Step By Step Guide to Finding Vegan and Gluten Free Food Options
As a vegan with celiac disease, I understand the anxiety of traveling to a new city and having no idea where you can eat safely. It can also be difficult if you just want to try a new restaurant in your home town or meet friends out for dinner.
Whether it’s for a trip downtown or overseas, trying to find new vegan and gluten free restaurants can be time consuming and stressful. Sometimes it’s hard just figuring out where to start.
To help make things less challenging, in this article I share my step by step process for finding new vegan and gluten free food in any city. If you are trying to find a new local restaurant, the first 4 steps will be most helpful.
Where are you going?
The first step is an easy one: figure out where you’re going! Once you have a town, city, or even just the country decided, you can start searching for possible options.
2. Check Destination Vegan Gluten Free!
Start by checking Destination Vegan Gluten Free to see if I have a guide for your destination. If I do, you’re in luck! You can find vetted restaurants you can feel confident eating at.
While I always try to keep all of my recommendations up to date, if the guide is older, please double check the restaurant’s menu or contact them to make sure nothing has changed.
If we don’t have an article for a city you want to visit, let me know in the comments below! I would love to add a guide for it.
3. Check other vegan and/or gluten free travel websites
If there is no article for your destination here, and you are traveling soon, try searching “vegan and gluten free restaurants in [your destination]” on google to see if you can find any compiled lists from other vegan and/or gluten free travel websites.
There aren’t many websites that cover both vegan and gluten free travel but looking at websites that cover one or the other can still be helpful.
4. Use vegan and gluten free restaurant review apps
If you haven’t already, check out my article to learn more about my favorite vegan and gluten free travel apps.
Related: Best Apps for Traveling as a Gluten Free Vegan
I recommend starting with Find Me GF and HappyCow. These apps are designed to help you find reviews for gluten free and vegan restaurants, respectively.
You can search for your destination and combinations of vegan and gluten free keywords.
If you want to try to find more options, search for “vegan and gluten free restaurants in [your destination]” on Google Maps or Foursquare.
Once I find potential options, I always check their website and menu. There, you can double check if anything has changed and if they still offer vegan and gluten free food.
Also, be sure to check that their vegan and gluten free options overlap. You don’t want to go to a restaurant that claims to have vegan and gluten free options to find out they really meant vegan or gluten free options.
While on their website, make note of their hours to see if they line up with your travel plans.
5. Check grocery stores
If you can’t find any restaurants, use Google Maps to search for grocery stores in the city you’re traveling to. Check their website to see if they have vegan and gluten free options.
Many grocery stores today have frozen vegan and gluten free meals and it’s always easy to find ingredients for simple meals. Just be sure your hotel has a kitchen or at least a microwave.
Making your own food while traveling is also a good opportunity to save money!
If you’re worried about using cookware from your hotel, you can always bring a few basics with you.
Pots, pans, and plastic spatulas and knives can be taken in a checked bag or carry-on if you’re flying. Metal knives can be taken in checked bags as long as they are wrapped securely or sheathed.
I personally just wash any of the hotel’s cookware or utensils that I plan to use an extra time to be safe. If you are using cookware at the hotel, remember to avoid wooden spoons, wooden cutting boards, toasters, air fryers, and any other tools that can’t be cleaned thoroughly.
6. Bring your own food
If there aren’t any options at the grocery stores, consider bringing your own food. Depending on where you’re going, you can either do some meal prepping before you leave or pack ingredients for quick meals in a bag or cooler.
If you’re flying, remember there are TSA guidelines for packing certain foods. You can’t take liquid or cream foods over 3.4 ounces in your carry-on and many countries have rules about fresh fruits and vegetables.
There are a lot of easy meals you can make with just a microwave. In an upcoming article, I will provide a list of the best meals to make in the microwave while traveling.
I always recommend bringing a few snack bars no matter where you’re going just in case you get stuck somewhere.
7. See if restaurants can make modifications
If you still haven’t found any options and can’t cook or bring your own food, consider asking restaurants if they can make any modifications. Some restaurants are able to accommodate certain dietary restrictions if you contact them in advance.
This typically works for higher end restaurants while fast food or chain restaurants are unable to take requests.
It also may be easier for restaurants to make modifications if they already meet one of your dietary requirements.
8. If possible, change your destination
While I believe it’s possible for gluten free vegans to travel anywhere in the world, I understand that some destinations require less effort than others.
Larger cities typically have more options than smaller towns. Consider staying in a larger city nearby and taking a day trip to the original location you planned to visit.
If you are planning a longer trip, you can even stock up on snacks and ingredients in a bigger city before traveling to the location with fewer options.
Contact restaurant staff before going
I always recommend contacting the staff when trying a new restaurant. This lets you confirm reviews you’ve read online and make sure they have been trained on cross contamination.
You can either call, send an email, or fill out a contact form on their website. Tell them you are considering visiting their restaurant and that you are vegan and have celiac disease (or a gluten intolerance).
If they have vegan and gluten free options, be sure to ask if they prepare food in a separated area or if it's all cooked in the same area. If it’s cooked in the same area, ask if they can cook it on a clean pan and use clean utensils. If they offer fried food, ask if they have a dedicated gluten free fryer.
They should know what key words like vegan, plant based, gluten, celiac disease, and cross contamination are. If not, I would suggest you keep looking for better options.
Some restaurants are able to prepare food 100% safely. Some restaurants train their staff about gluten and other dietary restrictions and do the best they can but can’t guarantee there won’t be any cross contamination.
Going to a restaurant like the latter is totally up to your discretion. There are some restaurants like these that one person may have no issues at while another person can’t eat there at all.
Being as informed as possible can help you make the best decision for yourself. Although expensive, tools like the NIMA gluten sensor can always be helpful when eating at restaurants.
If a restaurant is dedicated gluten free and vegan and has several reviews to back it up, you may be fine without contacting them. If you’d prefer, you can always contact them to make sure nothing has changed.
Do you have any tips I should add? How do you find vegan and gluten free restaurants? Leave a comment below!
I describe30 popular chain restaurants you should avoid as a gluten free vegan and why. I include information based on my own experiences as a vegan with celiac disease and point out sneaky menu items that may appear safe but actually aren’t.