Beautiful Vancouver
Who are you and where are you?
Roanna ‘Zee’ in Vancouver BC Canada.
Tell me about your relationship with gluten..
My gluten free journey began in 2008 with a variety of frightening ills. In March 2011 I started to write about it on my own blog, Wheatless in Vancouver. Today I strive to enjoy the foods I can eat, creating recipes on the fly using as local ingredients as I can afford on a budget. I’m in a constant state of mind & body maintenance but I keep on swimming for the horizon. Being happy is really important to me, after all, what’s life with out joy?
Why should gluten free travellers visit your town?
Vancouver BC is known for it’s culinary offerings and the successes of the leaders in the industry are widely talked about. Gluten free meals are not hard to find here. We love to eat and talk about it.
Tell me something fun about your town..
It’s been written that Vancouver is a ‘no fun’ city. Why, I don’t know. Maybe due to the seemingly endless cloudy days and rain? Certainly if you love the outdoors, snowy mountains, bicycling, hiking, crafting, eating and meeting friends for cocktails, this city is fun! It’s up to you to decide.
The city at night..
Where is your favourite place to eat out in your town and why?
One I really like is The Wallflower. They have a great reputation for offering great gluten free grub with lots of flavour. Another is The Parker, a vegetarian place I just came across which looks amazing! I’m definitely going to try it soon. Lastly is The Acorn, making a name for itself.
Vancouver offers the gluten free traveller a whole lot of options! Here are some of the other places Roanna has tried. You can check out her Yelp reviews of some of these places if you want to find out more.
- The Gluten Free Epicurean on 633 E 15th Ave is a 100% gluten free bakery selling cakes, cupcakes, cookies, pastries, doughnuts, bars and lots of other gluten free delights!
- My Goodness! Gluten and Wheat Free Kitchen on East Broadway offers lots of amazing sounding speciality breads, pizza, crackers, desserts, muffins, scones, cookies, biscotti and all of it gluten and wheat free!
- {Now Closed}Â Perch on East Hastings do a thin crust gluten free pizza and mozzarella cheese can be replaced with Daiya for dairy free folks! You can also get your sandwich or burger on a gluten free bun and your chili or soup with gluten free garlic toast!
- Taman on E Hastings is a Palestinian restaurant with gluten free options.
- House of Dosa on Kingsway does lots of naturally gluten free South Indian options.
- Panne Rizo on Cornwall Ave specializes in baked gluten free goods. They offer quite the selection of breads, cakes, pies, flours, mixes, cookies and muffins.
- Cafe Nuba at the Waldorf Hotel on 1489 E Hastings St
- Stix Noodle and Grill on 903 Commerical Drive
- East is East on Main Street
- Cafe Deux Soleils on Commercial Drive
- Bandidas Taqueria also on Commerical Drive
Do you live in Vancouver or have you travelled there? Where is your favourite place to eat gluten free?
the wandering foody
Jan 30th, 2013I’m heading back to Vancouver (where I grew up) next week for a visit, and I can’t wait to try these places! The Acorn looks amazing.
I would recommend Aphrodite’s Organic Cafe (for amazing gluten-free eggs benedict and pie) as well as the Choices Market Rice Bakery (a gluten-free bakery with unbelievably good apple pie, molasses cookies, and all kinds of goodies)
Carly
Jan 31st, 2013I’ve traveled through Vancouver to nearby Whistler for skiing- what a great part of the world! People are so clued up about health and gluten free. We found food to be expensive but of great quality. Whistler itself was a breeze for gluten free with most of the mountain restaurants offering wraps or sandwiches, and lots of great options in the village too.
Marisa
Mar 1st, 2014I went to Vancouver and Victoria on my high school’s choir trip last May, and everything was great. Even eating with a group of 40 people, every restaurant we went to was able to accommodate me, my mom, and another girl who has celiac. I wish we had been able to explore some of the food places in the city more, since most of our meals were planned, but I fully intend to go back and try all of these places someday!
John
May 5th, 2014I was DXed with celiac a year ago and live in Vancouver. While I have yet to really do any GF dining I thought I’d mention one place you missed:
Quejos on Main St is completely GF and specialises in Brazilian cheesebuns made from tapioca flour (or manioc as they like to call it). You mentioned The Acorn, it’s very near to that, only about two blocks south.
I can’t offer a full review as I dropped in about a month ago and didn’t really try anything except some free samples which seemed ok. They also have dairy-free options available. It’s more of a takeout place (they sell fresh product and also frozen for take-home baking) with seating for under 10 people: only one or two tables plus a few stools at a shallow ledge, just enough to set your plate down on. Some of their products are also sold at selected retail grocers in the Vancouver area.
I won’t say much more about Quejos except that there’s a lot more information on their website:
http://www.quejos.com/
While there will no doubt be exceptions, one general comment I would make about eating GF in Vancouver is that the east side of the city seems to have more dining options (everything in your bullet list except Panne Rizo is in east Van) whereas so far I’ve noticed the west side offers better/more grocery options.
I’m thinking specifically of Choices — which someone else mentioned in another comment — plus the ubiquitous Whole Foods, as well as Green’s, located at West Broadway and Maple. Based on pricing, selection and location, I like Green’s best of these three. The pricing on their GF Nature’s Path bagged cereals is hard to beat. They also carry a good selection of GF flours, especially from the relatively little-known Cuisine Soleil, a small company based in Quebec. I’ve gotten good results making crepes with their buckwheat flour.
Clare
Jul 6th, 2015I live in Maple Ridge, BC. I recommend Zena’s bakery – totally gluten free on Dewdney Trunk Road and The Big Feast is a great organic restaurant serving wonderful meals and use Zena’s bread also in Maple Ridge.
Frogstone Grill, Maple Ridge make great gluten free alternatives and really go out of their way to make us celiac sufferers feel good!