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15 East Bay Restaurants Great for Gluten-Free Dining

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Most restaurants these days can accommodate gluten-free eaters, but it’s still a bummer when you only have one viable option on a lengthy menu. These 15 East Bay restaurants deliver lots of gluten-free options — and often gluten-filled options as well — so everyone can dine together happily. They also go beyond the gluten-free mainstays of Mexican, sushi, and Ethiopian restaurants, so you can mix things up more often.

Note: Most of these kitchens aren’t entirely gluten-free, so you should always talk to the staff about the severity of your allergy or sensitivity first.

If you’re looking for the best gluten-free restaurants in San Francisco, we have a guide for that, too.

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Brazilian Breads

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This petite Brazilian cafe specializes in pão de quijo, small chewy rolls made with tapioca flour and cheese. Brazilian Breads makes a few variations — injected with guava jelly, for example, or garlic and rosemary — but doesn’t stop there with the gluten-free offerings. There are also meaty sliders using pão de quijo, yucca-based dishes, and both sweet and savory tapioca crepes.

Mariposa Baking Company

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Perhaps the Bay Area’s best known gluten-free bakery, Mariposa also serves a wide array of breakfast and lunch sandwiches using their gluten-free bread. You’ll also find bagels, pizzas, and chicken pot pie.

Lucia's Berkeley

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A lot of East Bay pizza spots offer gluten-free crusts, but few actually make them in-house. Lucia’s tops the list with its unique blend of flours and high-hydration dough, which gets cooked in a 900-degree Neapolitan wood oven. It arrives blistered, soft, chewy, and looking remarkably similar to its standard, gluten-y pies. While pizza is the main draw, Lucia’s also serves gluten-free pasta, and its salads, sides, and other dishes are clearly marked for dietary needs.

Hawking Bird

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James Syhabout was careful to make his fast-casual Hawker Fare spin-off remarkably gluten-free friendly considering its tight menu. Choose from poached chicken, fried chicken, and fried curried tofu — some notably slathered with charred chili jam — over rice or salad.

Janelle Bitker

Homeroom

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Temescal’s perennially-packed restaurant devoted to mac ‘n’ cheese churns out a variety of spins on the classic, including seasonal specials such as pesto mac, crab mac, and Hawaiian bacon mac. And any mac can be made with gluten-free pasta for $3 extra.

While Reem Assil’s namesake bakery in Fruitvale revolves around mana’eesh, a pillowy Middle Eastern bread, her more upscale restaurant Dyafa offers plenty for gluten-free folks. There’s no need to miss out on Dyafa’s dips — lebneh with favas or charred eggplant with tahini, for example — as they can be paired with gluten-free chickpea pancakes. Many of the large-format dishes can be made gluten-free, too. Note: Dyafa isn’t so gluten-free friendly for lunch.

dosa By DOSA

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Indian restaurants are usually good bets for gluten-free diners, who can feast on curries over basmati rice. But Oakland’s dosa By DOSA takes it up a notch with clearly labeled salads, desserts, and dosas (South Indian savory rice and lentil crepes) in addition to rice bowls. Don’t miss the crispy, chewy idli fries dipped with chutney.

Teni East Kitchen

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Tiyo Shibabaw’s Teni East Kitchen serves Burmese dishes through a Californian lens, mixing fermented tea leaves with kale and incorporating crisp pea shoots into a standout salad. While the menu doesn’t state it, almost everything on it is gluten-free, including a range of aromatic curries.

Aburaya

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Oakland’s rock ‘n’ roll-themed Japanese fried chicken shop dishes out a daily changing menu of izakaya-style small plates. Their friendliness to dietary restrictions varies, but the main attraction — the fried chicken as well as the fried substitutes for vegans — contains no gluten.

Grand Lake Kitchen

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Oakland deli, restaurant, and market Grand Lake Kitchen has gluten-free diners covered all day. Brunch is particularly popular, and egg dishes and sandwiches are available with gluten-free bread by request. More elegant plates arrive in the evenings, and many of these are also designated gluten-free.

CORE Kitchen

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Folks with celiac will be safe at CORE Kitchen, which is 100 percent gluten-free — and organic and vegan. This is a weekday-only, breakfast-and-lunch spot geared toward takeout. Mornings see standards like chia seed pudding and granola, while office workers pile in at lunch for zucchini noodles, salads, and jackfruit sandwiches.

Maison Bleue

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French crepes aren’t typically options for gluten-free diners, but Maison Bleue specializes in Breton-style savory galettes made with buckwheat. Naturally gluten-free fillings include grilled chicken, pesto, and mascarpone or ham, gruyere, and a runny egg.

Sanctuary Bistro

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An entirely vegan and gluten-free restaurant, Sanctuary Bistro changes its menu regularly to reflect the seasons — but diners are sure to find dishes that are normally off limits. Past options include lasagna, broccoli soufflé, and tiramisu.

Easy Creole

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Funky, oh-so-Berkeley restaurant Easy Creole offers about a dozen Louisiana-inspired stews every day. The options change regularly but half are always vegan and many of them are made with a gluten-free roux. Served over brown or white rice, some stews taste traditional and others go to surprising places. If you aren’t so sure you’d like a Thai peanut etouffee, you can also sample any of the stews before committing. Skip the baguette and opt for gluten-free cornbread instead.

Gluten-free diners — and even vegetarian gluten-free diners — will find a lot to love at Mohamed Aboghanem’s creative and elegant Middle Eastern restaurant. The menu is labeled well, allowing you to choose between a nightly prix-fixe menu for up to $45 or order a la carte. In addition to naturally gluten-free dishes, Aboghanem offers a gluten-free bread to swap in for pita.

Brazilian Breads

This petite Brazilian cafe specializes in pão de quijo, small chewy rolls made with tapioca flour and cheese. Brazilian Breads makes a few variations — injected with guava jelly, for example, or garlic and rosemary — but doesn’t stop there with the gluten-free offerings. There are also meaty sliders using pão de quijo, yucca-based dishes, and both sweet and savory tapioca crepes.

Mariposa Baking Company

Perhaps the Bay Area’s best known gluten-free bakery, Mariposa also serves a wide array of breakfast and lunch sandwiches using their gluten-free bread. You’ll also find bagels, pizzas, and chicken pot pie.

Lucia's Berkeley

A lot of East Bay pizza spots offer gluten-free crusts, but few actually make them in-house. Lucia’s tops the list with its unique blend of flours and high-hydration dough, which gets cooked in a 900-degree Neapolitan wood oven. It arrives blistered, soft, chewy, and looking remarkably similar to its standard, gluten-y pies. While pizza is the main draw, Lucia’s also serves gluten-free pasta, and its salads, sides, and other dishes are clearly marked for dietary needs.

Hawking Bird

James Syhabout was careful to make his fast-casual Hawker Fare spin-off remarkably gluten-free friendly considering its tight menu. Choose from poached chicken, fried chicken, and fried curried tofu — some notably slathered with charred chili jam — over rice or salad.

Janelle Bitker

Homeroom

Temescal’s perennially-packed restaurant devoted to mac ‘n’ cheese churns out a variety of spins on the classic, including seasonal specials such as pesto mac, crab mac, and Hawaiian bacon mac. And any mac can be made with gluten-free pasta for $3 extra.

Dyafa

While Reem Assil’s namesake bakery in Fruitvale revolves around mana’eesh, a pillowy Middle Eastern bread, her more upscale restaurant Dyafa offers plenty for gluten-free folks. There’s no need to miss out on Dyafa’s dips — lebneh with favas or charred eggplant with tahini, for example — as they can be paired with gluten-free chickpea pancakes. Many of the large-format dishes can be made gluten-free, too. Note: Dyafa isn’t so gluten-free friendly for lunch.

dosa By DOSA

Indian restaurants are usually good bets for gluten-free diners, who can feast on curries over basmati rice. But Oakland’s dosa By DOSA takes it up a notch with clearly labeled salads, desserts, and dosas (South Indian savory rice and lentil crepes) in addition to rice bowls. Don’t miss the crispy, chewy idli fries dipped with chutney.

Teni East Kitchen

Tiyo Shibabaw’s Teni East Kitchen serves Burmese dishes through a Californian lens, mixing fermented tea leaves with kale and incorporating crisp pea shoots into a standout salad. While the menu doesn’t state it, almost everything on it is gluten-free, including a range of aromatic curries.

Aburaya

Oakland’s rock ‘n’ roll-themed Japanese fried chicken shop dishes out a daily changing menu of izakaya-style small plates. Their friendliness to dietary restrictions varies, but the main attraction — the fried chicken as well as the fried substitutes for vegans — contains no gluten.

Grand Lake Kitchen

Oakland deli, restaurant, and market Grand Lake Kitchen has gluten-free diners covered all day. Brunch is particularly popular, and egg dishes and sandwiches are available with gluten-free bread by request. More elegant plates arrive in the evenings, and many of these are also designated gluten-free.

CORE Kitchen

Folks with celiac will be safe at CORE Kitchen, which is 100 percent gluten-free — and organic and vegan. This is a weekday-only, breakfast-and-lunch spot geared toward takeout. Mornings see standards like chia seed pudding and granola, while office workers pile in at lunch for zucchini noodles, salads, and jackfruit sandwiches.

Maison Bleue

French crepes aren’t typically options for gluten-free diners, but Maison Bleue specializes in Breton-style savory galettes made with buckwheat. Naturally gluten-free fillings include grilled chicken, pesto, and mascarpone or ham, gruyere, and a runny egg.

Sanctuary Bistro

An entirely vegan and gluten-free restaurant, Sanctuary Bistro changes its menu regularly to reflect the seasons — but diners are sure to find dishes that are normally off limits. Past options include lasagna, broccoli soufflé, and tiramisu.

Easy Creole

Funky, oh-so-Berkeley restaurant Easy Creole offers about a dozen Louisiana-inspired stews every day. The options change regularly but half are always vegan and many of them are made with a gluten-free roux. Served over brown or white rice, some stews taste traditional and others go to surprising places. If you aren’t so sure you’d like a Thai peanut etouffee, you can also sample any of the stews before committing. Skip the baguette and opt for gluten-free cornbread instead.

Saha

Gluten-free diners — and even vegetarian gluten-free diners — will find a lot to love at Mohamed Aboghanem’s creative and elegant Middle Eastern restaurant. The menu is labeled well, allowing you to choose between a nightly prix-fixe menu for up to $45 or order a la carte. In addition to naturally gluten-free dishes, Aboghanem offers a gluten-free bread to swap in for pita.

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