does gluten free cupcakes. Some of their cupcakes are also dairy free and low glycemic index. Each day they offer 12 different flavours of cupcakes and at least one will be vegan, one low glycemic and three gluten free. I spoke to the staff in Cups Lounge and they told me that whilst their kitchen is not 100% gluten free as they made all sorts of cupcakes in there, they do their best to eliminate cross contamination by using different utensils, baking trays, etc. Some of their gluten free cupcakes sound amazing. The Hummingbird for example – ‘Southern-style cinnamon-spiced cake with bananas, pineapple, & walnuts topped with cream cheese frosting and candied walnuts.’ All this awesomeness AND gluten free. I like the sound of that.

Sprinkles Cupcakes (on 8855 Villa La Jolla Drive) also has a location in La Jolla. Sprinkles is a bakery with 10 locations throughout the country which has a couple of gluten free cupcake options.

Celiac friendly Mexican

Gluten free cupcakes

Roppongi is a sushi bar in La Jolla (on 875 Prospect) which has a gluten free menu. Whilst a lot of Japanese food is naturally gluten free and safe for celiacs, especially when it comes to sushi, it’s pretty unique to come across a Japanese restaurant with an actual gluten free menu. This was nice to see as it shows they are aware of the importance of gluten free dining for some of us. They offer separate gluten free lunch and dinner menus with a variety of tasty sounding dishes. Tapas, soups and salads, entrees, meat dishes and sides are included on the gluten free menus. Sushi doesn’t actually appear on the gluten free menus which surprises me a little but perhaps it goes without saying that nigiri and maki are gluten free as long as there are no added sauces involved. If you choose to eat here, definitely double check that the sushi is safe and that they can prepare it free from cross contamination.

For other gluten free places to eat in San Diego check out my Gluten Free in San Diego post. I found a whole bunch of celiac friendly  places there! Are you gluten free and living in or near La Jolla? Let me know if I’ve missed anything gluten free and delicious!

Gluten free labelling!

Lean and Green