Gluten-Free Restaurants in Vancouver, BC

April 29, 2014 11:41 AM

I have a visitor coming in a few weeks who has celiac disease and can only eat gluten-free food. What are the best restaurants with gluten-free options? Is there a good place for a fancy meal?

I've seen plenty of places with gluten-free options, but I'm looking for people's favorite places in Vancouver and Burnaby. Preferably places that aren't only vegetarian.

One night we're going out for a fancy meal, so suggestions for somewhere with a budget of about $200 for three people would be great.

posted by raeka to Food & Drink (8 answers total)

I don't live in BC, I have no specific restaurant suggestions, but I am gluten intolerant. My experience has been that the higher scale/fancy restaurants tend to do a much better job at accommodating stuff like gluten intolerance than other places and they usually know what it means and take it seriously. My suggestion would be to call/visit whatever fancy restaurants you would choose otherwise and ask them what sorts of options they have for gluten intolerant individuals. Ask them what procedures they have in place for that situation (separate utensils, separate prep area, etc). Maybe talk to your celiac visitor and ask what sorts of things you should check on to ensure they'll be able to eat there?
posted by PuppetMcSockerson at 12:13 PM on April 29, 2014

Fancy meals are actually pretty easy. Nice restaurants are accommodating. I would recommend Raincity Grill. I've eaten there twice and they had no problem with me being gluten and dairy free.

My favorite Vancouver restaurant is The Wallflower. Bandidas on Commercial is great, although vegetarian. Maenam is good fancy Thai on 4th. Afghan Horsemen is really good too. Sushi is pretty easy to do gluten free if you bring your own soy sauce and make sure no other sauces are used. I've been meaning to eat at Nuba but I haven't yet. Rocky Mountain Flatbread Company has gluten free pizza.
posted by carolr at 12:17 PM on April 29, 2014

Seconding Bandidas. My gluten-free girlfriend loves it.

For good higher-end Indian, which tends to be GF, my parents love Vij's, although I'm too poor to go.
posted by Beardman at 12:29 PM on April 29, 2014

Nuba is great. I really really dislike the Wallflower (mediocre food every single time) and I would never recommend that anyone go there - but they do cater to gluten-free diets so it would be OK as a last resort.
posted by ripley_ at 2:08 PM on April 29, 2014

For your nice meal out, I recommend Burdock & Co., not strictly gluten-free but very local and seasonal produce oriented (not vegetarian), so you should be able to have a very nice meal without gluten simply on accord of glutenous products not being particularly local/seasonal.
posted by kaspen at 2:10 PM on April 29, 2014

Also, sushi is gluten free! And more places are carrying gluten-free soy sauce, the typical undoing of a gluten free Japanese meal. I recently had an excellent meal at B-Bin on Oak Street, and I know for sure they have gluten free soy sauce.
posted by kaspen at 2:13 PM on April 29, 2014

I highly recommend Fable.
posted by makonan at 2:17 PM on April 29, 2014

Rocky Mountain really gets allergies and they have a separate prep area and oven.

Many places in town say they have gf food, but then it turns out they don't really get it. Have your friend question the server or call ahead of time. So many people here are gluten free for lifestyle that some restaurants do not really get it. So check that they use separate water for boiling, oil for cooking, etc. That being said, there are a ton of options in Vancouver. Wallflower, Rocky Mountain and anywhere higher end tend to be good with celiacs.

Pane Riso is entirely gf. So is Culprit on 4th. Lemonade Bakery on Cambie is gf, but watch out for oats. Milestones is a chain with a gf menu, but do check in with them to make sure they get it's celiac.

Note: sushi is not gluten-free. They sprinkle a powder on it a lot of the time and many ingredients, especially in Vancouver, can be full of gluten. Teriyaki rolls, dynamite rolls, California rolls - you'd have to make sure the nori, any powder, the counter and the knife is clean and that they really get cross contamination. Depends how sensitive your friend is. The hospital here told me that sushi gets celiacs all the time.
posted by Chaussette and the Pussy Cats at 5:52 PM on April 29, 2014