Gluten Free Santa Monica

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..